Oasis Tower is a Spiraling Vertical Farm for Dubai

Dubai is quickly emerging from the desert sands and more people are moving into the famed city. With limited land available for agriculture already, Dubai may soon be in need of an alternative solution for growing food for its residents. One solution could be this Oasis Tower vertical farm designed by Rahul Surin. Covered in ETFE and powered by renewable energy, this farm could grow enough food to feed up to 40,000 people while providing housing for some Dubai residents.

Located in close proximity to the center of Dubai, the Oasis Tower would have clear views of the Burj Khalifa. Surrounding the tower are extensive grounds as well as a lake and a number of ponds at the base of the tower. The skyscraper itself is composed of three towers spiraling around a central core. The exterior is covered in ETFE cushions, which provides both structure and insulation for the interior. A solar coating would be painted onto the exterior of the ETFE to generate power.

The tower would also be powered by vertical axis wind turbines placed in between the floors of the central tower. Grey water would be treated and reused, and a methane digester utilizes the waste created on-site to generate even more power. Inside, the tower would be mainly designated for food crops, but some of the floors would be available for housing units. Surin estimates that a vertical farm like this would be able to feed 40,000 people and help divert a food shortage crisis.

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Amazing House Built From 6 Million Beer Bottles

If you read Inhabitat, chances are you’re a pretty avid recycler – but we’re pretty sure that you’re no match for Tito Ingenieri, who takes his recycling a bit further than your average sorting between paper, glass and plastic. He’s spent the last 19 years building a giant house in Quilmes, Buenos Aires out of over 6 million beer bottles! We can only hope he had a frat house nearby to help him source materials.

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University Of North Texas to Build a LEED College Football Stadium

Inhabitat reader Erin tells us that the University of North Texas is in the midst of building another LEED certified college football stadium. The first LEED certified college football stadium opened in September 2009 at the University of Minnesota with their TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. After The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved UNT’s proposal back in October the university held a groundbreaking ceremony to commemorate the special occasion. The new stadium will replace the 57-year-old Fouts Field, and is one of many green projects happening on campus as part of the UNT “We Mean Green” initiative.

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Italian Architecture on the court side

Designed by Italian firm, Tam Architecture, the idea for the complex was conceived when the architects noticed the leftover containers lying around the construction site and wanted to reuse them. Using them to provide the international staff of the cardiac center with a place to stay seemed like the perfect opportunity. The housing units are 20 sqm and consist of a bedroom, a bathroom and a small veranda on the court side. There is also a cafeteria which is made out of smaller 7 ft x 40 ft containers.

In addition to being fabricated out of shipping containers that were already at the site (no extra fuel costs or shipping emissions!), Tam took extra measures to make the complex energy-efficient. The containers are insulated with a layer system: 5 cm insulating panels on the inside and a second insulated roof and a bamboo brise soleil panel system on the outside, meaning that the sun’s rays never make contact with the containers. Solar panels supply hot water for the compound and an air conditioning system that utilizes photovoltaic panels and chilling machines has been tested for the complex.

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Stacked Shipping Container Medical Complex in Sudan

You know how much we love shipping container architecture here at Inhabitat, and we get especially excited about buildings that contribute to the greater good of an area or community. Well, we couldn't have found a more shining example of that than this beautiful medical complex in Soba, Sudan. The breezy complex sits right near the Nile river around a courtyard of mango trees, and is constructed of discarded 90 ft x 20 ft containers taken right from the construction site of the adjacent Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery.

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Zendome: Gorgeous Geodesic Domes Create Flexible Green Spaces

Berlin-based company Zendome develops these innovative, flexible, and stylish dome-like spaces. Thanks to their non-hierarchical geometry, the structures can be set up in a snap in virtually any location. Available in sizes ranging from 30 m2 to 300 m2, Zendomes can be erected in 10% of the construction time of conventional architecture, which makes them perfect for all kinds of indoor and outdoor events.

