Materials & ProductsExclusive Articles, from ArchDaily

Videos

A new challenger has stepped into the ring of home solar batteries, and it’s a name you may recognize: global furniture retailer IKEA.

Videos

A relative newcomer to the material world, smart glass (also known as switch glass or electrochromic glass) has the ability to change its properties and appearance, allowing the environmental conditions of a space to be optimized according to the use and needs of its users. 

Videos

As part of Concéntrico 03, architects Manuel Bouzas Cavada, Manuel Bouzas Barcala and Clara Álvarez Garcí designed a temporary exhibition pavilion in the Escuelas Trevijano Plaza, with the objective of “making the unclear, transparent, and the heavy, light."

Understanding the structural aspects of architecture is an inherent task of the architect; sufficient structural knowledge allows designers to propose ideas such as large structural elements which offer an interesting response to a project's needs.

Michiru Tanaka Designs Patterned OLED Tiles inspired by Japanese Craftmanship.

Videos

A design by C-re-a.i.d. for a Maasai village in northern Tanzania, is a morphological response to the imposed need to settle, using sustainable, local and accessible materials to redefine its construction culture.

How to build a Tiki Bar in your backyard with instructions and images.

Videos

In a 12-day workshop, Building Trust International and Terraepaglia joined the Ciuffelli Agricultural Technical Institute in Todi, Italy, with the aim of exploring a series of construction techniques with raw soil. In addition to producing earth bricks and rammed earth structures -in collaboration with experts such as Eliana Baglioni and Pouya Khazaeli-, a curved wall was erected with a wooden structure and a cane framework, on which a massive layer of earth and straw was spread.

The premise for this design was to create an iconic space, with a concept adaptable to any property and versatile when exposing the product. It should also be a design that could be quickly built and at a moderate cost.

Saint-Gobain’s new corporate headquarters campus in Malvern, PA—the North American home to the world’s largest building materials company—is not a typical corporate campus. As the company approached its 350th anniversary, they set out to build a headquarters that would offer a dynamic showcase for its products.

How Oskar Zieta uses FIDU process to inflate steel for pavilion.

The geometric design of the 'Protostar Pavilion' for the launch of the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a morphological response associated with the iconic brand logo: a three-pointed star.

Videos

More than 2000 years ago, the Roman Empire invented a unique marine concrete that allowed for the construction of enormous, durable structures – even underwater. Incredibly, the exact chemical properties of this concrete mixture have eluded scientists to this day – but now, researchers from the University of Utah believe they may have finally cracked the code.

Videos

This video is part of a conference held every two years by the Rob|Arch Conference series, developed by the Association for Robots in Architecture and related to robotic fabrication in architecture, art, and design.

Developed by the POLOMADERA Program at the University of Concepción, the 3D Building Construction Solutions Catalog is a free tool that helps users design construction details for lightweight wooden structural systems.

Though created with the intention of meeting new standards soon to be implemented nationally in Chile (and therefore in Spanish), the catalog was developed jointly with international experts from the Wood Construction Institute at the Holzbau Institut in Germany, and thus incorporates best practices that are applicable around the world.

Materials: How Attilio Panzeri Architects make black concrete.

Videos

The capabilities of personal 3D printing and fabrication are only beginning to be tested, but a new system is pushing the boundaries for feasible, structurally-sound large scale structures. Unlike other structures created by 3D printing systems, Trussfab doesn’t require access to specialized equipment, nor specific engineering knowledge, to print and build large-scale structures capable of supporting human weight. Phd researcher Robert Kovacs with his team from the Human Computer Interaction Lab at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany created Trussfab as an end-to-end system allowing users to fabricate sturdy, large-scale structures using plastic bottles and 3D-printed connections, making them easy and relatively quick to construct.