Sustainability: The Latest Architecture and News

While the United Nations has been continuously urging architects, engineers, and city shapers to put the 2030 agenda and the SDGs into action, and the IPCC report revealed intensifying climate change, sparking widespread discussion over insufficient action, the 83rd ongoing session of The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - UNECE Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management taking place in San Marino, has just issued a special declaration on “how to build better, safer, more inclusive, and resilient" cities, ahead of COP27. This set of “Principles for Sustainable and Inclusive Urban Design and Architecture”, or the San Marino declaration has gathered the signatures of Norman Foster and Stefano Boeri.

It’s About Time, the 10^th edition of the Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, is a seven-week-long manifestation showing realistic courses toward a livable future at a time when the consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly apparent. Half a century ago, the consequences of climate change were predicted in The Limits of Growth report from 1972. This outlines the possible consequences of an exponential increase in population, agricultural production, and resource extraction. The report is viewed by many as the beginning of environmental awareness. The Rotterdam Architecture Biennale aims to bring these changes into perspective by looking both at the past and the possible future.

In the architectural conversations we are having in today’s world, conversations on materials are widespread. There is discussion on the viability of concrete in the contemporary context, how timber can be more sustainably sourced, and on how biodegradable materials such as bamboo should be more common sights in our urban environments.

But we also need to be talking about what goes into these buildings – that is, the furniture that decorates, enhances, and makes habitable the buildings around us. The materials used to craft these objects have constantly evolved over centuries, and as we approach the end of 2022, it’s worth asking – what does the future hold for what our furniture will be made from?

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Climate change is becoming more and more real every day: all over the world, we are witnessing a clear increase in climate disasters. Moreover, the latest IPCC report warns us of possible “tipping points” from which the climate transition could become not gradual, but sudden and irrevocable.

Timber construction and its benefits is moving into the BIM space for even more sustainable uses. A new BIM-integrated web application, called Carbon Fixers (which expands on its Offsite Wood plug-in for Revit), pre-calculates the carbon-benefit of choosing timber and other bio-sourced materials in early design.

Carbon Fixers lets you rapidly build a scenario using only basic architectural program information, such as the type, size, and number of stories in the building. For advanced users, preferences can be saved for firms with a regional expert dashboard, side-by-side comparisons and detailed assemblies.

Incorporating the Environmental, social, and corporate governance objectives, the 45,000 m2 Office Tower in the Europaviertel in Frankfurt aims to be one of Germany's most sustainable office buildings. Designed by UNStudio in partnership with Groß & Partner in collaboration with OKRA landscape architects, the project focuses on environmental and social sustainability as an integral part of Frankfurt's green network. The ecological agenda includes a low-carbon load-bearing structure and recyclable construction materials. The architecture program offers a public urban space to add value to its surroundings to encourage communication and gathering.

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Co-living is a residential community living model, referring to a modern form of group housing that has significantly transformed London life and the UK as a whole. The notion of co-living has even more so been popularized by the rise of housing startups, with many offering affordable housing in homes and apartments alike shared by a handful of adult housemates.

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As part of the effort to make the construction sector more sustainable in the face of the climate crisis, the bioeconomy has stood out. While the road to net-zero architecture is still very complex, the emerging shift in culture and general thinking is evident, and innovation seems to be driving this transformation.

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Designboom, Architonic, and ArchDaily which make up DAAily platforms, created a unique, storytelling-programmed space for design and architecture enthusiasts dubbed the DAAily Bar during this year's Milan Design Week. The space featured curated talk series and gathering spots, along with immersive art installations by renowned designers.

As part of the DAAily Bar Live Talks, ArchDaily's Founder and Editor-in-Chief David Basulto had the opportunity to talk with Mario Cucinella, founder of MC A - Mario Cucinella Architects and curator of “Design with Nature” for Salone del Mobile 2022, about his work and his recent projects.

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Architects assume a significant amount of responsibility when it comes to considering designs that will be successful for not just their clients, but any person who inhabits or is impacted by their spaces. Topics of sustainability, social inclusion, economic opportunities, and overall urban equity, have consistently been top of mind in recent years, ultimately creating a new holistic approach to designing for a better future, that many people are referring to as Environmental, Social, and Governance metrics, more commonly known as ESG.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Department of Assets, Information and Services (AIS) has announced that by 2025, all city-owned buildings and facilities in the city will be fully operated with clean, renewable energy. At the moment, Chicago is one of the largest cities in the United States to reduce the city’s carbon footprint at such a scale, and has already began the process of transitioning its transportation busses and cars to all-electric vehicles by 2035. The agreement demonstrates the city's plans to "drive high-impact climate action, build the clean energy workforce of the future, and equitably distribute meaningful benefits to foster the local clean energy economy for all.”

The former Berlin-Tegel Airport is set to be redeveloped. The master plan includes the Schumacher Quartier, a new residential district with 200 hectares of landscaped area, and a research and industrial park for urban technologies, Berlin TXL – the Urban Tech Republic. Besides creating a space for industry, business, and science, the innovation park aims to research and test urban technologies. The park will focus on major themes in the development of cities: the efficient use of energy, sustainable construction, eco-friendly mobility, recycling, networked control of systems, clean water, and the application of new materials.

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