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Maldives To Fight Rising Sea Levels With Floating Islands

The tiny island nation of the Maldives is under serious threat from rising sea levels caused by climate change. No part of the 1200 islands which make up the Maldives is more than six feet above sea level, so as sea-levels rise (as they will if rampant climate change is not stopped), the entire nation will be under water. Because of this, the Maldives government is pulling out all the stops in the fight against climate change. Not only has the entire country gone carbon neutral, educated all of their children in environmental science and furiously built retaining walls around every island, but the government is buying up land in nearby nations as a place to retreat to when the Maldives disappears. Now it appears that the intrepid Maldivians have come up with a new strategy to fight the rising tide: creating mini floating islands!

The Maldives government and Dutch Docklands/Dutch Watervalley just signed an agreement today to develop several floating facilities for the islands, including a convention center and golf courses. Designed by architect Koen Olthuis of Waterstudio.NL, the people who brought you the Citadel floating apartment complex and these amazing floating homes, the renderings for the amphibious mini-cities appear depict star-shaped, tiered islands with indoor spaces hidden under lush green-roof terraces, complete with interior pools and beaches.

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Ideabox’s Fortino Prefab House Debuts in Portland

Last weekend, Ideabox debuted their newest prefab home at the Portland Home and Garden Show. The Fortino is meant for an urban lot and packs a lot in a small punch. The two bedroom house easily fits into a 50 x 100 foot space, with plenty of room around it for a yard and landscaping. For the exhibit at the Portland Home and Garden Show, Ideabox set up their model home, called in several landscapers to deck out the exterior and had Crate & Barrel decorate the interior.

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OFIS Unveils Earthquake-Proof Solar Powered Volcano Towers

At a time when earthquakes dominate the headlines, we think it’s more important than ever to highlight architecture that keeps potential quakes in mind. So it goes with OFIS Architecture’s All-Seasons Tent Tower, a concept project that features two solar powered, cylindrical towers filled with restaurants, apartments, shops, a business center, spa, pool, bar and garage.

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Carbon-Free Battersea Power Plant Renovation Gets the Green Light

The UK's Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment recently granted Rafael Viñoly Architects the green light to roll out a massive eco renovation on London's famous Battersea Power Station. Situated alongside the River Thames, the iconic power plant has been featured in works by The Who, Pink Floyd and The Beatles, and now this cultural touchstone is being retrofitted into a self-sufficent community powered by a zero-carbon energy plant.

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MOMA Exhibit Offers Real Solutions to NYC’s Rising Tides

It's long been known that if the seas rise due to Climate Change, New York City is in trouble. With buildings built right up to the waterfront, the city could be in a soupy mess with just a small increase in water levels. Enter the Museum of Modern Art. Eight months ago they commissioned 5 teams of designers and architects to take up residency and create real world solutions for the Big Apple. On March 24th the exhibit "Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront,” goes on display.

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Port-au-Prince Could Be Recycled and Rebuilt From Itself

What if the crumbled remains of Haiti could be recycled and used to repair and rebuild a brand new city? That’s what one company, Independence Recycling of Florida, is proposing as a reconstruction process. Economically, it makes sense to use the existing material on site rather than having to import material to the island nation, and there are also significant environmental benefits to not sending all that waste to the landfill or using virgin materials to rebuild Haiti.

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Green Roofed Hillside Homes Blend Into their Environs

Austrian architects Tobias Weiss and Gernot Reisenhofer have designed a beautiful series of terraced hillside homes that save energy by blending into their environment. Nestled against the surrounding hills, each green-roofed apartment takes advantage of passive solar design, rainwater recycling, and photovoltaic sunshades.

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A Schoolhouse That Can Roll Over on Its Side

Rolling over is a pretty common trick for dogs to do, but have you ever seen a building do it? Well, architecture firm 3DReid and luxury treehouse makers Blue Forest have teamed up to show you one that can. rotatED, their plan for a modular schoolhouse, can rotate onto any of its seven sides, making it a space that is totally adaptable to many different activities. It will also allow the inhabitants of the space to select sustainable add-ons like solar panels for their customized designs.

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Stunning Green Roofed Apartment Building Rises in Amsterdam

Construction was recently finished on this stunning green-roofed apartment building in Amsterdam, and residents will soon be able to move into their stunning new light filled apartments. Designed by NL Architects, Blok K is located between the historic center and the recently redeveloped harbor area in the east. The building contains 10 apartments and is part of a masterplan for the area, which will include 500 dwellings and a park by Frits van Dongen and de Architecten Cie.

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