Submitted by WA ContentsA gallery on a cliff features irregularly shaped lighting tubes that mimic marine creatures in ChinaChina Architecture News - Mar 14, 2025 - 12:41 html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Chinese architecture practice 3andwich Design / He Wei Studio has designed a gallery on a cliff that features irregularly shaped lighting tubes, mimicking marine creatures in China.Named The Blue Insight Cave Space, the 460-square-metre building is located along Donghai No.1 Road, Ningde City, Fujian Province, China.The building is embedded in the site and presents an irregular shapeAccordignt to the team of 3andwich Design / He Wei Studio, the location has an expansive view. Bijia Mountain Island, which rises magnificently from the sea and has several reefs and sea caves bordering the cliffs below, is directly in front of the platform.The structure should accommodate cultural events, tourist meeting spots, and rest areas while preserving the original site's pleasing sea view and accounting for specific catering needs.The bird's-eye viewIn addition to addressing the idea of low-carbon and energy-saving, the architectural design puts a strong emphasis on its relationship with the environment.The site's surrounding reefs and sea caves served as inspiration for the design. The building's irregular shape and non-right angle give it a reef-like appearance.The building draws inspiration from surrounding reefs and sea eroded cavesIn order to minimize the amount of land that is occupied, the building uses a soil covering form. Because the building's main body is underground, it respects the environment and keeps the inside temperature relatively constant, which lowers the energy needed for summer cooling.The building's roof serves as an observation platform, and the "zero land used" notion is made possible by the newly planted plants and covered soil. Numerous oddly shaped ventilation and illumination apertures may be found on the roof.The building is integrated with its surroundingsTheir shapes, which are widely mixed and dispersed throughout the grassland, resemble marine life in the form of flat circles, triangles, or long tubes. They can serve as installations on rooftop meadows where visitors can play and snap pictures while maintaining inside illumination and ventilation. North facadeThe exterior of the building is designed in an unusual shape. By utilizing structural and functional openings (doors and windows), the wall displays a geometric cutting and combination relationship, accompanied by varying angles of inclination of the walls, the structure seems like a relatively abstract reef. The concrete is roughened to give the building a more rock-like feel and to produce a more natural texture.South facadeThe main entrance of the building is located on the west side of the roof, with a semi-circular shape that extends from underground. From here, people can enter the interior of the building through the descending passage.The interior of the building is composed of multiple interconnected "cave" spaces.The building is semi hidden undergroundThe architect was inspired by the surrounding sea eroded landforms and created an organic and dramatic space through mimicry. The indoor space is divided into three areas: lobby, main space, and logistics space.The roof platform is opened at the corner to form an overhanging terraceThe main space consists of two areas, salon and gallery, both located on the side of the building facing the sea, with a good view.This place can host exhibitions, small gatherings, and provide catering services.The lighting installations on the roofIn an effort to minimize its impact on the nighttime activities of animals and the surrounding environment, architectural lighting is kept to a minimum.To create a calm mood and shape the building's design, only low-power lighting fixtures are placed in strategic areas such as entry, roof lighting pipes, and outside facade corners.The lighting installations on the roofA platform along the building for people to restThe exterior facade uses the colored roughened concreteInterior designInterior designThe facade facing the sea is floor to ceiling glassEntrance space view from the main spaceEntrance space, the void in the roof connects indoor and outdoorThe bird's-eye view in the nightThe head of the building which is extending towards the sea is illuminated and gradually darkens towards the two sidesLighting on roof platformThe main entrance is illuminated to guide people into the buildingThe lighting uses silhouettes to express the sculptural feeling of the roof lighting openingsThe building is situated along the Donghai No.1 RoadThe building is integrated with its surroundingsThe building is located on a sea cliff, overlooking the seaThe west side of the building roof is connected to the road, and the east side is slightly raisedThe building faces Bijia Mountain IslandThe building faces Bijia Mountain IslandSite planFloor planSectionEast facadeLighting diagrammatic sectionProject factsProject name:The Blue Insight Cave SpaceLocation: Danwan View Platform, Xiapu County, Ningde City, Fujian Province, ChinaOwner:Fujian Jinhai Tourism Investment and Development Co., Ltd.Architecture and interior design:3andwich Design / He Wei StudioPrinciple architect:He WeiArchitecture design team:Wang Ziyi, Wu Wenquan, Liu Hao, He XingchenInterior design team:Meng Xiangting, Wang Jun, Zhi HaiyangOn-site art consulting: Zeng ChaoleiLighting design:UNI-LightingAH technical consulting:VELUXConstruction drawing design:Beijing VAGE Institute of Architectural Design & Planning Co., LtdConstruction drawing design team:Zhao Yonglu, Huang Qiulai, Lin Shen, Liang Xinlin, Guo Jiansheng, Pei Xuelong, Chen ZongqiConstruction unit:Fujian Minxinsheng Construction Engineering Co., Ltd.Owner Engineering Management team:Ma Chaohua, Lin LihuiDesign period:August 2023 January 2024Completion time:September 2024Building area:460m2All images DONG Image.All drawings 3andwich Design / He Wei Studio.> via 3andwich Design / He Wei Studio

