The Smart Highways project by Studio Roosegaarde proposes five energy-efficient concepts that will be tested on a stretch of highway in the Brabant province of the Netherlands from the middle of this year.

The first of the concepts developed by studio head Daan Roosegaarde and infrastructure firm Heijmans is a glow-in-the-dark road that uses photo-luminescent paint to mark out traffic lanes. The paint absorbs energy from sunlight during the day the lights the road at night for up to 10 hours.

Temperature-responsive road paint would show images of snowflakes when the temperature drops below zero, warning drivers to take care on icy roads.

There are two ideas for roadside lighting: interactive street lamps that come on as vehicles approach then dim as they pass by, thereby saving energy when there is no traffic, and "wind lights" that use energy generated by pinwheels as drafts of air from passing vehicles cause them to spin round.

Finally, an induction priority lane would incorporate induction coils under the tarmac to recharge electric cars as they drive.

Roosegaarde presented the Smart Highways concept at the Design Indaba conference in South Africa earlier this month, where he received a standing ovation from rapt guests – see more from Design Indaba as part of our Dezeen and MINI World Tour.

Last year the studio built a dome of metallic flowers that appear to come to life as they sense the presence of visitors, while their earlier projects include a dress that becomes see-through when the wearer gets excited or embarrassed – see all design by Studio Roosegaarde.

Other street lighting we've reported on includes Ross Lovegrove's solar-powered lights shaped like trees and a sharply faceted LED street lamp – see all street lighting.

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This pedestrian crossing in Serbia jumbles up the usual arrangement of black and white stripes.

The zebra crossing was commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina in Novi Sad for the road outside its entrance.

The project was led by Professor Eduard Čehovin, who teaches Typography at the Academy of Fine Arts at Ljubljana University in Slovenia.

The Zebra Crossing Project originally began in 2008 with a commission from the mayor's office in Ljubljana. For that project, Čehovin came up with a spotty design (above).

They may look unorthodox, but the crossings are the standard colour and size specified in local rules on road markings.

Here's more from Eduard Čehovin:

New Zebra Crossing in Novi Sad

At the end of April this year I was invited by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Novi Sad, Serbia to design new Zebra Crossing. Producing of the project took place on the World Graphic Design Day, 27 April. The Zebra Crossing is placed in front of the museum and is used as a normal pedestrian crossing.

In the year 2008 was the Zebra Crossing (another visual) produced for the first time in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The ZEBRA project incorporates the creative practice of visual communications into existing road markings. The latter are produced according to the Rules on Road Markings. According to the Rules pedestrian crossings, or so-called zebra crossings, should be at least 4 metres wide. They can be marked by equal white lines which are 50 centimetres wide and with 50 centimetres wide spaces in between, or are demarcated along the width at the ends by white line markings which are 10 centimetres wide, with the width of the field measuring 380 centimetres.

The ZEBRA project redefines the visual image of road markings, where their functionality and choice of colour remain the same. In this sense it gives design a public character that expresses good codes of practice with its innovative expression.

The project’s goal is to change the existing image of the pedestrian crossing using a new design dimension. In my intervention only existing crossings have been used. The ZEBRA project’s gallery is the street, the artists' signatures are the works themselves, the viewers of the project are passers-by.

With its innovative approach, the ZEBRA project makes design accessible to everyone and, because of its public nature, gives every observer a chance to establish new criteria for the parameters of design in everyday urban life. By means of an active position towards the design intervention, relations of intercultural dialogue are established among the public, which respond to the decisions on how far-reaching innovative design solutions can be in urban life. With its public integration, the ZEBRA project creates a dialogue, which poses questions on the sense of existing technical solutions of the signs of visual communication within the spectre of road markings.

Eduard Čehovin, full professor
Ljubljana
Slovenia

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Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group have won a competition to masterplan a new gateway to Stockholm at the intersection of two motorways. 

Called Energy Valley, their proposal for Stockholmsporten will create an artificial valley containing a park with separate areas of forest, wetlands, grass lawns and hills, and will also feature a mirrored sphere hovering over the road junction.

Continuous cycle paths and footpaths looping through the area will connect attractions including a shopping centre, a hammam and a mosque.

Built around the junction between the E18 and E4 highways, Stockholmsporten is the largest infrastructure project in Sweden.

BIG win the competition in collaboration with Grontmij and Spacescape.

More information on the Stockholmsporten masterplan competition here (in Swedish)

All our stories about BIG »

Here's some more information from the architects:

BIG + Grontmij + Spacescape are the winning team for the Stockholmsporten master plan competition to design an inviting new entrance portal into Stockholm at the intersection of a newly planned super-junction.

