Archinect - News

Editor's Picks #564

2024-11-05T12:29:00-05:00

As part of the Archinect In-Depth: Licensure series, Niall Patrick Walsh gathered perspectives from Mike Armstrong, CEO of NCARB, Pascale Sablan, President of NOMA, architect and author Melvin L. Mitchell, writer and editor John Parman, architect and Professor Emeritus at George B. Johnston and Peggy Deamer author and Professor Emerita at Yale University.

Later, Kate Wingert-Playdon, Senior Associate Dean and Director of Architecture at Temple University, made the case for "always working in collaboration. That is a strong theme here at Tyler...so many good results in the built environment rely on good relationships, including well-conceived contracts…Respect is a big piece of collaboration. This is not to say that all design comes down to a contract; it is still about creative thinking. But a good contract isn’t just about business and law".

News

The_Crow felt the Snøhetta-led expansion for The Joslyn Art Museum was "pretty corporate tbh". What’s your take?

Photo © Nic Lehoux, cou...

New version of sustainable design tool Tally to launch in 2025

2024-11-05T11:26:00-05:00

Building Transparency has announced the development of Tally® 2.0 in partnership with KieranTimberlake. This updated version of the LCA tool aims to enhance the building industry’s capacity to evaluate and reduce the environmental impacts of materials and design choices.

The original Tally tool was launched in 2013 by KieranTimberlake, who began developing the tool in 2008. In 2021, we included Tally as part of our deep dive into the various climate-orientated architecture software systems developed by architects and designers.

Tally was the first LCA application allowing designers to assess the environmental footprint of projects within Revit. It has since been adopted by nearly 3,500 users in the architecture, engineering, and construction.

Related on Archinect: Meet the Architects Designing Software to Fight Climate Change. Image: Screenshot from CLIMATE SCOUT, an app created by CallisonRTKL

Building upon the success of its predecessor, Tally 2.0 will introduce new features that p...

Meta announces investment in low-carbon concrete production plants

2024-10-29T17:47:00-04:00

Last month, Meta (Facebook’s parent company) announced its plans to invest in the California-based concrete manufacturer CarbonBuilt on a new line of low-carbon products called Reversa.

The product is said to offer carbon footprint reductions of up to 70% compared to the current industrial baseline. Data centers will ultimately become the recipients of the product innovations. This comes as the technology giant is in the midst of a year in which it anticipates spending $37 billion on the booming building typology.

Meta's Head of Clean Technology Innovation John DeAngelis said: “Meta is prioritizing a multifaceted approach to accelerating decarbonization in hard-to-abate sectors like concrete. Our collaboration with CarbonBuilt will help them to deliver a step change reduction in emissions with a clear near-term path to scale. Accelerating the deployment of these types of solutions is critical for driving deep decarbonization and we hope this collaboration can help pave the path fo...

Watch LAX's new Midfield Satellite Concourse South taxi to its final destination

2024-10-28T17:14:00-04:00

Woods Bagot has shared a video from the recent overnight installation of its Midfield Satellite Concourse South (or MSC South) project at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

The project adds around 146,000 square feet of space and eight gates designed to hold narrowbody aircraft.

Video courtesy Woods Bagot

Its realization was made possible by an innovative new process called Offsite Construction and Relocation (or OCR), which calls for an in-situ delivery staged in nine segments in order to avoid costly disruptions to air traffic operations after the process began earlier this year just north of the airport's northernmost runways. Buro Happold (structural engineering, sustainability, lighting, and acoustical design) was able to ensure its delivery in partnership with RAW International.

Image: Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA)

The next step after this major hurdle will be to assemble each of the segments through 2025.

Image: Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA)

Woods Bagot’s Ian L...

Google updates Open Buildings data sets using AI

2024-10-28T10:46:00-04:00

In 2021, the Google Research Africa team launched Open Buildings, an open-source dataset of building footprints across the Global South produced using AI and high-resolution satellite imagery. The team had a simple vision: to fill a major gap in data for population and density in the developing world. Now in its third version, their dataset contains polygons for 1.8 billion buildings over an area of 58 million km² in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The data is useful in determining population size and other factors to solve urban density problems.

Google's Research product manager Olivia Graham says: "About 2.5 billion more people could move to cities by 2050, most of them in the Global South — this could be a real step change for governments and organizations working through that growth. If a city is planning where to put essential services like healthcare and education, or where to develop infrastructure like water and energy supplies, this dataset shows the areas that are actively growing."

The data can be explored via a searchable map using that's accessed here.

BIG debuts new 3D printed mycelium structure at Scandinavian industry summit

2024-10-25T16:24:00-04:00

A new design from BIG made using 3D printing and mycelium additives is being showcase at a manufacturing summit for industry stakeholders in Scandinavia. The firm says it is "aimed at exploring new ways to reduce spatial and material waste through additive manufacturing and bio-based materials."

I AM MSHRM came together as part of a collaborative effort between the Danish AM Hub , MDT A/S, Naturpladen.