First phase of 1.9bn city centre regeneration secures planning consentSource: Lendlease/ Bell PhillipsBirmingham City Council has approved plans for a 408-unit apartment block, designed by Bell Phillips Architects in collaboration with Intervention Architecture, as part of the first phase of the 1.9bn Birmingham Smithfield regeneration project.The decision marks a key step forward in the redevelopment of the former wholesale markets site near the Bullring.The proposed scheme, developed by Lendlease, is intended to include a mix of build-to-rent apartments alongside ground-floor commercial units for retail, bars, and leisure uses.Located on a plot overlooking the future Manor Square, the scheme forms part of a wider masterplan that aims to introduce thousands of homes, new cultural and leisure facilities, and extensive new public realm to the city centre.Selina Mason, director of masterplanning at Lendlease, described the decision as a key milestone that would help kick-start the delivery of 3,000 homes for Englands second city.However, concerns were raised during the planning committee meeting about the schemes housing mix and architectural design.Birmingham Civic Society criticised aspects of the scheme, stating that the design quality was limited and arguing that the housing mix does not benefit families. The organisation expressed reservations about the precedent set by the phase one development for later stages of the masterplan.Councillor Colin Green warned that the inclusion of a large number of one-bedroom apartments could result in a transient population and a lack of long-term community stability. Im conscious the decisions we make today will last for 100 years this is not a short-term problem, he said.Source: Lendlease/ Bell PhillipsSource: Lendlease/ Bell PhillipsSource: Lendlease/ Bell PhillipsSource: Lendlease/ Bell PhillipsSource: Lendlease/ Bell PhillipsProposed rooftop pavilionSource: Lendlease/ Bell PhillipsGround floor planSource: Lendlease/ Bell Phillips1/7show captionDespite these concerns, planning officers maintained that the scheme complied with the approved design code and was consistent with the masterplans wider objectives. A report presented to the committee noted that affordable housing provision would be delivered in future phases of the development.Once complete, the Birmingham Smithfield project is expected to provide more than 82,000 sq m of office space and 44,000 sq m of retail. The masterplan also includes a public square designed to accommodate events for up to 6,900 people.During the same committee meeting a decision on a separate proposal by Hammerson to demolish the nearby indoor markets buildingand replace them with more housing was deferred.>> Also read:A failure of planning? The uncertain fate of Birminghams historic markets

Historic England raises no objection to scheme inMaritime Greenwich world heritage siteCGI showing how the extension will look when built1/5show captionStride Treglown and Purcell have been given the green light for plans to refurbish and extend a grade II-listed building within the Maritime Greenwich world heritage site.The University of Greenwichs proposals to add a three-storey building to the side of the 1920s Devonport House, which neighbours the National Maritime Museum, were approved by Greenwich councils planning committee earlier this week.The scheme, which Stride Treglown is working on as lead architect with Purcell as conservation architect, will see the historic former nurses home restored and converted into educational use.An existing former conference centre on the site, built in the early 2000s and now used by the university as teaching space, will be demolished under the plans to make way for the 4,000 sq m new extension.This will be linked to Devonport House by a glazed atrium described by Stride Treglown as an internal street, with the facade of the listed building left exposed.Historic England raised no objection to the plans, which it described as a discrete and contextual addition to the townscape in heritage-sensitive views.While the heritage consultee said the glazed atrium would slightly undermine the architectural interest of the listed building and cause some harm to its significance, it said the removal of the modern extension would offer modest enhancement to the site.> Also read:Stride Treglown tables plan to extend listed university building within Greenwich world heritage siteThe new building will contain a 150-seat lecture space, a 90-seat lecture space and a former back of house area which will be transformed into a breakout area and exhibition space.A further 4,000 sq m of internal space in Devonport House will be refurbished, and a grade II-listed war memorial relocated to a garden at the front of the site.The project team also includes project manager Gardiner & Theobald, QS Fanshawe, planning consultant Turley, multidisciplinary engineer Hoare Lea, landscape architect Farrer Huxley and civil and structural engineer Alan Baxter.