The planned Hjulsta Intersection 15 km north of Stockholm where two European highways the E18 and E4 Bypasses converge into a three level intersection, amounts to the largest infrastructure project in Sweden, required due to the growth and development of the capital. The Stockholmsporten competition seeks to define the Hjulsta intersection through sculpting the surrounding landscape and framing the automotive scale of the intersection. Additionally the proposal connects the adjacent Järvafäl tet recreation area through a continuous promenade to the distinctive natural and heritage-laden environment and adds new qualities to the site. BIG was selected as the winner of the invited competition among proposals from Norwegian Snøhetta, Danish landscape architect Kristine Jensen and Swedish Erik Giudice Architects.

”The magnificent bowl shape of this proposal is an ingenious solution which interacts with the geometry of the intersection while at the same time creating an urban context linking together the different areas surrounding the site. Possibilities of adding qualities and activities to the place which will benefit residents are very elegantly added.” Jury Report, Stockholmsporten.

Prior to this competition, the intersecting roads would create physical and visual barriers between the surrounding neighborhoods and divide them into four areas totaling 580.000 m2. BIG’s proposal, the Energy Valley, re-connects these in an un-hierarchical and democratic way through a continuous circular bike and pedestrian loop aligned with public buildings and functions, including a shopping- and sports centre, a hammam and a mosque which will attract visitors from Stockholm and its suburbs.

By introducing natural environments of differing characters within the loop, an Energy Valley in the center turns into a pie shaped park of pine-and oak forests, wetlands, grass lawns and hilly terrain which create a diverse experience when moving in or around the landscape. The surrounding neighborhoods have room to grow, thus expanding infrastructure and developments up to the ridge of the new valley.

“The Energy Valley is a cross-over between urbanism, landscape, architecture, art and infrastructure into a new neighborhood of Stockholm. Harnessing the momentum of the massive investment in tunnels and highways and putting the excess excavation to use as a man-made valley, we create an interdisciplinary hybrid of logistic, economic, environmental and social infrastructure.” Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Partner, BIG.

The site has a great potential in serving as a new entryway into Stockholm. This point is turned into a reflective, self-sustaining hovering sphere mirroring Stockholm as it is, new and old, creating a 180 degree view of the area for the drivers on their way in or out of the city.

30% of the sphere’s surface is covered with Photovoltaic film that faces the sun and produces enough energy to keep it floating while supplying 235 houses in the neighborhood with electricity.

The Stockholm Sphere is an ever changing icon that marks an entry point to the city and reflects the passing seasons and the evolving urban life beneath it.

“Traditionally highways split adjacent areas into disconnected neighborhoods – a good side and a bad side. Our biggest challenge was how to create the maximum benefit by connecting the four parts cut by the intersecting highways. The intersection is thus tamed by the connecting link that circumscribes it.” Jakob Lange, Partner-in-Charge, Stockholmsporten, BIG.

STOCKHOLMSPORTEN INFORMATION

Name Stockholmsporten
Program Master plan, Landscape
Type Prequalified Competition
Size 580.000 m2
Client City of Stockholm, Swedish Transport Administration
Collaborators Grontmij, Spacescape
Location Stockholm, Sweden
Status 1st prize / In progress

BIG
Partner in Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Jakob Lange
Project Leader: Hanna Johansson
Team: Camille Crepin, Barbora Srpkova, Alessio Valmori, Xiao Xuan Lu, Krista Meskanen, Long Zuo

Grontmij AB
Veronika Borg, Albin Ahlquist, Anders Falk , Mats Mauritzson, Nils-Göran Nilsson, Christer Johansson, Bengt Ridell

Spacescape AB
Alexander Ståhle, Tobias Nordström

See also:

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PUU-BO by BIG	National Gallery of Greenland by BIG	West 57th by BIG

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NL Architects have designed a conceptual bridge for the Hong Kong border, featuring roads that would loop over each other to allow for the fact that traffic must drive on the left in Hong Kong but on the right in China.

Called Pearl River Necklace, the design would link artificial islands to form a bridge between Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau.

NL Architects designed the project for the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities International Design Ideas Competition.

Here's some more information from the architects:

Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities (HKBCF) International Ideas Competition 2010.

Opportunity

The idea to construct the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities as “a new Landmark to reflect Hong Kong as a vibrant global and metropolitan city” is an inspiring endeavor. However some of the key elements in the design turn out to be a fixed precondition: the shape of the landmass and more importantly the infrastructure itself are not part of the design task… a missed opportunity!

