Early this morning NASA kicked off Operation LENS, an ambitious plan to concentrate and collect solar power using a giant magnifying glass in outer space. Long speculated to be a rumor, the 7,000,000 ft. wide lens was fabricated over the course of the past 3 years and launched from Cape Canaveral, piggybacking on this thing that they were going to launch anyway (they figured they might as well kill 2 birds with one stone). While the first phase went exactly as planned, the plan hit a major snag when the magnifying glass began to work a bit too well and ended up scorching large regions in the western hemisphere. When asked to comment, premier magnifying lens science researcher Byron Scott said simply, “I told them so.”

Read the rest of NASA Launches Giant Magnifying Glass into Space to Collect Solar Energy

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "april fools", astronauts, Frank Gehry, giant magnifying glass, nasa, operation lens, outer space, Solar Power

Facebook’s green-roofed, Frank Gehry-designed campus was just given the green light by the city of Menlo Park. Submitted for approval last fall, the campus will connect with the company’s current headquarters via an underground tunnel, and it will feature Gehry’s signature furling architecture – although it was slightly toned down from the original plan. The sprawling 433,555-square-foot complex will rise like a hillside with an oak tree-filled park on its roof.

Read the rest of Facebook Gets Approval for Green-Roofed Frank Gehry-Designed Menlo Park Campus

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: eco design, Facebook, Forested Roof, Frank Gehry, Gehry Facebook Headquarters, Green Building, green design, menlo Park, menlo park campus, native plants, palo alto, sustainable design, Sustinable Building

Frank Gehry is probably the most well-known living architect in the world and this week further established his legacy with $100,000 donation to the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). Gehry, along with his wife Berta, has a longstanding relationship with the prestigious program, and the institute will use the money to initiate the Gehry Prize, an annual grant to be awarded to outstanding graduate students in architecture.

Read the rest of Frank Gehry Donates $100,000 to SCIARC to Create Architecture Prize

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: architect, Architecture, berta gehry, Frank Gehry, gehry prize, Graduate Thesis Weekend, Pritzker Prize, Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal, Sci-Arc, southern california institute of architecture, the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Award, the Friedrich Kiesler Prize, the National Medal of Arts, the Praemium Imperiale Award, the Wolf Prize in Art (Architecture)

Facebook just announced a huge expansion to their Menlo Park campus, and the company has commissioned Prizker-Prize winning starchitect Frank Gehry – best known for his shiny, titanium-clad icons of blobitecture – to design the expansion. Even more surprising is that we’ve seen the designs, and so far they don’t appear to include Gehry’s trademark incomprehensible piles of titanium curves. The proposed design is quite eco-friendly, with a massive park-like, tree and grass-lined green roof featuring benches and a walking trail! In addition, Facebook submitted proposals to the city to allow its planned new workforce of 6,000 to travel between old and new campuses to via a tunnel designed for pedestrian and bike traffic. Perhaps an eco architect like Bill McDonough might have been a better pick to design the giant green roof, but it seems Facebook was going for icon status here, as few architects are better known than Frank Gehry.

Read the rest of Facebook Commissions Frank Gehry to Design New Green Menlo Park Campus

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Architecture, blobitecture, deconstructivist architecture, Facebook, Facebook and Gehry, Facebook menlo park campus, Frank Gehry, Gehry to design Facebook campus, green roof, mark zuckerberg, menlo Park, new campus, post-modern architecture

Frank Gehry, the architect known for his twisting metal buildings, is nearing completion on his first project in Latin America. The Museum of Biodiversity, located in Panama, is set to provide education about biodiversity in an otherworldly structure which will include gardens and biospheres designed by Bruce Mau Design in conjunction with scientists from the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Panama. 

Read the rest of Frank Gehry-Designed BioMuseum to Be A Hub of Environmental Learning in Panama

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Biodiversity, biodiversity museum, Biomuseum, Bridge of Life, Bruce Mau, Frank Gehry, Gehry Partners, Latin American architecture, Latin American museum, panama biomuseum, Panama Isthmus, Panama museum, smithsonian institute, University of Panama

Frank Gehry has never been one to rest on his laurels. His ever-evolving style has recast the field of architecture, and now after reinventing the way many of us look at design, he has set his sights on transforming the way that we collaborate. GTeam, as Gehry’s new product is called, is a cloud-based software that allows designers to share their work in a common space online in a common format.