The 57,000m scheme for client Cityzen is on the site of a former Soviet military headquarters at the corner of Mikheil Tamarashvili and University streets in the Saburtalo district.The mainly residential skyscaper will sit at the gateway to a wider housing-led neighbourhood, which is already under construction, and is being billed as a vertical extension of Tbilisis new 36ha Central Park. The neighbouring four block will provide 886 homes with a further 405 apartments in the ZHA-designed tower.The practice said a series of cascading landscaped terraces will extend from the tower towards the park, providing south-facing outdoor spaces for cafs, restaurants and other community activities on the lower floors.AdvertisementThese terraces will act as social areas for the lower-level office floors and as balconies for the flats above.The London-based ZHA team is collaborating with local firm Artstudio Project on the designs. It is understood the Georgian studio had worked on previous iterations of the landmark tower.ZHA recently posted a global fee income of 77.3 million for the 12 months to 30 April 2024, up by 7.8 million from the 69.4 million made in 2023. All but 1.7 million of the practices turnover came from projects outside the UK.The skyscaper is expected to complete in 2028.Architects viewInformed by the rolling hills intersected with river valleys that wind through the undulating cityscape of Tbilisi, Cityzen Towers design by Zaha Hadid Architects echoes its context at the intersection of the citys urbanism and its natural environments.The towers composition is defined by the gradual unification of the large communal areas facing the park on its lower floors merging into the smaller, diamond-shaped footprint of the residences above. This design ensures every apartment has excellent natural lighting conditions and exceptional views. These differing footplate requirements between the lower and higher floors gradually amalgamate, defining an incremental twist in the towers overall composition.Detailed local wind and solar analysis has also informed elements of the 42-storey towers design to ensure optimal comfort for residents and visitors to Cityzens public plazas, outdoor terraces and recreational areas.Situated within Tbilisis humid temperate climate, the Cityzen Tower is designed to optimise natural ventilation. Its extended balconies and external louvres will minimise direct sunlight in summer and enhance solar radiation in winter to further reduce energy demand.The towers concrete structure continues the tradition and expertise in concrete construction of Tbilisis local suppliers and workforce. Designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, the towers procurement will target the use of locally recycled materials when available. The Cityzen development will also implement rainwater collection and reuse via its on-site reservoir. All planting throughout the complex will use native vegetation that does not require supplemental irrigation. Source:NegativProject dataClientCityzen (a subsidiary of IG Development Georgia)LocationCorner of Mikheil Tamarashvili and University streets, Tbilisi, GeorgiaArchitectZaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)Design teamPatrik Schumacher; project director - Manuela Gatto; project associate - Yevgeniya Pozigun; project architects - Takehiko Iseki, Massimo Napoleoni; project leads - Armando Bussey (design), Bowen Miao (facade), Maria Avrami (BIM); technical coordination - Kutbuddin Nadiadi; analytics and insights - Uli Blum, Danial Haziq; sustainability team - Aleksander Mastalski, Aditya Ambare, Carlos Bausa Martinez, Shibani Choudhury, Disha ShettyLocal architectArtstudio ProjectStructural engineersCapiteliFaade engineeringFMT Faade ConsultantsMEPZeroneLandscape consultantArtstudio ProjectRenderingNegativLEED consultant Sustainable EngineeringCompletion expected2028Advertisement

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March 14, 20252 min readThese Dogs Can Sniff Out Invasive Species before Its Too LateDogs excel at finding spotted lanternfly eggs in lower-level infestationsBy Gennaro Tomma edited by Sarah Lewin FrasierOne of the dogs trained to track down spotted lanternflies. Angela K. FullerFrom sniffing out rare species to tracking down poachers, dogs aid conservation efforts in a surprising variety of ways. And a growing list of successes shows how our best friends legendary noses can be an especially powerful weapon in the battle against invasive organisms. Lately dogs have proved to be particularly useful allies against one infamously unwelcome guest: spotted lanternflies.Native to Asia, these insects were seen in Pennsylvania in 2014 and soon spread across the eastern and central U.S. The species is especially threatening to vineyards, as it can severely damage grapevines over time.Once its spread into a new area, getting rid of that infestation early on is really important, says Angela K. Fuller, an ecologist at Cornell University. But that also means finding and destroying spotted lanternfly egg masses, whose light-brown, dirtlike camouflage makes them extremely difficult to see.