Architectural ornamentation has been a recurrent subject of debate across the industry for decades. A practice that was largely abandoned during the Modernist movement could now be standing on a platform that might, again, allow its resurgence, due to the current convergence of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital fabrication. Technology has seemingly removed the primary obstacle to decorative detail: the high cost of skilled manual labor. However, this new technical capacity demands a critical examination: What does ornamentation truly represent, and what do we gain or lose by resurrecting it through algorithmic design?
Architecture has entered a pivotal moment. As cities continue to grow under the weight of climatic and social pressures, the materials and systems that shape them are being redefined. Artificial intelligence and robotics, once used to accelerate construction processes, are now being rethought as tools for cultivation. Printed structures that grow, breathe, and decay. Cultivation, in this context, refers to designing with biological materials, where growth and decay are active parameters, merging digital precision with ecological intelligence. This evolution shows the shift from efficiency to empathy, where architecture becomes an agent of active repair. The introduction of mycelium and other natural materials into 3D printing presents a new paradigm in architecture: the logic of the living. A place where computation and fabrication meet biological adaptability.
AI and robotics, once associated with industrial efficiency, are now opening new ways of designing. Early examples, such as ICON's 3D-printed housing prototypes, focused on speed and automation but offered little response to their surroundings. Newer projects, such as the MycoMuseum at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, reinterpret these tools through a biological lens. Instead of shaping concrete, they cultivate living materials, marking a shift from pure optimization toward regeneration.
What is architecture? For some, its traditional role is to bring together imagination, technical knowledge, and problem-solving, allowing architects to design and construct while balancing ideas with the means to realize them. From the stone and wood of early buildings to the steel and concrete of the 20th century, each era demanded not only an understanding of form but also of the properties and potential of the materials in use. This grasp of materials has always been a core part of the creative process, though its scope was limited by the know-how and technologies available.
Over time, that balance has begun to shift. Architects have moved from merely using materials to actively designing them, applying scientific principles and experimenting with biological, chemical, and computational processes. This evolution has expanded the possibilities of architecture, intersecting nature, technology, and art, while pushing the role of the architect into a more experimental, science-driven dimension, where the manipulation and creation of materials becomes central to the creative act rather than merely a means to achieve forms or structures.
Zaha Hadid Architects' design for a digitally fabricated marine habitat in the North Lantau Marine Park conservation zone in Hong Kong was recently presented at the World Design Congress exhibition in London. The event took place at the Barbican Centre between September 9 and 10, one of the world's most recognized examples of Brutalist architecture. Its theme, "Design for Planet," called on designers and commissioners of design to take on their most critical brief to date: to design a regenerative future in the face of climate change and to examine design's role as a tool for environmental action. In this context, Zaha Hadid Architects presented Nereid, a digitally fabricated habitat developed with advanced 3D printing technologies by D-Shape, aimed at supporting the natural regeneration of marine ecosystems.
According to the World Bank, the Angola National Urbanization and Housing Program (PNUH), launched in 2008, aimed to build one million new housing units. However, by 2024, it had delivered only approximately 220,000. Power2Build, an Angolan construction startup, estimates the current housing deficit in Angola at around three million homes, with the situation particularly critical in Luanda, one of the fastest-growing cities on the African continent. With an entirely Angolan multidisciplinary team, Power2Build aims to contribute to reducing this deficit through the use of automated 3D concrete printing technology. Implemented on-site with large-scale construction printers from Danish company COBOD, the system is expected to accelerate construction timelines and improve building quality. Large-scale cement-based 3D printing eliminates the need for traditional molds by precisely placing or solidifying specific volumes of material in sequential layers using computer-controlled positioning. The process involves three key stages: data preparation, material preparation, and printing.
The future of the architecture industry holds countless possibilities, as research in the domain progresses. One innovation is the ability for structures to be rendered acoustically invisible, absorb earthquake energy, or harvest electricity from the sounds around them. Qualities of this nature can help redefine the functionality and sustainability of buildings. Architects and scientists are at the forefront of this creation. What makes this possible are metamaterials that could offer alternative methods of designing good buildings.
The Canada Council for the Arts presents Picoplanktonics at the Canada Pavilion as part of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, which will run until November 23, 2025. Developed by the Living Room Collective, the installation engages with ongoing global ecological challenges through a speculative, research-driven approach to design, featuring 3D-printed architectural structures embedded with living cyanobacteria capable of carbon sequestration. Developed through a four-year collaboration led by Andrea Shin Ling and a group of interdisciplinary contributors, the project investigates the potential of co-constructing built environments with living systems.
The Slovenian Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia presents Master Builders, a project curated by Ana Kosi and Ognen Arsov and organized by the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO). The project addresses the evolution of construction technology, encompassing robotics, prefabrication, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and other emerging tools, while drawing attention to a notable paradox within this technological shift, and also emphasizing that the quality of the built environment continues to rely heavily on the tacit knowledge of skilled craftsmen. By constructing a series of totems, the project examines the collaborative dynamics between architect and craftsman, revealing how this relationship shapes the material realization of architecture.
