Archinect - Features

AI is Good For Architects (For Now)

2024-04-15T13:30:00-04:00

In the final chapter of Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence, Niall Patrick Walsh reflects on the historical relationship between architecture and technology, charting a trajectory for the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the future of the architectural profession. New contributions on the topic from Autodesk's Mike Haley and Superusers author Randy Deutsch are joined by earlier reflections from throughout the series by Richard Saul Wurman, Carlo Ratti, Bjarke Ingels, and Molly Wright Steenson.

This article is part of the Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence series.

A Conversation with Bjarke Ingels on AI, 3D Printing, and the Future of the Architectural Profession

2024-03-19T08:56:00-04:00

It has been almost ten years since Archinect last spoke with Bjarke Ingels. Back then, the topic of conversation was BIG's 'Hot to Cold' exhibition at the National Building Museum. Today, after a decade that has included award-winning Manhattan skyscrapers, floating cities, a Netflix profile, and a Serpentine Pavilion, it's hard to know where to start.

Among the most intriguing recent outputs of BIG's 700-strong team across the United States, Europe, and Asia, however, is their explorations in the field of 3D printing. In collaboration with construction technology specialists ICON, Ingels and his firm have overseen the design and delivery of a wide variety of 3D printed schemes, from a 100-home residential neighborhood and high-end hospitality project, both in Texas, to a Mars simulation habitat developed in collaboration with NASA. Now, in 2024, the team has embarked on its latest 3D printing endeavor: a selection of single-family houses, designed by BIG, to be included in ICON's n...

Ad Astra, Ab Hinc: Jakob Lange on BIG & NASA's Mars Dune Alpha Habitat and the Future of Interstellar Architecture

2021-12-22T11:43:00-05:00

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise…

The Bard’s characterization of 16th-century England from Richard II could serve as a mantra for those looking towards the future and to the Red Planet as a dazzling high-tec Paradisus where human settlements will eventually give way to sustained habitation as our century turns over into the next, and to — what some feel — will generate better and more just manmade civilizations in this galaxy and beyond.

Such is the case for many architects of a later vintage. Yet, among those vying for a place at the throne of interplanetary building, Bjarke Ingels Group has been one of the most successful. The firm has gained the official sanction of NASA to build the prototype for what may eventually become humankind’s first foray into life on a foreign planet.

While we have to start somewhere, and though small, BIG’s Mars Dune Alpha project could have monumental implications for the future of space building and humanity ...

Extra Extra: My BIG Beef

2019-03-08T09:00:00-05:00

Extra Extra won’t focus on memes but try to illustrate problems through them. To that end, the looser conditions of a column allow for visible cracks in my positions. Unanswered questions are welcomed. Criticisms formed on a mimetic hunch can be built up. Nothing here is too polished, neither is it expected to be.

As architecture culture breaks into architecture cultures, let's explore the fissures. Tomorrow, we begin together the construction of a constituency.

Reinventing the Design Documentary with 'Abstract' Creator Scott Dadich

2017-03-15T12:16:00-04:00

Say the words 'bingeable television' and 'high design' in the same sentence and almost anyone will look at you like you have three heads and an even more questionable grasp on pop culture. But that’s about to change, all thanks to former Wired editor-in-chief and design consultant Scott Dadich whose Abstract series premiered on Netflix late last month. Dadich, along with co-executive producers filmmakers Morgan Neville and David O’Connor, turned the camera on the ever-illusive design process, featuring episodic biographies of discipline-spanning greats like Bjarke Ingels, Tinker Hatfield, Ilse Crawford, and Ralph Gilles, among others.

Frank Gehry, Steven Holl, Liz Diller, Rem Koolhaas and Others Share Crucial Moments in Their Education

2016-09-30T12:19:00-04:00

What is the role of education in shaping a visionary architect? Several contemporary architects reflect on how the environment, curriculum, and tangential opportunities of their formal learning influenced and shaped their design sensibility.

Touring BIG's 2016 Serpentine Pavilion and the new Summer Houses

2016-06-08T13:33:00-04:00

Perched on the lawn of the Serpentine Gallery in London’s Royal Kensington Gardens, the annual Serpentine Pavilion has been a summer highlight for Londoners since its inception in 2000. The first Pavilion, which enjoyed a four-month residency, was created by Zaha Hadid. Since then the site has entertained notable architects including Daniel Libeskind, Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry, and Ai Weiwei with Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron.

The Denmark™ Organization: Bjarke Ingels Group

2007-10-02T23:00:00-04:00