Innovation: The Latest Architecture and News

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The Design by Data Advanced Master® in Computational Design, Digital Manufacturing and Building Technologies provides attendees with a cross-disciplinary culture of computational design and a comprehensive knowledge of cutting-edge technologies in the fields of parametric architecture, robotics, digital manufacturing and 3D printing for the construction industry.

Applications are open for the second edition of the Design by Data Advanced Master® in Computational Design, Digital Manufacturing and Building Technologies opening in September 2017 in Paris. Design by Data provides attendees with a cross-disciplinary culture of computational design and a comprehensive knowledge of cutting-edge technologies in the fields of parametric architecture, robotics, digital manufacturing and 3D printing for the construction industry.

Cement that can generate light? Concrete for building on Mars? Translucent wood? Biodegradable furniture? Pollution absorbing bricks? At first, it sounds crazy but these are only some of the research projects taking place around the world in order to take the construction industry to the next level.

Continue reading below for more information about the motivations behind these projects and how these "experiments" that have already begun large-scale testing are being carried out. 

Challenge
We challenge the innovative minds around the globe to design a marketplace with an operational plan for a vulnerable population (adolescents, single mothers, children, people with trauma, etc) in one of the refugee settlements below. The marketplace should be able to run for long-term, i.e. 3-5 years, and benefit as many people as possible. The overall budget limit for both construction and operation of the entire marketplace is $100,000.

Opportunity
In light of the current surge of refugees in the international arena, refugee livelihoods in transitional settlements have become a crucial topic in contemporary geopolitical relations.

This article was originally published by Archipreneur as "5 of the Most Innovative Architecture Firms."

The AEC industry is notoriously slow to adopt new technologies. Cumbersome organizational structures and high financial stakes make it difficult for AEC professionals to experiment. Due to the limited role of architects in the project development process, innovative design solutions and experimentation with new manufacturing techniques are still confined to academic circles and research institutions.

However, some architecture firms are utilizing their high profiles, international success and the influx of talented, young designers to establish in-house research divisions and incubators that support the development of new ideas in the AEC industry. The following five companies are consistent in pushing the envelope and helping architecture adopt some of the latest technologies:

The Department of Spatial and Sustainable Design, Vienna University of Technology, and the Society of Architecture and Spatial Design is organizing the BLUE AWARD, an international student competition for sustainable architecture. The prize is overseen by the UIA, International Union of Architects, represented by its former President Albert Dubler.

The Go Beyond: Design Challenge is unique from usual design competitions because it funds the construction of a working prototype in addition to offering prize money. This is an international design competition organized by the Singapore-based ONG FOUNDATION for architects, engineers, designers and innovators to create new-to-the-world solutions. Every year, about two million shipping containers are no longer used. What if these could be upcycled into sustainable architecture to reduce the total carbon footprint of global development?

With the goal of harnessing and exploring the benefits of clay as a raw material, which is characteristic of Colombia's Cúcuta region, Architects Miguel Niño and Johanna Navarro created Sumart Diseño y Arquitectura SAS, a studio that designs and develops sustainable architectural solutions.

One of their most successful projects is the Bloque Termodisipador BT, a ceramic block designed with an irregular cross section that allows ventilation to pass through the brick, reducing the amount of heat that enters the interior of the building.

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Sofoklis Giannakopoulos, a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), has designed Pylos, a 3D printer that utilizes a natural, biodegradable, cheap, recyclable and local material that everyone is familiar with: the earth.

In an effort to make 3D printing a “large scale construction approach” even in years of economic and environmental turmoil, Pylos explores the structural potential of soil, a material that has been widely used in vernacular architecture around the world, and particularly in the Global South.

Learn more about the printer after the break.

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Developed by Andrew Klein, this simple carpentry technique can bring your small-scaled, DIY constructions to new levels.

Klein’s specially designed saw blade has a specific shape that cuts wood without completely breaking it, allowing the board to be folded to form three-dimensional parts with varying uses.

Check out a series of GIFs showing how it works after the break. And if you're interested in learning more about systems for building with wood, check out our Materials catalog.

Since its creation in the first half of the 20^th century, the LEGO brick has come to be used for much more than its original purpose as a children’s toy.

We’ve seen LEGOs used to create replicas of classic architecture, urban interventions, virtual games and even an entire house. Now, a new video highlights the bricks’ potential as a formwork for creating furniture. The bricks' ability to be easily assembled and disassembled makes for an efficient and easy-to-create formwork, which when filled with concrete and left to set creates these incredible, textured nesting tables.

Watch the video above for a tutorial on making the tables -- does anyone dare try it themselves? 

With the touch of a button on your smartphone, your furniture begins to reconfigure while new walls glide into place. In a matter of seconds, your bedroom can become the kitchen, dining room, or simply an empty room thanks to the ingenuity of architecture students at Delft University of Technology's Hyperbody design team. The Pop up Interactive Apartment occupies a mere 50 square metres of multi-use space optimized for specific real-time use, allowing the occupant to choose a configuration based on current needs.

