“100 Architects of the year” 2012 International Exhibition , Seoul, South Korea.

The Korean Institute of Architects (KIA) has selected PARAVANT Architects to be part of it "100 Architects of the Year" exhibition, in Seoul, South Korea this month.

Embassy

PARAVANT Architect's design for the Swiss Embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon is published on the "World Architecture News".

"Pavilion Formosa" the joint workshop between PARAVANT Architects and National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan was published in the March 2012 issue of Taiwan Architecture Magazine. Eight teams of students were tasked to design a pavilion, located along Santa Monica’s beach, which could introduce Taiwanese culture to Southern California. The various design proposals dealt with ideas of urban living, density of society, the threshold of public to private space, Asian history, time and spaces of social interaction.

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Court Yard House | City of Pasadena

The CourtYard House designed by PARAVANT Architects, located in the City of Pasadena, California, receives building permit.  The project takes advantage of existing structures on the property and creates a true indoor/outdoor living environment for the contemporary lifestyle.  The courtyard is created between the residence and detached office and contains a seating area with a state-of-the-art fire pit.  

Organic Day Spa | Santa Monica, California

The new Organic Day Spa designed by PARAVANT Architects, located three blocks from the Pacific Ocean, is coming soon to Main Street in the heart of Santa Monica, California.  The project began the plan check process with the City of Santa Monica and construction is scheduled to start later this year.

Casa Alemana: Contributing to the public awareness of sustainability.

The Casa Alemana event successfully took place in Escazu, Costa Rica in March 2011.  The German/American Architect Christian Kienapfel of PARAVANT Architects was invited by the German Costarican Chamber of Commerce (Deutsch-CostaricanischeIndustrie- und Handelskammer) to speak on the topic of “Impact of Sustainable Design on Construction, Gestalt and the User, International Rating Systems: LEED, DGNB, CalGreen,…”.  The following images are of the traveling "Casa Alemana" pavilion.

“Green Building and Energy Efficiency: From Innovation to Policy” presented by GABA the California German American Business Association

On April 14th the first event of the new GABA SoCal Clean Tech /Sustainability Industry Group will host “Green Building and Energy Efficiency: From Innovation to Policy” conference. 
Architect Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Architect Christian Kienapfel, AIA, LEED AP, AIA, LEED AP from PARAVANT Architects will be presenting and participating in the panel discussion on the impact of sustainable design on construction, gestalt and the user - International Certification systems: LEED, Cal Green, DGNB,… The event will be introduced by Marc Eichorn Vice Consul General, German Consulate, Los Angeles and moderated by Michael Boehm: LEED AP, Partner, Haig Barrett, Inc.; Chair Clean Tech & Sustainability Industry Group, GABA SoCal.

When:     Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 | 6:30pm-09:30pm
Where:    Los Angeles Convention Center, Room 409,
                1201 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA
Fee:        GABA Members - $40 | Non-Members - $50

Casa Alemana | PARAVANT lecture in San Jose Costa Rica

The “Casa Alemana” or German House is a prototype energy-efficient home that is visiting 13 countries in South America, demonstrating new and innovative German technologies used during home construction and for solar energy collection. While these technologies are achieving significant energy savings they are also creating more comfortable living spaces. Through architectural sophistication and technological innovation the "Casa Alemana” shows that beauty and comfort can work together with renewable and efficient energy solutions. The exhibition is based on the Technical University of Darmstadt’s 2007 and 2009 winning Solar Decathlon, an international architecture and engineering sustainable house competition sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. The home, which is open to the public, will offer events for professionals interested in the application of technologies for efficient and renewable energy use, particularly microgeneration. The “Casa Alemana” will be displayed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Montevideo, Uruguay, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Asunción, Paraguay, Santiago de Chile, Chile, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Lima, Peru, Quito, Ecuador, Bogotá, Colombia, Caracas, Venezuela, San José, Costa Rica, Guatemala City, Guatemala and México City,México. Detailed information on the project is available at www.lacasaalemana.com. The Federal Ministry of Economics & Technology and the Federal Ministry of Transportation and Building & Urban Development sponsors the project.

Architect Dip.-Ing.(FH) Halil Dolan, LEED GA and Architect Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Christian Kienapfel, AIA, LEED AP will be speaking at the Conference in San Jose, Costa Rica on March 23, 2011 on the topic of"International Sustainability in Germany and the Americas - The impact of sustainable design on construction and the user." (LEED, CalGreen, DGNB,......)

PARAVANT finally has a page on Facebook

PARAVANT

It took Facebook over 6 years and more than 500 million users to convince PARAVANT to be represented on the social network site.  Please visit us at:  PARAVANT on Facebook  and let us know if you like the page. 

