A couple of years ago, digital fabrication was making headlines regularly, promising to drastically change the architecture practice. The revolution in architecture might not have arrived yet, but research projects, experiments and the dedication of several architects and universities already opened a new realm of possibilities for architectural expression. Therefore, it seems appropriate to give an overview of the impact the technology had so far within the architecture practice. This article covers the different types of processes within the field and the projects that experiment with them, with the scope of reframing the architectural potential of digital fabrication.
When facing emergencies such as natural disasters, warfare or pandemics, architecture must offer immediate and effective solutions. In these unfortunate circumstances, the priority is usually to solve problems around housing, however, once the emergency is under control, the focus starts to slowly move towards meeting places such as community centers, neighborhood councils and public spaces.
To create new meeting places in emergency situations, scaffolding is a good alternative regarding construction speed and tight budgets. Although they are usually used as temporary structures, they also allow creating a quickly composed space playing with horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines, and the combination with other materials such as textile, wood, polycarbonate and metal.
Many of us spend more time at our offices than ever before and sometimes see our colleagues more than our own families. Workplaces can be considered to be our second homes, which is why the way we deliberately design them in the present day has garnered so much attention. The overarching design of workplaces aims to create a perfect balance between heads-down focus work and layers of collaboration to improve the productivity and general well being of employees. As workplace trends come and go, there’s a new progression on everyone’s minds- and it predicts what a post-COVID-19 office might look like both in the immediate and long term future. Although there’s no crystal ball answer, many architecture firms, research groups, and real estate companies have been tapped to ideate and implement forward-thinking design solutions and health safety policies that will be critical in redefining how we utilize our workplaces for the years to come.
Temporary shelter in Nepal / Charles Lai + Takehiko Suzuki. Courtesy of Charles Lai, Takehiko Suzuki
Earthquakes, pandemics, conflicts, and environmental disasters are some of the events that have challenged architects, planners, designers, and engineers. The goal is to find ways of creating structures and infrastructure more quickly, easily, efficiently, suiting both the circumstances and the location in which they will be implemented. When searching for materials that meet the requirements for each situation, those considered "alternative" or unusual - at least in the context of emergency shelters - can offer great opportunities for experimentation and applicability for emergency structures. Containers and tensioned fabrics always come to mind when discussing temporary constructions. However, there are other highly available materials with good mechanical properties that can achieve relief purposes.
The last decade has seen an enormous influx of new technologies in architecture. Ever since CAD revolutionized traditional pen and paper design methods, many forms of technology have found a comfortable place in the architect’s workflow. While the human experience has always been the cornerstone of architecture, innovations for the AEC industry aren’t always “people-centric”. High barriers to entry, whether that be price or ease-of-use, have kept many practitioners from realizing their full potential.
Concerns about the hygiene, durability, and healthiness of interior spaces have increased considerably in recent years, drawing extreme attention to hospital and health-related projects. Consequently, the choice of materials becomes essential from the conception of each project, guaranteeing that each space performs effectively on all fronts, from resistance and safety to environmental comfort and aesthetics.
In particular, the enclosures in hospitals and health centers must conform to a series of predetermined guidelines and dimensions, which respond to the standardized sizes of different types of equipment and to the needs of each medical procedure. Within the robust framework of the structural walls, the partitions – which are essential for subdividing the space – must be especially resistant to impact, fire, and humidity, in addition to effectively mediating the acoustics between rooms and inside each one of them.
With its wide range of applications and cosmetic properties, concrete is having a moment in the world of architecture. Today, thanks to the ever-moving stream of innovation in concrete production and application, optimal results are now the norm rather than the exception. For architects and builders alike, concrete is an opportunity to explore and experiment with tones and textures, ensuring that there is something for every design and project.