Starting point

The proposed Master Layout Plan is a technocratic solution: ingenious but not yet sublime

Plastic Surgery

Beauty comes from within. So if we want to turn the project into a true success we cannot just focus on superficial improvements. We should concentrate on the intrinsic qualities: we should work with the organs and intestines too…

Houdini

We realize that a lot of effort has already been invested in the current configuration, but there seem to be unexplored capacities… Pearl River Necklace took the liberty to propose some radical adjustments in the principles of the Boundary Crossing Facilities. Not out of arrogance -we understand that we lack the ability at this moment to fully comprehend all the complexities of the task at hand- but out of a profound love for the inspiring potential embedded in the assignment. Maybe it is not too late to loose the shackles?

Traffic Gem

Pearl River Necklace is an attempt to untying the knot. It is a breakdown of the complexities of the Border Crossing Facilities into a ‘Necklace of Shining Pearls’. The objective is to bring to the surface the intrinsic beauty of the HKBCF and at the same time to reinforce the attractiveness of the projected Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

Rope and Knot Magic

Bisecting the enormous complexity of the Boundary Crossing facility in its core elements -Bus/Couch Passenger Clearance and Private Car and Cargo Checkpoints- allows for a simpler and perhaps more ‘meaningful’ organization. By taking the facility apart and remixing it in a new way a remarkably beautiful organism comes into being. What we need is a Houdini to perform some sort of Rope and Knot Magic.

Traffic Switch

Hong Kong has traffic on the left where China has traffic on the right. In principle this additional complexity has to be solved inside the Border Crossing Facilities. Within the proposed master layout plan this leads to fairly unarticulated intersections. It solves the switch, but does not ‘communicate’ it explicitly. In fact the proposed switches mimic a regular interchange; they do not stage a special event. Can we turn the moment of swapping into an unforgettable spectacle? Can we enhance awareness of motorists while at the same time creating an unprecedented driving experience?

Flipper

The Flipper is a device that is designed to ‘celebrate’ the traffic switch. The Flipper aspires to make tangible the change of the road system. It hopes to elegantly redirect vehicles in a smooth and safe way. The Flipper should be part of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. By introducing the Flipper close to the actual border the traffic system of the Border Crossing Facilities can become more simple…

Archipelago Logo

It is surprising that while being located next to one of the busiest airports in the world the proposed manmade island lacks ‘communicative capacity’. The new landmass doesn’t appear emblematic. With the emergence of palm islands, a tulip shaped island and a recently discovered heart shaped island, only to name a few, this seems to be a missed opportunity.

Collar

Pearl River Necklace introduces an Archipelago of Artificial Islands on the border of Hong Kong and China; a string of specifically formed islands that derive their form and their beauty from their function. Lucky Charm Bracelet.

Take me to the Bridge

In the proposed master layout plan the Border Crossing Facilities, paradoxically, are not located on the border… Wouldn’t it be more accurate to position the border on the border?

Crossing

It is surprising that in the proposed Master Layout Plan the crucial moment of crossing the border is NOT perpendicular to the road you travel on. Through a mysterious detour the ‘border’ is aligned parallel with the main artery. This arrangement is blurring the clear schematic of the event. As a consequence the proposed plan does not perform as a true Logo. If the Border Crossing Facilities will be part of the ‘Bracelet’ the system can easily be rotated 90 degrees and as such rediscover its ‘natural’ position. And in the process shorten the road…

Welcome!

Crossing a border can be an exciting event. The efficient compression of the Private Car Kiosks as suggested by the Proposed Master Layout Plan however obscures the visual clarity that lies at the heart of the assignment. The current layout does not do justice to the dramatic potential of crossing a border. The sheer mass of unprecedented mobility could be articulated more theatrically. By aligning the booths in one long line a striking effect can be created. The visual simplicity of aligning the kiosks will establish a blissful entry: abstract, pure, logical

Border Atoll

Unfolding the Private Car Kiosks into a monumental linear structure automatically transforms the shape of the island. It shifts to a smooth organic form. A by-pass for the bus and coach access is created through the middle.

Gateway

The Passenger Clearance Building and its arteries in principle have a beautiful organization. But even here logistics could be made more user-friendly. By arranging the drop-off bays on the first level passengers have to descend only. The walking distances are reduced and made more comfortable. And a symmetrical typology comes into being, hierarchy is taken out off the system and a spectacular interlocking of flows emerges, together but separate.

The Elevated Elevated Road

Pearl River Necklace proposes to elevate the section of the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge right in front of the entrance of the Tunnel. The additionally heightened position of the road will give the opportunity to overlook your trajectory; it allows you to get a glimpse of your destination. And driving towards Hong Kong, the Elevated Elevated Road will grand a view onto the sensational traffic Flipper and the Border Crossing Facilities.

See also:

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Virtual Realities by NL Architects	Feel the Difference by NL Architects	More architecture stories

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