The result, they say, is a rapidly deployable and can be assembled in modular components made from recycled plastic and then filled in with the mycelium additive. This element makes their erection possible without the need for scaffolding. This method likewise reduces the overall volume of printed material, replacing it instead with the mycelium composite in such a way that "significantly lower[s] the overall carbon footprint" according to the firm.

NCARB releases statement on AI and the future of the architectural profession

2024-10-20T09:10:00-04:00

The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) has announced a consensus opinion regarding the regulation of artificial intelligence technology and its future impact on the architectural profession.

This announcement emerged from NCARB's 2024 Annual Business Meeting in June, where 150 licensing board members convened. The meeting built on earlier discussions held during the March 2024 Regional Summit and the inaugural Futures Symposium in December 2023, which explored AI's impact on the profession. NCARB stated, "Going forward, NCARB will continue to monitor the expanding use of AI across practice and its potential interface with the regulatory mission of NCARB and its members. NCARB remains committed to collaborating with its licensing board members to ensure the best interests of the public are served through the effective and reasonable regulation of architectural practice."

NCARB emphasized that while advancements in AI and computational design are providing a...

Interior design reaches new frontiers with release of Vast's Haven-1 commercial space station concept

2024-10-19T09:44:00-04:00

The U.S.-based space habitation startup Vast is promoting its new interior design concept for a speculative long-term space station dwelling they call Haven-1. Their idea for the "world’s first commercial space station" is meant for astronauts working in low-Earth orbit and offers habitation spaces slightly larger than the crew quarters of the International Space Station.

The design combats the known problems of discomfort while sleeping in zero gravity. A small (848-cubic-foot) common area and Haven-1 research lab connect to the living spaces.

Image: courtesy VAST

According to the company's project announcement, you can expect the station to launch by August 2025 with a "specific focus on ensuring form and function merge to provide greater comfort and quality of life for long-term missions."

As the Washington Post reported previously, the station will be brought into orbit via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Image: courtesy VAST

Image: courtesy VAS...

Market for digital twin buildings projected to reach $20.2 billion by 2032

2024-10-09T10:59:00-04:00

The global market for digital twin buildings is now on track to reach a projected market size of $20.2 billion by the year 2032, skyrocketing via a 32.6% CAGR from its current market of $1.6 billion. This is according to the latest reporting from Astute Analytica. The companies leading the charge include Siemens, AG, IBM, Microsoft, General Electric, and Dassault Systèmes SE. Asian countries will be among the key drivers for growth due to their accelerated pace of urbanization.

Robotic fabrication and hybrid structural systems are showcased in the University of Stuttgart's new ITECH Pavilion

2024-10-04T18:52:00-04:00

A team of researchers led by Achim Menges of the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and Jan Knippers of the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart has unveiled a new pavilion made using a novel combination of bio-based materials.

The hybrid structural system behind the ITECH Research Pavilion 2024 is composed of timber and natural flax fiber polymer composites (or NFPCs). Menches and his colleagues were guided by recent research into fiber-polymer composites. The complete assembly works via the compressive strength of timber and tensile properties.

Image courtesy of ITEK and ICD at the University of Stuttgart

The pavilion was erected within the university’s Stadtgarten. It covers an area of roughly 484 square feet and weighs almost 2,130 pounds. The pavilion's structural capacity was shown to be capable of withstanding 1.5 times its own weight and 1.5 times the outside wind load.

Image courtesy of ITEK and...

Construction tech start-up sends AI-powered "micro-factories" to the US to build affordable housing

2024-10-04T17:57:00-04:00

British construction tech start-up Automated Architecture (AUAR) is sending two of its pop-up, robotic micro-factories to the U.S. for the first time in a move to bring automated and affordable house building to North America.

Founded in 2019, AUAR functions by licensing its technology to builders and contractors to build low-energy homes at the price of normal homes, at scale.

Related on Archinect: Where Are All The Affordable Housing Startups?. Image credit: Katerra

The micro-factories will be deployed by real estate development and construction firm Rival Holdings, which aims to address the ongoing housing crisis by building thousands of sustainable, affordable, and high-quality homes across the Midwest. The partnership between Rival Holdings and AUAR was announced in March.

“We are really excited to partner with Rival Holdings to bring our cutting-edge Robotic Micro-factories to the United States,” said Co-Founder and CEO of AUAR, Mollie Claypool. “This partnership is our first ...

HOK debuts modular vertiport design for future flying car race series

2024-10-03T13:57:00-04:00

The burgeoning future of personal airborne transportation is a topic on many minds of late as advancements in aviation technology make the prospect of flying cars and similar vehicles more and more feasible.

Now, HOK is entering its name into a mix with a design for what will be the world’s first flying car racing series. The firm's London-based Sport + Entertainment group will design Airspeeder's first eVTOL electric vehicle racing vertiport structure called Skydeck in an unnamed desert location. A spokesperson with Airspeeder said it would "initiate a new mobility revolution."

All images courtesy HOK

A press release described the design, which borrows from years of experience designing for the F1 racing series, as being able to accommodate 10 teams with up to 20 flying race cars.

