Technology: The Latest Architecture and News

Forests cover about a third of the planet and play a fundamental role for life on Earth. According to Peter Wohlleben, author of the book “The Secret Life of Trees”, through fungal weaves, specimens of a forest can communicate with each other, exchange nutrients, help out the weakest plants, and organize survival strategies, which is essential for the healthy growth of individuals. The preservation of existing forests and the creation of new ones are essential for biodiversity and natural recovery, but also to meet the demand for wood. According to a report by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), it is estimated that the amount of wood harvested in the world will triple by the year 2050, with the increase in population and income in developing countries. In addition, it is estimated that there will be an increased use of wood to manufacture biofuels, pharmaceuticals, plastics, cosmetics, consumer electronics and textiles. Searching for wood substitutes can be a smart path towards a sustainable future, especially if the alternatives are made using waste generated by other industries. Pyrus, for example, is an oil-free wood material produced sustainably with bacterial cellulose waste repurposed from the kombucha industry.

The construction industry has experienced severe changes in recent decades. Historically, it counted on abundant labor and a false notion that natural resources were infinite, but nowadays the sector has struggled to find innovations that will allow it to become more sustainable, especially considering its enormous impact and importance in the world. In addition, the recent Covid-19 pandemic changed several factors and dynamics, demanding creativity from designers to overcome challenges. In some cases, the design process itself became subject to changes. The S'Winter Station project, developed by students and teachers of Ryerson University's Department of Architectural Science, is one of these examples which relied on existing visualization and manufacturing technology for its completion.

Advances in biotechnology and material science are opening new material opportunities, with the potential of fundamentally changing the connection between the built environment and the natural world. Building materials and construction account for 11% of greenhouse gas emissions. The AEC industry can contribute to curbing climate change in the following years, and the re-evaluation of commonplace building materials is one of the most critical steps. Bioengineered materials, which grow, produce energy, self-heal, are the next frontier in biology and material science and potentially a path towards a new kind of architecture. Although innovation in these fields is still far away from mainstream commercial use, it promises to dramatically change the image of the built environment.

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By 2025, Dubai plans for a fourth of its buildings to be printed in 3D construction methods, demonstrating the potential of a fast-growing technology capable of redefining and pushing the limits of traditional architecture. As the technique emerges as a viable solution in the construction, engineering, and architecture areas, its popularity is quickly increasing. In fact, just between 2021 and 2028, the global 3D construction market is expected to grow by 91%, according to a July 2021 report by Grand View Research. Why this rapid growth? Besides being a faster alternative and having lower construction costs, it can also provide affordable housing solutions and allow countless design possibilities, among many other benefits. Thus, as architects must adapt to a new technological era, where speed and efficiency have become key factors in design and execution processes, the rise of 3D printing shows enormous promise. It could even help reshape construction as we know it.

Digital spaces and fabrication technology have become as prominent as ever within the current state of our post-pandemic society, becoming increasingly more accessible and enabling quick and spontaneous acts of iteration and evolution. These technologies have resulted in the ability to mass-produce non-standard, highly differentiated building components within the same facility as their standardized counterpart, transforming how buildings and their respective components are conceived, designed, and represented, and how they are manufactured, assembled, and produced.

The beauty of digital fabrication is its ability to blend aspects of mass and artisanal production to the point where costs nearly disappear. Technology’s capacity to fabricate so simply and almost seamlessly raise the issues for its potential to significantly alter our current perception of architecture, thus producing the question: has the influence of mass production in architecture resulted in a loss of intentional design?

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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.

Believing that a creator has a duty towards society, Philippe Starck, is a multifaceted designer whose projects span across many disciplines. From architecture and interiors to industrial and furniture design, Starck’s portfolio is always, as he puts it, “focused on the essential”, and “must improve the lives of as many people as possible”. Author of Alessi’s famous lemon squeezer, he is known for pushing the boundary of design in everyday objects.

With 10,000 creations, completed or yet to come, Philippe Starck is a pioneer in “making things in the way of ecology”. In fact, ArchDaily had the chance to meet the designer at the 2021 Salone del Mobile, to discuss his design approach and visions as well as hislatest plywood creation for Andreu World.

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