Plastic represents a bit of a nodus for the world: as useful as the material is, it can be take a toll on the environment when it isn’t disposed of correctly. Miniwiz, a company founded by architect and structural engineers Arthur Huang and JarvisLiu, is trying to find easier, more practical solutions for recycling and reusing materials like plastic that often times find their way into landfills or the environment.
Take the EcoArk Pavilion in Taipei, for example, which uses 1.5 million recycled plastic bottles throughout its design.
The nine-story structure represents the first fully functional, public building made of Polli-Brick, a building material made from 100% recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate Polymer. It is translucent, naturally insulated, and durable and uses a 3D honeycomb self-interlocking structure that eliminates the need for chemical adhesives. Polli-Brick is extremely lightweight and is just 1/5 the weight of standard curtain wall systems.
The EcoArk Pavilion uses Polli-Brick throughout its public spaces, which cover an area the size of size basketball courts. These public spaces are kept cool thanks to a combination of natural ventilation, an exterior waterfall that bathes the structure in water collected during rainstorms, and Polli-Brick’s high insulation properties. The building also uses embedded solar power to run the LED lighting systems at night. All of these aspects mean the building operates with a zero-carbon footprint.
Despite weighing 50% less than a conventional building, the EcoArk Pavilion is fire-resistant and strong enough to withstand high winds.
Originally constructed in 2010 for the Taipei International Flora Exposition, the structure has since been converted into a public museum.
Courtesy Forgemind ArchiMedia, flickr Creative Commons
Related Stories
| Jul 14, 2014
Meet the bamboo-tent hotel that can grow
Beijing-based design cooperative Penda designed a bamboo hotel that can easily expand vertically or horizontally.
| Jul 11, 2014
Are these LEGO-like blocks the future of construction?
Kite Bricks proposes a more efficient way of building with its newly developed Smart Bricks system.
| Jul 10, 2014
BioSkin 'vertical sprinkler' named top technical innovation in high-rise design
BioSkin, a system of water-filled ceramic pipes that cools the exterior surface of buildings and their surrounding micro-climates, has won the 2014 Tall Building Innovation Award from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Jul 10, 2014
New tool aggregates LEED project info for over 150 countries
The U.S. Green Building Council announced the launch of an expanded online data visualization resource that will allow any user to access aggregated LEED green building project information in the more than 150 countries with LEED projects.
| Jun 30, 2014
4 design concepts that remake the urban farmer's market
The American Institute of Architects held a competition to solve the farmer's markets' biggest design dilemma: lightweight, bland canopies that although convenient, does not protect much from the elements.
| Jun 20, 2014
U.S. Energy Information Administration releases preliminary Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey results
Federal survey project shows that commercial-building floorspace has grown 22% since 2003; energy-use data will be released in Spring 2015.
| Jun 16, 2014
6 U.S. cities at the forefront of innovation districts
A new Brookings Institution study records the emergence of “competitive places that are also cool spaces.”
| Jun 12, 2014
SmithGroup finishes 100th LEED-certified project
With the construction of the LEED-NC Platinum Oakland University Human Health Building, constructed in Rochester, Michigan, SmithGroupJJR recently achieved its 100th LEED certified project.
| Jun 6, 2014
Shipping container ship terminal completed in Spain
In Seville, Spain, architectural firms Hombre de Piedra and Buró4 have designed and completed a cruise ship terminal out of used shipping containers.
| Jun 2, 2014
Parking structures group launches LEED-type program for parking garages
The Green Parking Council, an affiliate of the International Parking Institute, has launched the Green Garage Certification program, the parking industry equivalent of LEED certification.