When the groundbreaking ceremony for the world’s largest soccer stadium in Guangzhou was announced on April 16th, the most controversial aspect of the project was not its $1.7 billion price tag, but its bold lotus shape causing a backlash from the local architectural community but praise from the general public.
https://www.archdaily.com/938391/what-is-the-future-of-sports-architectureMilly Mo
OSB (Oriented Strand Board) can be easily recognized for its distinctive appearance. This material consists of cross-oriented layers of wood strands compressed and bonded together with resin, applied under high pressure and temperature. As a result, the standardized panels have great stiffness, strength, and stability, and are often used as wall cladding attached to the steel frame of a building or as partitions. Also, they have good soundproofing capabilities, since the panels are uniform and have no internal gaps or voids. It is also worth mentioning that OSB can be fully recycled, thereby being considered eco-friendly.
The construction industry is responsible for 75% of the consumption of earth's natural resources. Stone, sand, iron, and many other finite resources are extracted in huge quantities to supply the markets. Additionally, construction sites themselves generate enormous quantities of waste, whether through construction, demolition, or remodeling. In Brazil, for example, construction waste can represent between 50% and 70% of the total mass of municipal solid waste [1]. This waste often ends up in landfills and dumps rather than being properly disposed of, overwhelming municipal sanitation systems and creating informal disposal sites.
While damage control and preparation is an ever increasing factor in how we plan our cities, certain extraordinary circumstances, like natural disasters, remain outside of our ability to plan and demand quick architectural responses that offer instant aid to the people affected, often being the difference between life and death. Natural, unpredictable events like earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, armed conflicts, territory disputes, or global crises--such as climate change or pandemics--require immediate action in order to mitigate ensuing damage and chaos. Emergency architecture is the immediate answer to the humanitarian side of a conflict, covering everything from housing to medical facilities for the affected.
The concepts of autonomy, collaboration, and participation have gained relevance in architecture and urbanism through collaborative actions involving the community, architects, urban planners, and designers. As the number of climate disasters has significantly increased - doubling in the last 40 years according to a report released in 2016 by CRED (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters) - in addition to conflicts and other tragedies, the demand for the rebuilding of houses and infrastructure in affected areas has grown simultaneously. This has called for a major collaborative effort in architectural and urban reconstruction.
Peter Zumthor, in one of his most emblematic works, gives concrete an almost sacred dimension. The work in question is the small Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, located in a small village in Germany, a construction that is both robust and sensitive. Built with white cement, which was mixed with stones and sand from the region, the chapel is composed of 24 layers of concrete that were poured day after day by local labor, and compressed in an unusual way. The building's flat and smooth exterior contrasts with its interior, which was initially made of inclined wooden logs forming a triangular void. To remove these internal forms, the logs were set on fire in a controlled process, reducing them to ash and creating a carbonized interior that varied between black and gray and retained the texture of the negatives of the logs. The result is a masterpiece of architecture, a space for reflection and transformation, in which the same material appears in diametrically opposing ways.
SCI-Arc’s Master of Science in Design Theory and Pedagogy is a one-year program that addresses the growing ambiguity between practice and academia and prepares students for the new hybrid career that has emerged in architecture: the architect-theorist-educator. As shifting political, social, cultural, technological, and ecological paradigms redefine architecture, the program speculates on how architects will practice in the future, interrogates current pedagogical models, and focuses on what needs to be rethought, advanced, or challenged. One of five master’s programs within SCI-Arc EDGE, Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture, Design Theory and Pedagogy prepares young architects for new forms of architectural practice.
New Orleans is a city unlike any other. Defined by a rich cultural history, the Big Easy has been shaped by it's geography along the Mississippi Delta and the local climate. After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, designers and architects looked to the city with a renewed focus to build a better future. From the Lower 9th Ward to the French Quarter and beyond, modern designs were created within a diverse urban fabric.
The East County Office & Archives by Miller Hull. Image Courtesy of Chipper Hatter
Back in February this year, the American architectural community was scandalised by a draft executive order from the White House threatening to make neoclassical or traditional regional styles compulsory for all new federal buildings. The initiative fails to recognise the specificity of the architectural expression and the innovation that stems from understanding the local context. Metropolis Magazine has gathered together several examples of civic architecture that succeed in expressing the needs and aspirations of their communities, thus building a compelling argument against a mandated, unified architectural expression.