Read the rest of Frank Gehry Reveals GTeam – The “Google Docs” of Design

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "design collaboration", Autoca, Design Software, Frank Gehry, Gehry Partners, Gehry Technologies, Google Docs, GTeam, Revvit, sketchup

After two years of construction a 12 acre strip of downtown Los Angeles has been transformed into a multi-functional green space dubbed Grand Park – and it’s set to open to the public this weekend! Landscape architects Rios Clementi Hale Studios designed the project, which turned a cascade of parking lots and hidden spaces into a green park which provides for large scale events and casual relaxation alike. The city hopes the park will serve as an “urban oasis,” bringing a new “spirit and vitality” to the area, which sits between many of Los Angeles’ civic buildings.

Read the rest of 12-Acre Grand Park Set to Open This Weekend in Downtown Los Angeles

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: central park, city park, Frank Gehry, grand park, green spaces, high line, Landscape Architecture, Los Angeles, millenium park, performance space, public park, public recreation, rios clementi

Read the rest of Brad Pitt Recruits Frank Gehry to Design Sustainable, Two-Family Home For Make It Right in New Orleans

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Brad Pitt, Disaster-proof design, duplex home, elevated housing, energy star appliances, Frank Gehry, high-velocity air conditioning, hurricane housing, jordan pollard, LEED platinum, Lower 9th Ward, Make it Right, Make It Right Foundation, New Orleans, no voc paint, outdoor spaces, permeable sidewalks, post-industrial waste, roof deck, solar shade, street flooding

Read the rest of Opus Hong Kong: Frank Gehry’s Airy New Luxury Residences Are Now Complete

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "sustainable architecture", china, eco design, Frank Gehry, Gehry, green architecture, Green Building, green design, Hong Kong, luxury residences, luxury tower, opus, opus hong kong, residential development, residential tower, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, swire properties

Frank Gehry is no stranger to controversy, sometimes wrongly and sometimes for good reason, but the rejection of his plans for the President Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C. is a new kind of controversy. The proposed plan is being resoundingly rejected by Eisenhower’s Family and many more, not for its radical design or even for its non-traditional materials, but for how the memorial depicts Eisenhower as a Kansas boy instead of the leader of the western world. The green lining to the design though is a robust vegitated space placed at the heart of the memorial.

Read the rest of Gehry’s Eisenhower Memorial for Washington D.C. is Controversial For How It Depicts Ike

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: DC green space, Eisenhower family, Eisenhower memorial controversy, Frank Gehry, Frank Gehry controversy, frank gehry sustainable design, green memorial, Ike memorial

London-based product designer Émilie Voirin has courageously re-interpreted a crop of iconic modern chairs into fantastic biodegradable seats. Using woven rattan and bamboo, the designer created sustainable versions of Verner Panton‘s ‘Panton chair’, Michael Thonet‘s ‘Thonet Chair No. 18′, Charles and Ray Eames’ ‘LCW Plywood Chair’ and Frank Gehry‘s ‘Wiggle chair’. Rattan is a durable plant fiber that is often used for making furniture, baskets, and other household items, however Voirin has adapted the material to give these classic chairs a sustainable twist.

Read the rest of Made in China: Émilie Voirin Reinterprets Iconic Chairs in Biodegradable Bamboo and Rattan

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "green furniture", bamboo furniture, Botanical, Charles and Ray Eames, design classics, fast growing, Frank Gehry, french designer, green materials, green products, iconic chairs, london design, Michael Thonet, recycling / compost, reed furniture, Sustainable Materials, verner panton

Add another gem to Chelsea‘s ‘Starchitect Row’ – the much anticipated Metal Shutter Houses by Shigeru Ban are finally complete! Featuring a simple geometric construction set off by an ever-changing facade of individually operable shades, Ban’s design is a subdued and elegant form offering some much needed visual relief against all the glitz and glam of the surrounding glass-walled skyscrapers. Hit jump to see some photos of the completed structure as well as some pics snapped up by our very own reporters!

READ MORE >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: chelsea, Eco Architecture, eco design, Frank Gehry, green architecture, green design, Manhattan Condo, Metal Shutter Houses, shigeru ban, shigeru ban NYC apartments, shigeru ban shutter houses, sustainable design

Read the rest of Brooks + Scarpa Complete New Eco Upgrades To Gehry’s Santa Monica Parking Garages

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "sustainable architecture", Brooks + Scarpa, eco design, Frank Gehry, Gehry, green architecture, Green Building, green design, parking garage, parking garage renovation, pedestrian friendly, prefab shade screen, Santa Monica, Santa Monica Place, shade screen, solar system, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

Read the rest of Frank Gehry’s Looming Spruce 8 Tower in NY Not Seeking LEED But Has Some Green Features

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "leed", 8 Spruce Street, beekman tower, Eco Architecture, Frank Gehry, Gehry, green architecture, Green Building, green design, new york architecture, new york by frank gehry, new york city