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.For a recent study in Ecosphere, Fuller and her team pitted dogs against humans at finding spotted lanternfly eggs in various scenarios. The researchers spent several months training a Labrador retriever and a Belgian Malinois to find the eggs, and then they set the dogs to work in 20 Pennsylvania and New Jersey vineyards. Humans did better within the vineyards, where they could search systematically up and down the vinesbut the dogs detected over three times more egg masses in nearby forested areas. Fuller suggests that dogs could also be more effective in vineyards with lower-level infestations, catching the scent in large areas that would be too time-consuming for humans to search.I think it is a very nice and thorough study, says Nathaniel Hall, an animal behaviorist at Texas Tech University who studies dogs sense of smell and was not involved in the research. It is helping lay the groundwork for use.According to Ngaio Richards, a canine handler and forensic ecologist at the University of Florida and at Working Dogs for Conservation, this is an ever expanding field of researchand practical use. Worldwide, detection dog teams are being integrated into efforts to deter, monitor and combat the presence of invasive species, she says, from insects and plants to fish and mammals.In North America, trained dogs inspect watercraft to detect invasive mussels before they catch a ride to new waters. Dogs have also been tested at finding longhorn beetles, brook trout and nutria. In Montana, dogs identify dyers woad, an invasive plant that can harm native vegetation and is hard for humans to detect during parts of its life cycle.Dogs tend to be an excellent real-time detector that is hard to match, Hall says. I think there is an untapped capacity for broader use.

March 14, 20253 min readIf Life on Mars Ever Existed, This Bizarre Rock May Tell UsThe intriguing chemistry of a rock collected by the Perseverance rover could trace to microbial activityor notBy Alexandra Witze & Nature magazine The black-ringed leopard spots on a Martian rock might be evidence of chemical reactions that could have involved microorganisms. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSNASAs Perseverance rover has found possible hints of ancient life on Mars― one of the strongest signs yet of Martian life, according to planetary scientists. Dark-rimmed leopard spots in a rock studied by the rover last year could be the remains of Martian microbial activity, researchers said at a conference today.The announcement comes loaded with caveats. Yes, the spots look a lot like those produced by microbes on Earth. But the spots might have formed without the help of living organisms, researchers say, even if they dont entirely understand the chemical and physical processes on Mars that would have been at work in that case.For now, the discovery remains a 1 on the scale of 1 to 7 for evaluating claims of extraterrestrial life: 1 represents the detection of an intriguing signal, and 7 is a slam-dunk confirmation. Jim Green, the former chief scientist at NASA who developed the scale, says he would like researchers to make additional confirming measurements to move it up another notch on the scale. Doing that would require bringing the leopard-spot rock back to Earth for analysis. A sample is sitting in Perseverances belly, awaiting a ride off Mars for precisely that purpose.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Regardless of how things play out, the discovery is a significant entry in the history of searching for extraterrestrial life and a test of researchers ability to evaluate potential biosignatures on other planets.Lake-side real estateTodays talks, given at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas, were the first public presentation of a discovery that NASA teased in a July press release, which contained few scientific details. The agencys caution comes from experience: decades ago, scientists claimed to have found signs of life in the Martian meteorite ALH84001, only for other researchers to find ways to explain the observations through