JOA is honoured to participate in the 2019 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (Shenzhen). We have always taken the research led perspective as the starting point of the design, trying to discuss the story behind the architecture in greater depth, and present it to the public through the exhibition. Our understanding of the future world is more based on the perspective of architecture rather than sci-fi movies. The premise of envisioning the future is actually to discuss the current social pain points, and then come up with critical reflections in a future dimension, which we call "The Post Anthropocene” project.
https://www.archdaily.com/939698/the-post-anthropocene-joas-exhibition-envision-life-in-hard-futureJust Open Architecture
As the world is slowly reopening, easing lockdown measures, everyone is adapting to new realities. Imposing drastic adjustments to our lives, the coronavirus has introduced a new “normal”, changing our perceptions and altering our priorities. Driven towards questioning and evaluating our environment, we are constantly reacting and anticipating a relatively unknown future.
A casual conversation between two editors at ArchDaily generated this collaborative piece that seeks to investigate the current trends, predict the future, and offer insights to everyone/everything related to the architectural field. Tackling the evolution of the profession, the firms, and the individuals, especially young adults and students, this article, produced by Christele Harrouk and Eric Baldwin, aims to reveal what is happening in the architecture scene.
Kiruna, a Swedish town within the Arctic Circle, has had to relocate owing to geological instability brought on by mining. This unusual circumstance is the focus of Kiruna Forever, an exhibition at ArkDes. Ingenjörsvillan, a house in Kiruna, was one of the structures moved. In the town’s new location, a circular city hall designed by Henning Larsen plays centerpiece. Courtesy Jessica Nilden
Kiruna Forever, an exhibition at ArkDes, traces the town's relocation due to geological instability.
“Kiruna is on the move,” says Carlos Mínguez Carrasco, curator of the new exhibition Kiruna Forever. Kiruna, a 125-year-old Swedish town that sprouted around the iron mine of the same name, started an official relocation process in 2018 after decades of discussion with the state-owned mining company LKAB. Today, as the expansion of the mine destabilizes the ground surrounding it, nearby buildings are being demolished or loaded onto flatbed trucks and moved to the new city center nearly two miles east.
Emergencies include a variety of contemporary scenarios ranging from natural disasters to extreme poverty or isolation due to social and political conflicts. In all cases, the disruption of normality and the requirement of basic needs for maintaining a decent quality of life become the basis for finding quick and efficient alternatives to respond to this type of urgency.
Architecture can be a tool for social change, and the belief in this statement is what motivates the work of many architectural NGOs who strive to address the lack of adequate shelter, generate social and economic change and build resilience in communities. These NGOs operate in two major areas, disaster relief and community development, with many organisations pursuing both types of actions. This article rounds-up several architecture-related foundations that act in emergencies, covering their expertise, past involvement in humanitarian crises, as well as the means to join them in their efforts.
New York City is the pinnacle hybrid between the vibrant and granular neighborhoods that Jane Jacobs once envisioned and the sweeping urban innovations of Robert Moses. However, its diverse population has experienced hardship over the last twenty years, forcing the city into a recursive wave of self-reflection to reevaluate the urban strategies, design trends, and global transportation methods that it had grown so accustomed to. After the September 11th and Hurricane Sandy tragedies, the delicate balance between promoting a sense of individual culture and the strength in unity that New Yorkers are so often known for served as the lifeblood for revitalization. New York City has consistently handled adversity, by always rethinking, redesigning, and rebuilding this city for a better future.
As an aftermath of natural disasters, viruses and wars, in society, we often require emergency architecture. In this round-up, we explore how emergency architecture can accommodate educational needs and how it can bring together a community that has suffered social and economic hardship.
Emergency architecture can occur under a variety of circumstances and through the recent COVID-19 pandemic we have started to get a glimpse of the urgency for certain types of architecture across the world. What we sometimes take for granted in regards to socialising — a sense of community and access to quality education — some countries go without for large periods of time due to natural disasters, viruses and war.
Architecture can ground both healing and wellness. Whether mitigating and reducing the transmission of disease, or simply providing a tranquil space for solace, the buildings of our daily lives directly shape our experience. In the case of emergency architecture, spaces are built to address issues of health and shelter. As architects continue to rethink designs for housing and basic human needs, they've also extended their focus to mental, physical and spiritual well-being.
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