Recently executive architects,Omniplan literally blew the roof off of Frank Gehry’s Santa Monica Place, pursuing hopes of LEED Silver in one of the United State’s largest sustainable retail renovations. The $265-million makeover turned the enclosed three-story 1980′s structure into an outdoor mall experience. Although we are admittedly not thrilled by sustainable renovations that cater to more consumerism, we were a little bit tipsy about the green building strategies featured throughout the 200,000 square feet of public space that are now open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Read the rest of Gehry’s Santa Monica Place Goes Green With LEED Renovation

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: City of Santa Monica, Frank Gehry, Gehry, Green Building, green renovation, inhabitat, Inhabitat Los Angeles, leed certified, leed silver, Open-Air, public space, Santa Monica Place, Sustainable Building, sustainable renovation

Even modern buildings are suitable candidates for historic preservation. The Architect’s Newspaper tells us that Chicago’s iconic Inland Steel Building is set to undergo an eco renovation courtesy of SOM and Frank Gehry, who is part of the development team. In light of some of Gehry’s recent comments about LEED, it may surprise some to learn that the renovation plan is targeting Platinum under LEED CS 2.0! In addition to the upgrades to the structure, which incorporate some interesting elements, the way the building is leased out will drastically reduce construction waste from tenant build-outs while preserving the modernist character of the building.

Read the rest of SOM and Frank Gehry Team Up for Inland Steel Eco Renovation

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "leed", and merrill, chicago, Frank Gehry, green architecture, green design, green renovation, inland steel building, LEED-CS, modern architecture, owings, skidmore, SOM, sustainable design, Walter Netsch

A few months ago, legendary American architect Frank Gehry ruffled many green feathers by declaring that green architecture and sustainable design are “political” and that LEED certification is often given for “bogus stuff”. His comments, unsurprisingly, provoked quite a reaction in the world of sustainable design — especially when he told Bloomberg Businessweek that green building had become “fetishized” like “wearing an American flag pin”. This week, Need to Know, a new current affairs show and online news magazine on PBS, sat down with Frank Gehry to speak to him about the LEED controversy and ask what he “really thinks about green building, the LEED certification process and the future of sustainable architecture”.

Read the rest of Frank Gehry Defends His Criticism of LEED

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "sustainable architecture", energy efficient building, Frank Gehry, Green Building, green design, leed certification, sustainable design

Frank Gehry is probably the most well-known living architect in the world, and because he is in such a spotlight, we would hope he would make the most of his role-model status and call attention to what we feel is one of the most pressing issues facing contemporary society: the state of the environment. Unfortunately, it seems that environmental concerns are a hard sell for this provocative & controversial architect. In a public appearance on April 6th, Frank Gehry criticized LEED certification, saying it is it is awarded for ‘bogus stuff’ and that climate change and sustainable design are “political” issues. So was Gehry stating that he opposes sustainable design flat out? Or does he have a problem with the fetishization of LEED ratings and the self-righteousness of a certain element of the environmental movement?

READ MORE >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "sustainable architecture", debate, Frank Gehry, Green Building, green certification systems, green design, leed certification, politics, starchitect, sustainable design

Frank Gehry, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect responsible for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Dancing House in Prague, has slammed the LEED certification, saying it is awarded for ‘bogus stuff’ and that climate change and sustainable design are “political” issues. This will no doubt raise a few eyebrows in the environmental and design sector, as ensuring buildings are as energy efficient as possible has the potential to cut CO2 emissions drastically. Currently, almost a third of greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the construction and housing sectors.

Read the rest of Frank Gehry Slams LEED, Calls Sustainable Design “Political”

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "energy efficiency", "sustainable architecture", alternative energy, Architecture, Frank Gehry, frank gehry green buildings, frank gehry sustainable design, Green Building, green design, green transportation, sustainable design

French architect Jean Nouvel recently unveiled a shining new LEED Certified skyscraper on 11th avenue in New York City. The building features a stunning facade composed of 1,700 different panes of glass and is described by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect as a “vision machine”. With apartments reaching from $1.6 million to $22 million, one wonders if New York really needs another green luxury building when there’s so much need for affordable housing. But nonetheless, 100 Eleventh Avenue is a stunning portrayal of what modern design can accomplish in a city like the Big Apple.

Read the rest of Jean Nouvel Unveils Reflective LEED Certified Skyscraper in NYC

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "sustainable architecture", apartment, Architecture, eleventh avenue, Frank Gehry, HIGHLINE, jean nouvel, leed certified, new york city, New York., nouvel, NY, west side highway