geological, rather than biological, processes.The data revealed today come from a rock in Jezero Crater, where the rover landed in 2021 to hunt for signs of Martian life. Aeons ago, the crater held a lake that could have been conducive to life. The rock formed in the channel of an ancient river that once flowed into the lake.The rock contains dark peppery spots, which rover scientists nicknamed poppy seeds, and larger dark-rimmed blobs with lighter centres, dubbed leopard spots. Chemical analysis using the rovers instruments showed that the poppy seeds and the rims of the leopard spots are rich in iron and phosphorous. The centres of the leopard spots are rich in iron and sulphur, Joel Hurowitz, a geochemist at Stony Brook University in New York, told the conference.These chemical enrichments suggest that the poppy seeds and leopard spots formed when carbon-containing organic compounds in the rock reacted with iron and sulfate minerals. On Earth, such reactions are kicked off by microbes.Although these reactions could have taken place without life if the rock were heated significantly, Hurowitz and his colleagues do not think that is probably what happened; the rock is fine-grained, which suggests that it has not been heated and recrystallized. If the rocks temperature did remain low, modelling studies suggest that the spots could easily have formed if living things played a part in the process, Michael Tice, a geobiologist at Texas A&M University in College Station, said at the conference.Settling the questionStill unknown is whether such reactions can occur without the presence of living organisms. We should feel compelled to do a whole lot of laboratory, field and modelling studies to try to investigate features like this in more detail, Hurowitz told the conference. And ultimately bring these samples back home so that we can reach a conclusion with regard to whether or not they were or were not formed by life.NASA is facing enormous pressure to revamp its plans to bring as many as 30 of Perseverances samples to Earth. Early estimates that this mission would cost up to US$11 billion sent the agency back to the drawing board, but it has been unable to figure out a path forwards so far.If scientists can get Perseverances samples into their labs, they could run sophisticated analyses, such as isotopic studies, that could help to reveal whether microbes were involved in forming the spots.This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on March 12, 2025.

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The Final Fantasy series has now sold over 200m copies across the globe.Square Enix shared the announcement on social media, along with the news the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series has sold over 5m copies worldwide.The sales figure further cements Final Fantasy as one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, even if sales have dipped in more recent years.Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster trailerWatch on YouTubeFinal Fantasy is on a par with the likes of Assassin's Creed and The Sims, having sold more than the Sonic the Hedgehog series and the Legend of Zelda series. However, it remains far behind the Mario franchise, Tetris, Call of Duty, Pokmon, GTA, Minecraft, and FIFA.In terms of sales, the PS1 era was collectively the most successful for Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy 7 sold almost 15m copies, Final Fantasy 8 sold 12m copies, and Final Fantasy 9 sold 8.9m copies. Elsewhere Final Fantasy 12 sold 11.3m, Final Fantasy 15 sold 10.3m, Final Fantasy 13 sold 9.6m, and Final Fantasy 10 sold almost 9m (thanks Video Game Sales Wiki).However, they all pale in comparison to Final Fantasy 14 at 24m sales. In 2021 the MMORPG was the most profitable game in the series, and in financial reports since its often kept the company afloat where other games have failed to meet expectations. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.More recently, while Final Fantasy 7 Remake sold 8.7m copies, both follow-up Rebirth and the next series entry Final Fantasy 16 "did not meet expectations" according to Square Enix.Still, the 5m sales for the Pixel Remasters - revamped versions of the first six games in the series - is good news for the company, proving both nostalgia and interest in older games from series fans and newcomers.And with Square Enix's multiplatform strategy, sales are expected to increase. Most recently, Rebirth was released on PC, even if the port has issues, while the Pixel Remasters were added to Xbox last September in addition to their previous release on Switch, PC, PlayStation, and mobile.