Aedas (an architectural firm) and Arup (technical consultants) teamed up to design the Abu Dhabi Investment Council Headquarters Towers.  The twin 25-story skyscrapers are covered in a retractable skin that shields the building from too much sun, heat gain and glare.  Now a brise-soleil is nothing new but what Aedas and Arup delivered is a automatically adjustable screen that follows the suns light path.  The panels aren't just triangles for the best structural support but incorporates the Islamic motif found in architecture.  Further reading here.

This project perfectly emulates why I love architecture and design.  This project is a smart solution that is modern, relates culturally, engendered for long term sustainability.  Awesome job!

Marie Granmar and Charles Sacilotto decided to build a green house over top of their home for added warmth, more usable square footage and the ability to grow food year round in Stockholm.  They even took the roof off and made the space into a terrace.

You can see the original article here.

Architect Zaha Hadid would like to be paid for her firms work on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic stadium. Apparently the Japan Sport Council is withholding money in exchange for ZHA giving up claims to copyrights.

Zaha Hadid design for the 80,000-seat stadium was selected by the council on Nov. 16, 2012.  Later the this design was rejected because of cost and on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015 the Japan Sports Council announced a newly selected design by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.

Hadid's office submitted a document to the Council explaining the similarities of "the structure, layout and numerous elements" between ZHA's original design and the latest.

Unfortunately, is not uncommon for governments or large corporate organizations to bully designers into getting their way by withholding payment.

Original story here.

Brilliant idea and awesome work for a huge problem without pollution or expense.  5 stars!

Gravity Light was designed to replace kerosene lamps throughout Africa using the power of gravity to run the light.  It provides over 30mins of LED lighting as it takes 26lb bag to drop before the bag needs to be raised again.  the UK development team is working on an improved model with will again be assembled in Africa to provide jobs within the communities that use Gravity Light. The cost ends up being $5 to the end user and with in 6 weeks of switching from kerosene to Gravity Light users save money.

For more info check out Gravity Light