South Korea recently announced plans to construct a sustainable super-city that stands to eclipse the size of Masdar in the UAE. Designed by Foster + Partners together with PHA and Mobility in Chain, the Incheon mixed-use development will be a model of self-sufficent sustainability and will serve as an epicenter for the development of green technologies just north of Seoul.

Upon completion the Incheon eco-city will comprise a community of 320,000 residents centered around a spine of transportation and green industry. The hope for Incheon is that the area will become a high-tech research and development center for sustainable industries that manufacture photovoltaic panels and wind turbines. True to this ideal, the masterplan incorporates cutting-edge green technologies such as biomass energy generation, hydrogen fuel cells, and hydroponic roofs.

Slated for construction over the next 10-15 years, Foster + Partner’s design for the eco-city will include both high and low-density developments that shoot off from a central transportation spine connecting three main sites. A Light Rapid Transit system will connect a center for Korean economic cooperation in the north of KangHwa with the southern half, combining green technology industry with community, cultural and residential buildings.

Currently the area is predominantly agricultural and supports approximately 35,000 people. Terraced farming will be replaced in part by green roofs, thus minimizing loss of agricultural space. The layout of roads and buildings will follow the natural topography of the land, and buildings will be kept under 50 meters in height. The smaller roads and pedestrian avenues extend from the central transit hubs, creating a tightly-knit community with easy access to transportation.

Grant Brooker, a design director at Foster + Partners, said:

“Working at a very strategic level, we saw the masterplan as an opportunity to explore the sustainable potential of this extraordinary island, exploiting its pivotal position close to Seoul and its rugged landscape. We are delighted that the judges share our vision and, along with our collaborators at A+U, PHA and MIC, we hope to develop the project into the next stage.”

When you first see these fantastic drafts, your eyes go wondering over the pics, looking for the name of the Arab Emirate where these building are going to be erected. But this time it is not about rich eastern countries, the sketches present us what Russian Sochi will see in just a couple of years. Artificial islands and high buildings on piles, up above the watery waste will emerge in the Black sea in just a few years. Each of the projects – Pier-Hotel, Catamaran, Sea-Star, Olympic Island and Southern Outpost – has its own proportions and level of detail. The upcoming Olympic Games want Russian architects make the best of what they can.

The basis of the building will be constructed the way they do with sea oil platforms, the foundations will be supported by light but firm piles used in building high constructions on the shores. The authors of the project, “A.Asadov architectural studio”, think that the nature beauty of the resort will be completely kept as it is even with all these new structures. The architectures are going to apply eco-technologies and use alternative energy sources while implementing the plan.

They assure that the Pier-Hotel, being the most realistic concept, will have additional floors, the hotel’s roof will be turned into a public space, which will be extended with the coastal park.

The Catamaran will be constructed in front of the city centre, it cannot be put up downtown just because there is already no free space left. The breakwaters will be prolonged with two hotel blocks with artificial landscapes on the roofs.

Between the buildings they are going to create “man-made land” for new hotels to be build right here.

The Sea-Star is an autonomous island, which will be connected with the main land by a “stem” – this will be a “navel string”, along which people and autos will go to the Star and be able to get back. Five hotel towers form the island’s silhouette and its inner space. Between them the architects want to have green petals, which are designed to represent the oasis.

The Olympic island is the biggest and the most symbolic part of the project. Near the coastline they are going to root five circle-shaped platforms, which will be tied to one another and to the mainland as well with pedestrian overpasses and highway bridges.

Following the Olympic symbolism, the platforms will represent five continents – Europe, Asia, America, Africa and Australia, each circle has a tower of an Olympic color in the center.

We hope the project will be carried out just right and tourists won’t have to see another boring thing as it very often happens in Russia. Exciting prospects, poor implementation.

Lockheed Martin has been commissioned to design and manufacture the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QSST), a 12-seat private jet that will be able to quietly break the sound barrier. Capable of flying at Mach 1.6—which for the rest of us means 1200mph—that unique ability to sneak through the sound barrier without breaking every window in sight would let it zip from New York to LA in two hours and 15 minutes.

The supersonic jet’s sonic boom will reportedly be 20dB quieter than the Concorde’s, an aerodynamic trick made possible by a canceling-out effect when the plane’s broad nose compresses the shockwave while the rest of the plane’s fuselage expands it. Let’s hope aviation authorities buy into this idea and let the thing soar coast to coast, pedal to the metal. The groundbreaking design is due to fly by 2013.

They tell that the design of the planeis still kept secret and those sketches are the only clue that people have, but as it is known it would be a decent F-22 competitor.

If you are a cellphone addict that receives numerous calls, texts, ims, facebook messages and the like, you may find something useful in the idea behind this Tame Cube concept. Each side of the cube can be customized with a status message of your choosing and can be synced to your devices and applications. For example, if you are driving and don’t want to be distracted, simply turn the cube over to the appropriate message and anyone that tries to contact you will be notified of your situation.