Bjarke Ingels discusses design of buildings in a distinct way. His creative approach focuses heavily on sustainable design. The idea is that sustainable architecture can increase quality of life, an idea going against the norm. Many people think about sacrifice when they think of sustainability.  Bjarke says a creative design process can create more benefits than sacrifices.

He argues that architects should design cities as ecosystems and focus on closed loops. Heat, energy, waste, and water, not only people are important considerations. Architects should focus not only on the flow of people though spaces, but also on integrating their waste into a usable source for the system.

Through this design focus, the Eight House was created.  The structure mixed shops and offices, townhouses and apartments. The alignment of each of these elements was also distorted. This allowed the angle of each block to maximize views and sunlight.

The city of Copenhagen is an example of a city that has truly embraced this way of thinking. 4% of Copenhagen’s waste is land filled. In Chicago it’s 86%. Most trash is incinerated in turn creating electricity. 3 KG of household trash is equal to 4 hours of light and five hours of heat. The equivalent of one ton of trash is almost two barrels of oil.

Bjarke’s video really shows how the design process is important for creating sustainable solutions. The most important part is to start with a framework of what you must have. From there you have an open slate of what you can add, what you can create.  Even after watching this video multiple times, I still cannot believe these radical ideas were actually put into action. Sustainability and the design process go together hand in hand.

Disclaimer: I do not have the Bieber Fever. He’s a good Canadian kid but my opinion of his music (and most of today’s mainstream music) is reflected in the following picture:

EPIC FAIL

And now to business:

Believe it or not, I actually new about the Fisker Karma before Justin Bieber received it as an 18th birthday gift. This is thanks to my daily routine of following car news on youtube:

Justin Bieber was given one for his 18th birthday on The Ellen Show very recently which has thrust the car directly into North American pop culture:

Bieber isn’t the only celebrity to get his hands on one of these cars. Leonardo DiCaprio actually had it last year. Unfortunately there is no DiCaprio-Fever (obviously because it doesn’t rhyme) so the masses remained relatively oblivious to the Fisker Karma. Other high-profilers in line to get their hands on this ride are Vice President Al Gore and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

So you might ask, is it the best thing for Justin Bieber to be associated to this expensive luxury car? Is any publicity good publicity? The answer is yes, the car is actually already sold out for next year. People don’t care about who drives this car; Dicaprio, Bieber, or Jane Doe, the fact is it’s the only plug in hybrid luxury sedan on the market. People in the first world love to think that driving an electric car makes a huge difference and will jump on this car. Producing a volume of around 15 000 cars per year, Fisker should be able to sell out globally, at least for the time beginning. The Tesla Model S is set to be released later this year adding an already established contender to the roster.

So what is the big hype about this car anyways?

The Fisker Karma, as mentioned earlier, is the first luxury sedan on the market that is a plug in hybrid electric vehicle. The car has two batteries producing power to the rear wheels giving a range of about 50 – 90 kilometers. There is also a 290 horsepower internal combustion engine up front to keep the batteries charged when they are dying and to deliver extra juice when the driver demands it. Overall, considering the weight of this vehicle, it delivers some pretty good performance figures. One thing it does lack a bit on is the fuel economy when actually using the internal combustion engine as seen below. Also potential fuel saving is not a reason for someone to purchase this vehicle.

So if you’re not saving much money on gas, the performance figures aren’t spectacular, and even the smog rating is fairly average, why buy a Fisker? The innovators are the only ones moving right now. Technology will continue to improve as will the specs on the above fuel economy chart.

The biggest current problem with plug in hybrids is that batteries weigh too much. The Fisker in fact weighs nearly as much as the huge Rolls Royce Phantom, as seen here:

Before cars like this can move into the early and late majority phases on the consumer adoption curve, battery technology needs to improve. Current examples of plug in hybrid electric cars do not produce enough savings to justify the high sticker price.