COST RICA DEVELOPMENT | PROJECT COMPLETION

The construction of the residential development in Atenas, Costa Rica has come to completion after 8 month of construction. It is expected to complete landscaping and interior design within the next 6-8 weeks. 

International Passive House Days

GUEST LECTURE AT VIRGINIA TECH | SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN

Architect Marcus Brown, Halil Dolan and Christian Kienapfel from PARAVANT ARCHITEKTUR were invited to the Guest Lecture series in the School of Architecture + Design.
The lecture was titled "Departure and Evolution" took place on Thursday October 21st 2010 in Blacksburg, VA.

PREFAB AGENDA - sustainable dwelling design for the 21st century

PARAVANT ARCHITEKTUR has most recently been published in "PREFAB AGENDA - sustainable dwelling design for the 21st century" the latest online book by Robert Mendel:

"Sustainable Dwelling Design for the 21st Century describes the global challenges we face and how prefab building technologies can effectively address the crucial issues of sustainability and affordability. .... Many of these systems are not well known despite the fact that they are innovative, efficient and cost-effective. These include modular, panelized, steel, aluminum, foam, concrete, hybrid and kit assembly systems."

Among those profiled are:

• KieranTimberlake
• Michelle Kaufmann
• LivingHomes
• Oskar Leo Kaufmann & Albert Ruf
• Paravant
• Graft
• Kjellgren Kaminsky
• Hive
• Larry Sass and 
• Eric Owen Moss

"Richtfest" | "Topping-Out Ceremony"

The residential portion of the project in San Jose Costa Rica just celebrated the so called "Richtfest" (German for Topping-Out Ceremony). This indicates that a milestone in the construction process has been reached. Completion is expected to be on time this summer. Please see below current images of the buildings.

3rd Energy Efficiency Symposium | German American Chamber of Commerce | UCLA

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa opened the 3rd Energy Efficiency Symposium and welcomed the German Delegation. Mayor Villaraigosa speaks about the responsibility the City of Los Angeles has in regard to Climate Change. The mayor predicts a great future for "Green-Tech-Companies" in LA.

The Symposium was organized by the German American Chamber of Commerce and took place at the UCLA Campus on Monday April 26, 2010. The event is part of the Export Initiative supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. PARAVANT ARCHITEKTUR a member of "Energie Effizienz made in Germany" participated in business matchmaking meetings after the conference.

COSTA RICA: RESIDENCE & DEVELOPMENT FOR LOS ANGELES CLIENT

The development for a Los Angeles based client located outside of San Jose, Costa Rica is designed by PARAVANT ARCHITECTS. The project is now since 8 weeks under construction and the completion is expected in the summer of 2010.

KLIMA_STADT_HAUS SYMPOSIUM HAMBURG 2010

Architects Symposium on the Opportunities of Renewable Energy

An event sponsored by the German Chamber of Architects BDA & Stiebel Eltron, the largest manufacturer of water heaters in Germany, stimulates the discussion on the possibilities that enormous, renewable energy resources provide and how they can be can be used. Various topics have been included in the day-long event at the Empire Riverside Hotel in Hamburg, Germany.

Guest speaker Halil Dolan, a German Architect from Los Angeles, California presented the provocative question: “Today, in the age of population explosion and shortage of resources, professionals in architecture have to ask themselves what they have contributed in the last four decades toward protecting the environment. Apart from the introduction of world-wide energy saving standards, the development of the architecture industry has been merely reduced to going through various architectural styles. The roots for environmental concern have been marginalized, and therefore opportunities for environmental protection have been missed.”

Tajo Friedemann from international real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle illustrated the building situation from the perspective of the real estate industry, Dr. Kai Schiefelbein, Managing Director of the Technology Department of Stiebel Eltron, inspired the approximately 150 present architects with a practical presentation on the Integration of renewable energy in today's architecture and informed about the different products that use renewable energy in current buildings.

The event ended with a visit of the Plus Energy House which was built and designed by the internationally renowned architect Prof. Manfred Hegger and his students from the TU Darmstadt for the Solar Decathlon 2007 competition in the U.S. The project has won the first prize and is an ideal example of sustainable architecture with efficient building services from Stiebel Eltron.

Also Andreas Denk, chief editor of the magazine "the architect" led the event as a moderator and predicted a fundamental change in architecture and compared these developments with other historic upheavals in the architectural history. Dr. Reiner presented two urban development projects in Duesseldorf and Aachen which are equipped with the heat pump system and demonstrated the connection of social and economic sustainability.


Below: Image of First Prize Project Entry of the TU Darmstadt for the Solar Decathlon 2009.