Simone Giostra & Partners Architects have designed the GreenPix - Zero Energy Media Wall - a groundbreaking project applying sustainable and digital media technology to the curtain wall of Xicui Entertainment Complex in Beijing, near the site of the 2008 Olympics.

Featuring the largest color LED display worldwide and the first photovoltaic system integrated into a glass curtain wall in China, GreenPix transforms the building envelop into a self-sufficient organic system, harvesting solar energy by day and using it to illuminate the screen after dark, mirroring a day’s climatic cycle. Arup provided engineering services for the project.

“The Media Wall will provide the city of Beijing with its first venue dedicated to digital media art, while offering the most radical example of sustainable technology applied to an entire building’s envelope to date”, said Simone Giostra.

Photograph courtesy of Simone Giostra, ARUP and Ruogu

Since opening its doors in 2006, the Frederic C. Hamilton Building has become one of downtown Denver’s most recognizable landmarks, drawing thousands of visitors. The project, designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind and Davis Partnership, consists of a 146,000ft² addition to the existing Denver Art Museum, built originally in 1971, almost doubling its size.


Consisting of a separate building this major expansion tied to the existing museum through a 100ft long enclosed walkway. It hosts the main entrance to the museum complex, as well as a collection of Modern and contemporary art, a collection of Oceanic art and African Art, a theatre and a rooftop sculpture garden with views over the scenic Rocky Mountain range.

Photograph © BitterBredt

 The Downing Residence is a carefully nested desert dwelling on a hillside west of Tucson organized between existing saguaros.  The 3500 square foot design splits the floor plan into three smaller pavilion-like footprints in order to rest more gently between areas of dense vegetation.

From a distance, the Downing Residence is barely discernable from its east-facing mountainside backdrop.  The structure blends with the surrounding rock outcroppings as each of its three volumes sit reverently within a grove of saguaro that dot the hillside.

All photographs are by Bill Timmerman, courtesy of the architect.