Impresión de paredes exteriores. Image Cortesía de XWG Archi Studio at Tsinghua University
According to the analysis firm Gartner, 3D printer sales surged by 75% around 2014, nevertheless, the technology continues to experience significant growth. While there are multiple debates in the field of architecture about whether 3D printing can be considered craftsmanship or if it is feasible to mix local materials with 3D printing, its implementation from academia aims to create new experiences, research, and knowledge that contribute to its development and practical application. Now, how might the integration of 3D printing in academia provoke future changes in the construction industry? And how could education in architecture and design encourage collaboration with other disciplines to create new applications across different fields?
For three weeks, from March 28 to April 20, 2025, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. will host the art festival "EARTH to SPACE: Arts Breaking the Sky." Curated by Alicia Adams, Vice President of International Programming, and Gilda Almeida, Director of International Programming, the festival includes a full agenda of performances, film screenings, talks, panels, and exhibitions. As part of the festival, Foster + Partners has designed an exhibition titled "From Earth to Space and Back," inviting visitors to imagine a future where humans have experienced life on Mars, where exploring new worlds is within reach, and where technological advancements in space revolutionize life on Earth. The festival is based on the idea that imagining life in space can inspire solutions for living on Earth, a perspective reflected in the projects presented by Foster + Partners.
Named one of ArchDaily's Best New Practices in 2024, MEAN* (Middle East Architecture Network) is redefining the architectural landscape of the region by merging computational design, digital fabrication, and material research with local heritage. Founded in 2016, the studio takes a forward-thinking approach, developing site-specific architectural solutions that balance technological innovation with cultural continuity. Their work spans projects of various scales, from experimental furniture like the Mawj Chair to urban-scale interventions such as The Adaptive Majlis, a digitally fabricated reinterpretation of traditional cooling and social spaces. By integrating advanced tools like parametric design, AI, and 3D printing with local materials, MEAN* is crafting a new architectural language that reflects both the aspirations of the future and the depth of the past.
Wagner hits the road in 2025 with the Airstream Roadshow, an immersive experience that inspires new perspectives on office spaces. Under the motto 'It's time for bespoke interior design,' the traveling exhibition highlights the iconic 1962 Airstream Bambi, converted into a mobile working space to showcase Wagner's D2 bespoke interior system, designed by renowned studios Gonzalez Haase AAS and Stefan Diez. As the Airstream travels across Germany, design enthusiasts are invited to explore the lightweight aluminum construction and witness live 3D printing in action.
From the Colosseum's vast arches to the Pantheon's perfect dome, Roman architecture fused engineering precision with expressive form. These buildings reshaped the urban life of antiquity but also left traces that continue to guide contemporary design. Yet much of the knowledge behind their construction has been lost or obscured over time, like the geometry, the proportions, and methods. Today, new technologies are helping to recover that hidden layer of architectural intelligence, offering fresh perspectives on how Romans built with such ingenuity.
Space exploration isn’t merely a testament to human ambition or a quest for new territories and resources. Our ventures beyond Earth’s atmosphere are driven by a deeper purpose: to understand better our place in the cosmos and to pioneer innovations that can transform life on our home planet.
ICON, the office that pioneered large-scale 3D printing, has announced a new residential development of 3D-printed homes to take shape at Wimberley Springs, in Texas, United States. The complex, comprising 8 single-family homes, features designs from ICON’s CODEX Digital Architecture Catalog. The houses, currently under construction and available for sale, leverage ICON’s robotic technologies to create an energy-efficient, low-carbon construction process.
Housing Salinas - For Everyday.Life. Image Courtesy of For Everyday.Life
United Kingdom-based office For Everyday.Life (FEL) is one of the three selected winners for the Open Category of ICON’s Initiative 99, an open competition aiming to promote affordable home designs that can be built for under $99,000 employing ICON’s 3D printing technologies. FEL’s project, titled “Housing Salinas,” focuses on community living while applying principles of long-term sustainability, and social and environmental responsibility.
In an open competition, ICON’s Initiative 99 requested participants to design a home using ICON’s 3D printing technologies while keeping the construction budget under $99,000. Among the three selected winners for the Open Category, New Zealand-based office MTspace Studio proposes a robust flood-resistant design, in response to the housing crisis in New Zealand’s flood zones. Titled “Wai Home” after the Māori word for water, the concept revolves around the idea of working with this essential natural element. The design features innovative rainwater collection and storage systems, along with elements to increase the resilience of the construction in the face of increasing threats.
Mud Frontiers. Image Courtesy of Rael San Fratello
Understanding a discipline from multiple perspectives and intersections is essential for acquiring a deep understanding of it. In architecture, the diversity of approaches to its study enriches our perception by allowing us to appreciate its complexity from different angles. For students and professionals alike, exploring aspects such as history, sources of materials and products, construction processes, implementation of new technologies, and contemporary social challenges is crucial. These aspects intertwine and expand the conventional notion of "architecture," transcending the mere creation of buildings or the definition of spaces.
Ronald Rael, an architect and the Eva Li Memorial Chair in Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, exemplifies this vision through his practice, which spans from research to connecting indigenous and traditional material practices with contemporary technologies and issues. As an activist and designer, Rael's research interests explore additive fabrication, border-wall studies, and earth construction. Co-founder of Rael San Fratello, Emerging Objects, and Forust, his practice shows an approach to architecture that is highly relevant in contemporary times.
https://www.archdaily.com/1016555/we-can-transform-the-profession-by-rethinking-how-we-might-serve-society-a-conversation-with-ronald-raelEnrique Tovar
