In this powerful new visual from Spirit of Space, we are introduced to Ricardo Bofill’s headquarters ‘The Factory’ or La Fábrica, Taller de Arquitectura. Once a disused and decaying cement factory from the turn of the century, with 30 silos, machine rooms, and galleries, it is now a significant transformative project, satisfying the Architect's longing for space via adaptive reuse.
A haven in the urban sprawl, engulfed by a floury of palm, olive, and eucalyptus trees. Spirit of Space visits the former hive of activity, now a tranquil mid-city refuge, an immense contrast to the industrial grime that used to reside here. Moving picture and multi-sensory experience explore the Brutalist form; a concrete shell… a skeleton intertwined with nature itself.
The history of architecture shows that the use of raw materials has always been somewhat common, whether in ancient vernacular techniques or within the Brutalist movement, to name a few. It is evident that the language of a project is often linked to its material, as various sensations and the perception of space are directed by the aesthetic and physical quality of the given element. For this reason, we have gathered ten buildings that highlight the quality of their materials, whether to make a statement, reinterpret a technique from the past, or to re-signify the potency of some of these elements.
Concrete is not purely a structural element. As we demonstrated in an article about kitchen projects using concrete countertops, the material is gaining significant traction in the world of residential furnishings and fixtures. To further exemplify this, we have curated a list of several projects that use concrete benches to create beautiful moments inside and outside the home.
Much has been said about circularity in the construction industry. Inspired by nature, the circular economy works in a continuous process of production, resorption and recycling, self-managing and naturally regulating itself, where waste can turn into supplies for the production of new products. It is a very interesting concept, but it faces some practical difficulties in everyday life, whether in the demolition / disassembly process, or in the correct disposal of materials and waste; but mostly due to the lack of technologies available to recycle or give new use to construction materials. About 40% of all waste generated on Planet Earth comes from civil construction, and a good part of it could be recycled. Concrete is an especially important material because of its large carbon footprint in production, its ubiquity and massive use, and also because of the difficulty of recycling or reusing it.
Cactus Towers (Kaktustårnene), Copenhague. Image Cortesía de Sigfox España
Control of concrete strength and maturity in large-scale projects has traditionally been recorded and measured manually. Nowadays, there are new technologies that allow builders to melt sensors directly into the concrete, which –connected to a transmitter– show continuous data on the material's temperatures, sending this data wirelessly to the cloud platform. The software then automatically calculates maturity and strength based on historical data, so the concrete mix and strength development process can be followed from any device and in real-time.
These sensors, based on 0G technology from Sigfox –one of the main IoT (Internet of Things) operators worldwide– have facilitated the construction of one of the most innovative architectural projects in Europe, the Cactus Towers (Kaktustårnene) in Copenhagen, helping calculate the exact moment to remove the formwork that shapes its characteristic façade.
A masterpiece is often defined as the most remarkable work in an artist's career, one which highlights the height of their techniques and ideals. The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci; Michelangelo's Pietá; the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. There are many examples, which are not always unanimously agreed upon. But what if what many consider to be the masterpiece was started by someone else, the credited creator didn't live to see its completion, and almost all of its documentation was destroyed? Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and his world-famous Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família are examples of these complications. From a highly crafted stone construction to the most modern 3D printing techniques and high strength concrete, numerous technologies were and continue to be incorporated in the project's construction.
Argentina is positioned in the extreme south and southwest of South America and given its extension, it has a multiplicity of climates and differences in the incidence of sunlight. These conditions led many architecture professionals to think about pergolas to generate transitional spaces between the interior and exterior of the homes that allow meeting the needs of its inhabitants by creating shaded, meeting and resting spaces in the open air.
As cliché as it may sound, there are two things that architects really like: exposed concrete and the color black. While concrete offers a distinctive rough aesthetic, emphasizing the tones, textures, and surfaces that shape the concrete mixture, the sobriety that the color black provides allows the architect to highlight specific characteristics precisely. Combining the two seems natural. But black pigmented concrete is not as common as we might imagine. Below we talk a little about the black concrete production process and some projects that use it.
