Famous+Works



= __Venezuelan Architects Design First Green City __ =

 **Since Caracas has taken great strides toward becoming a greener city, it seems a good place to find architects to design headquarters for the world’s greenest city.** **I’m referring to Masdar, the $22 billion development in Abu Dhabi, which is the world’s first ever zero-carbon, zero-waste and zero car city. The Venezuelan architecture firm AK’s Eco-Builders Co, has been chosen to design “the world’s first positive energy, mixed-use building”, which promises to be “the first building in history to generate power for its own assembly, through development of its solar roof pier before the underlying complex.” ** ** If all goes according to plan (which might in itself be an architectural first), the self-dependent structure will not only serve as the city’s centerpiece, it will have a whopping 1.4 million square feet floor plan and cost an estimated $300 million to build. **


 *  In addition to the many firsts involved, the building also takes some large and small honors. It will feature one of the world’s largest photovoltaic arrays while employing the largest solar thermal driven cooling and dehumidification system — and it will be the lowest energy consumer per square meter for a modern class A office building in a hot, humid climate. It will also consume about 70% less than water than other similarly sized buildings. **