Enter the hyper-efficient world of Pop up Interactive Apartment after the break.

The following article is presented by Materials, ArchDaily's new US product catalog.

How many times in the last year have you heard 3d printing mentioned? What about double-skinned curtain walls or “smart” buildings? High-tech materials almost always seem to dominate the conversation - at least in architectural circles. But using the latest invention in material technology usually does not make a building “innovative.” More often than not, it just makes it expensive and flashy.

Low-tech materials like lumber, stone and brick, on the other hand, are often overlooked, even though the use of local and locally produced materials offers the lowest possible carbon footprint. And while these common materials may seem boring, with a bit of imagination and technical skill, an architect can transform these materials into something fresh. With that in mind, check out three truly innovative projects which use low-tech materials in different and exciting ways.

Andrew Carnegie once said, “Aim for the highest.” He followed his own advice. The powerful 19th century steel magnate had the foresight to build a bridge spanning the Mississippi river, a total of 6442 feet. In 1874, the primary structural material was iron — steel was the new kid on the block. People were wary of steel, scared of it even. It was an unproven alloy.

Nevertheless, after the completion of Eads Bridge in St. Louis, Andrew Carnegie generated a publicity stunt to prove steel was in fact a viable building material. A popular superstition of the day stated that an elephant would not cross an unstable bridge. On opening day, a confident Carnegie, the people of St. Louis and a four-ton elephant proceeded to cross the bridge. The elephant was met on the other side with pompous fanfare. What ensued was the greatest vertical building boom in American history, with Chicago and New York pioneering the cause. That’s right people; you can thank an adrenaline-junkie elephant for changing American opinion on the safety of steel construction.

So if steel replaced iron - as iron replaced bronze and bronze, copper -  what will replace steel? Carbon Fiber.

Often, it is only with hindsight that we can truly understand our world; looking back at how important certain events and people proved to be is much easier than predicting their importance at the time. Still, guessing who will be remembered in posterity is a fun game, so The Atlantic asked various industry leaders "Who Will Tomorrow's Historians Consider Today's Greatest Inventors?" The answers span across business, science, technology and design, and among the 9 nominations there are a few names that architects and urban designers may find interesting. Read on after the break to find out just who they are.

In attempts to better define what it really means to be green, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, in partnership with Make it Right, has selected products from ten companies as finalists in the Product Innovation Challenge. 144 applicants were screened by toxicologists and building professionals, proposing new alternatives from insulation grown from fungi and bricks from living organisms, to roofing made from waste limestone and recycled plastic. The ten finalists represent the shared values of practical sustainability and entrepreneurship, creating "a building product that is safe, healthy, affordable, effective and designed to be returned safely to nature or industry after use."

Three winners will ultimately be announced on November 15, 2013 at the Institute's Innovation Celebration in New York City, offering a $250,000 cash prize: $125,000 for first place, $75,000 for second and $50,000 for third. The jury members, who include executives from Google, US Green Building Council and the Schmidt Family Foundation, will judge each product based on five categories: material health, material reutilization, water stewardship, renewable energy and social fairness.

Without further ado, the 10 finalists are…

A better workplace can foster better social dynamics, more creativity, an increase on production, and of course, improve the quality of life of the ones using it on a daily basis.

We have partnered with HP to recognize the projects that are pushing the boundaries in this area, creating remarkable spaces for work, and also to foster experimentation among students to think about the workplace of the future.

We have therefore divided the competition into two categories: for professionals and for students.

Professionals
Architects from around the world are invited to submit their recently completed workplace projects. The jury will award entries that are able to demonstrate innovations in this area in the form of sketches or diagrams.

Use your power of synthesis to show us why your project introduces innovation to the workplace!

Students
Students from around the world are invited to design an innovative workplace within a given generic floor of office space. This constrain will force students to operate on actual market conditions.

Unleash your imagination within a delimited space to show us how innovation can be made possible in today’s structures, to foster tomorrow’s ideas!

Schedule, eligibility, prizes, and general rules after the break.

Videos

What do MIT’s Building 20, the Ancient Greek Agora, 18^th Century British teahouses, and early 20^th century Parisian cafés have in common?

They were some of the most creative spaces in the world.

People who gathered there would interact. People, such as Socrates or Chomsky or Edison, exchanged ideas, argued about morals, and discussed technologies. They participated in an informal discourse driven by passionate involvement.

And these places, although for different reasons, fostered interaction by bringing people together and giving them a place to talk. As Jonah Lehrer put it, “the most creative spaces are those which hurl us together. It is the human friction that makes the sparks.”

The question, then, is how can contemporary architecture foster the same kind of creativity?

To learn more about architecture and its role in creativity and learning, keep reading after the break.

Design saturates every facet of our lives. As the new MoMA exhibition states: design is a fundamental tool in helping people respond to change. Applied Design, running from March 2nd to January 31st, focuses on the various means and methods by which we design and the product of those varied paths that lead to innovation.