On our road to a cleaner world, green architecture plays an important role and now we can be proud of the first LEED certified parking garage in the United States. The Santa Monica Civic Center exceeds a big part of the LEED guidelines with the help of the solar photovoltaic array on the roof. Also, the construction materials used for the parking structure were recycled and they are completed with low-VOC paints.

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The first LEED Gold certified art museum has been completed and this was possible thanks to a $60 million funding. The construction is the Grand Rapids Art Museum which was expanded and now it features about 125,000 square foot. This is about three times larger than the original structure.

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There is no doubt that the population of the Earth is increasing and nowadays architects are trying to design taller and taller buildings. Here is a concept, actually this is the most oustanding building concept that I have ever seen. It’s called Ultima Tower, it was designed by Eugene Tsui and it will be two-mile high.

The design of the tower was inspired from termite mounds and it was designed to resist to natural disasters and calamities. The Ultima Tower will have a base of 7,000 foot in diameter, will be stable and aerodynamic and also environmentally-friendly.

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New York is one of the world’s city with the most impressive architectural designs and also their latest design is environmental friendly. The under-construction green building was designed by Neil M. Denari Architects and it’s located in West side Manhattan in the Chelsea art gallery district.

The green structure will be called High Line 23 and it will feature 14-stories of gallery space, residences and penthouse at the top floor. The uncanny design of the building has made its architects to “chase” the LEED Gold certification for HL23. The green part consists of natural ventilation, low VOC interior materials, energy efficiency, natural illumination, water preserved fixtures and we should praise the recycled materials that will help to the construction.

The High Line 23 will have a total space of 39,000 square feet, it will cost about $22 million and is scheduled for completion in the last quarter of 2009.

Nowadays one of the best ideas for design and architecture are inspired from “greenery”. The mankind has realized that we have no choice than to start building structures that are environmental-friendly. If you were thinking that it will be hard to bring cool ideas you were wrong because green could provide cool and futuristic features.

Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture came up with the Passive Houses which they will unveil them at the Hem&Villa fair in Malmo, Sweden. These houses are made of massive walls meant to keep warm and windows that will distribute the heat all around the house. This technique was inspired from the native Americans who used it a few centuries ago.

The house that we bring you today was called Villa Atrium and it consists of a donut-like building and in the yard you will find a beautiful tree. The design of the Passive Homes combines the old with the modern in a very nice way and I expect them to become very popular among the house-builders.

This is one of the most interesting structure concept involving green buildings. This concept is called Veg.itecture and is based on vegetation as the primary component of a building. Until now it didn’t get too much attention, but Ken Yeang looks to change this situation. Ken is one of the most active promoters of this architecture and his designs are considered masterpieces.

Most of Ken’s buildings are bioclimatic skyscrapers but the technique is not very simple because the structures need sun alignment, adjustment to the climate conditions throughout the year and to make use of lighting and ventilation.

The skyscrapers look very good with the addition of vegetation and there are some other projects like the Zorlu Ecocity in Turkey. Check out the gallery below for more interesting structures.

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Dongtan is the name of the future city, and will be located near Shanghai, China. It was designed primarily considering the health of it’s future habitants, and no one living there will be more than three minutes away from a park. It will also contain wildlife corridors, bringing the nature into the city.

ARUP, in collaboration with Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation are managing the project and they estimate it to be ready until the Expo 2010 held in Shanghai.

The new city will be able to accommodate 50,000 people and by 2040 it is expected to have a capacity of over 500,000, which would be one-third the size of Manhattan.

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A green resort is going to be built at Lake Taupo, New Zealand. The construction will begin as of the middle of next year and it will cost about $75 million. The resort will be called Hingarae, it will be built on an area of about 40 hectares and it will be pollution-free.

The Hingarae will be accessible by boat or walking track and the transportation within will be provided by electric cars and the energy will come from the sun. The resort will feature 28 freehold modules which are going to cost about $3.2 million and each will feature two or three bedrooms.

If the technology is very futuristic then the design doesn’t remain behind. The project belongs to X.Pace a Sydney and Singapore design company which envisioned some pretty touches and also very luxurious for the Hingarae resort.

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The first drawings of the green buildings of Masdar City, that zero-waste city of the future concept, were made by Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill who designed Masdar Headquarters. This building will be the first that will generate power in order to be assembled. The power will be acquired with the help of a solar roof which, of course, is going to be assembled first.

Masdar City was designed by Norman Foster and is a project of $22 million. The pollution free city will be situated near Abu Dhabi, a city which accustomed us with its futuristic architecture. Masdar Headquarters will measure 1.4 million square foot and it will cost about $300 million.

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