Historically, "cyclopean" referred to a building technique that superimposed large stone blocks together without any mortar. This allowed for a diverse array of structures across various civilizations, including defensive walls, talayots, navetas, nuraghes, temples, tombs, and forts. Nowadays, the term applies to any ancient structure consisting of large stones superimposed to form a polygonal shape.
If only a few years ago 3D printing was viewed with a certain suspicion, recent news has shown that it is in fact a viable technology that is here to stay. On April 30, 2021, tenants of the first 3D printed concrete house in the Netherlands received their keys. The house in Eindhoven—the first of five within the 'Milestone Project'—fully complies with all the country's stringent construction requirements.
Bridge House / BIO-architects. Image Cortesia de Ivan Ovchinnikov
Metaphorically, building bridges equates to creating new opportunities, connections, and paths. The first bridges likely formed naturally with logs falling across rivers and natural depressions, though humans have also been building rudimentary structures to overcome obstacles since prehistory. Today, technological advances have made it possible to erect bridges that are both impressive and sculptural, playing a key role in transportation and connectivity. Usually needing to overcome large spans, with few points of support, bridges can be quite difficult to structure. But when is the bridge more than a connection between two points, instead resembling a building with a complex program? How can these 'bridge houses' be structured?
When we think of concrete, the color gray generally comes to mind. The traditional mixture of concrete, which comprises cement, gravel, sand, and water may vary in color depending on elements and admixtures but naturally varies from light to dark gray. However, compounds that add pigment to the mixture are becoming increasingly prevalent and popular, as they infuse the concrete with hues more stable than paint. These shades result from the addition of oxides: yellow, red and their derivations (eg. brown) are obtained with the addition of iron oxide; chromium and cobalt oxide create the greens and blues, respectively. For black concrete, it is common to use black iron oxide and carbon oxide combined with pozzolanic cement.
MAD Architects has unveiled that the Wormhole Library, had topped-out in the city of Haikou, China at the end of January 2021. The curved multi-functional structure, cast of white concrete, is scheduled to be completed and operational in the Spring of 2021. Once ready, the project will allow visitors to read, enjoy the sea views and attend open-air performances.
Urban infrastructures provide comfort to inhabitants and mitigate the risks of disasters such as flooding. Underground systems specifically conceal urban infrastructures from public view and are configured as real mazes under the streets. The distribution of drinking water, urban drainage, sewage, and even electrical wiring and fiber optics in some cases, pass under our feet without us noticing. To this end, the industry developed precast concrete parts for about 100 years that provided construction speed, adequate resistance to force, and durability against time. Concrete pipes with circular sections, in many diverse diameters, are perhaps the most used conduits and are ubiquitous around the world. But there are also those who use these apparently functional elements in creative architectural contexts as well.
It's safe to say that concrete is one of the most utilized construction materials in large-scale architectural projects. In Argentina, the use of concrete to construct high-rise apartment buildings offers a variety of advantages, especially when it comes to durability and the time it takes to build. This has made it the go-to material for many architects.
Thanks to its aesthetic qualities and malleability, concrete is the darling of the world's builders and architects. In Argentina in particular, concrete's durability and adaptability to a range of climatic conditions makes it one of the most sought after construction materials, demonstrated by, not only the country's countless museums, hotels, hospitals, but by its residential and smaller-scale buildings as well.
The world’s longest immersed road and rail tunnel design, the Fehmarnbelt link gets a go-ahead. The 18 km infrastructure, the longest of its kind, connecting Denmark’s Lolland Falster region with Germany’s Schleswig Holstein region across the Baltic Sea will shorten the journey between both countries to just 10 minutes by car and seven minutes by train.
In the dome of the Pantheon in Rome, several construction techniques were used to allow such a bold construction to stand. One concerns the composition of the concrete (in this case, non-reinforced concrete) with different densities throughout the structure. Closer to the top, lighter stones were used in the mixture, reducing the dome's weight retaining the solidity of the base. Another technique was the inclusion of “coffers”, which are nothing more than subtractions in the concrete, reducing the weight of the dome while maintaining a cross section sufficiently robust to support its own weight. Built almost 1,900 years ago, this building still surprises us with the genius of the solutions. Using a quantity of materials just high enough to fulfill its primary function, and creating intelligent structures as a result, is just one of the lessons that this building provides.
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