Cassa Hotel, New York by Enrique Norten and TEN Arquitectos

Cassa Hotel, designed by Mexican architect Enrique Norten and TEN Arquitectos is located in mid-town Manhattan, at 70 West 45th Street, two blocks north of Bryant Park.





DESIGN CONCEPT: (text from the architect)
This tower is a dramatic architectural statement, using its windows and their punctured rhythm to become the facade’s only ornaments, distinguishing it from the more conventional glass and stone edifices of New York’s midtown.



Cassa’s program mixes public and private: combining restaurant and bar with boutique Hotel and luxury Condominiums that share a common triple height lobby.



The resulting design allows the two to co-exist while functioning independently.



The tower itself is delicately proportioned, resulting from the small site and slender floor plate, like an Obelisk marking the site.







More from Dezeen

Envision Green Hotel by Michael Rosenthal Associates

The Envision Green Hotel proposed by Miami-based Michael Rosenthal Associates for Hospitality Design’s Radical Innovation design competition is part wind tower, part urban eco-resort, and all egg.

DESIGN CONCEPT:

Operating like a living organism, the Envision literally breathes through its wind and atmospheric conversion systems, which allow natural air into the interior of the building without mechanical intervention.



Photovoltaic exterior sheathing provides the building’s energy, while indoor gardens at various levels of the structure act as upward extensions of the earth, creating mini-microclimates that filter the air and act as added insulation.



Recycled pools of water around the structure serve as catch basins, water reservoirs, fire barriers, and indispensable decorative aquatic features. Power from the wind turbine heats the boiler and creates steam for the chiller water plant beneath the structure to cool and heat the hotel.



Within the hotel, rooms would be designed on a 4 foot multiple to conform to standard-sized materials and reduce construction waste. A high-efficiency LED system would illuminate the interiors, and non-toxic, non-off-gassing finishes would be employed. Besides the typical water-efficient fixtures, this eco resort would use recovered rainwater for flushing and irrigation.



The rooms would also include a mood pad control unit that would allow each guest to control the lighting and choose groovy digital images that would reflect behind glass walls and ceilings.



To help this giant eco-egg blend even more subtly into the surrounding urban context, exterior LED curtain walls would change color throughout the night to indicate the progression of time, making the Envision glow in the night like a giant, moody Fabergé egg.


More info from Inhabitat
Architects: Michael Rosenthal Associates