All images courtesy HOK

Racers will be separated from the spectator area below the track in safety-conscious 'airside' zones serviced by retractable landing pads. The design is both modular and evinces a "...

Walmart to 3D print an expansion to its store in Athens, TN

2024-10-01T09:37:00-04:00

Retail giant Walmart is set to create one of the largest free-standing 3D-printed commercial concrete structures in the United States. Working with 3D printing company Alquist 3D, the chain will use the technology to create an addition to its existing store in Athens, TN.

The extension, rising 20 feet high and measuring 8,000 square feet, will enhance Walmart’s Online Pickup & Delivery program, marking the first time Walmart has utilized 3D printing technology at a large scale. The company also hints at a second collaboration with Alquist 3D in the future.

Still from video, courtesy Alquist 3D

Walmart is the latest commercial company to embrace 3D printing in architecture and construction. Last month, we reported on BIG and ICON breaking ground on Liz Lambert’s 3D-printed El Cosmic resort in Marta, months after Archinect spoke with both Bjarke Ingels and ICON’s Melodie Yashar about the future of the technology.

Several educational institutions have also recently announced advancement...

Refik Anadol Studio to open DATALAND Museum of AI Arts at The Grand LA in 2025

2024-09-24T16:24:00-04:00

By the end 2025, Refik Anadol will open a new venture called DATALAND at The Grand in downtown LA. The leading name in artificial intelligence and digital art, Anadol, announced the venture via its YouTube account, adding in a press release that Los Angeles was the "perfect city" for his vision of bringing the intelligence of machines and humans together in a museum setting.

Anadol was considered a prominent thinker at intersection of media and design arts well before his recent Machine Hallucinations series and debuts at MoMA, the Las Vegas Sphere, and 2023 Grammy Awards. (You can read Anadol's thoughts on the subject from his 2022 feature conservation here.)

He now returns to the site of his 2018 installation at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, using his hero Frank Gehry’s architecture as the permanent base of which another experiment, this one to "develop a new paradigm"of museums, can be performed.

Anadol and Erkiliç. Image credit: Dustin Downing

The studio’s long-serving partner, ...

Zaha Hadid Architects create Fornite experience for London with Epic Games

2024-09-24T08:55:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects and Epic Games have collaborated on an in-game experience for the popular Fortnite video game. Titled ‘Re:Imagine London’, the experience sees an island created within Fortnite that players can use to explore and interact with London’s built environment.

Image credit: Epic Games

Using Epic Games’ Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), Re:Imagine London seeks to explore the use of the UEFN for practical applications in architecture and “pool creator talent across industries including architecture, landscape, and interiors.” To build the experience, the team used content provided by Zaha Hadid Architects, AccuCities, and Beyond Creative.

Image credit: Epic Games

“Situated around London’s waterfronts, the project investigates urban intensification and community participation in the creation of walkable, mixed-use, sustainable development, the team says. “The experience facilitates rapid optioneering through an engaging and...

ETH Zurich researchers develop robotic process for impact printing earth materials

2024-09-23T12:32:00-04:00

Researchers at ETH Zurich have introduced a new robotic 3D printing method for cement-free low-carbon materials for a circular economy.

Using a technique called 'impact printing,' the team demonstrated a mixture of excavated materials, silt, and clay that was less dependent on additives for its structural strength due to the high-velocity deposition process. Their aim was to "increase the cost competitiveness of sustainable building materials through efficient and automated production."

Image: Girts Apskalns. Copyright: ETH Zurich - Gramazio Kohler Research, Chair of Sustainable Construction and Robotic Systems Lab

First, a custom printing tool was developed that can be integrated on multiple high-payload robotic platforms. The tool was then integrated with a high-payload Gantry system within the ETH's Robotic Fabrication Laboratory. The hardware is also compatible with an autonomous legged excavator system called HEAP, also developed by the Robotic Systems Lab. It has shown...

MIT team creates 3D-printed glass bricks for reusable construction

2024-09-21T12:31:00-04:00

MIT engineers have created 3D-printed glass bricks that could offer a new approach to construction with sustainable and reusable materials. These interlocking bricks, which offer similar strength to concrete, are designed for circular construction, allowing buildings to be disassembled and reassembled at the end of their life cycle.

The team, led by Assistant Professor Kaitlyn Becker and former MIT researcher Michael Stern, developed the glass bricks using a custom 3D printing technology from MIT spinoff Evenline. Made from recycled glass, the bricks are shaped like figure eights and interlock like LEGO pieces, offering flexibility in assembly and disassembly.

Each manufacturing method is shown from left to right: FH (Fully Hollow), PC (Print-Cast), and FP (Fully Printed). Credits:Image: Ethan Townsend

In mechanical testing, the glass bricks demonstrated strength comparable to concrete blocks, proving their potential for real-world architectural applications. The team experimented wi...

Engineers develop bone-inspired concrete for stronger structures

2024-09-19T13:33:00-04:00

Inspired by the natural architecture of human bone, engineers at Princeton University have developed a new cement-based material that significantly enhances the toughness of traditional concrete. This innovative material resists cracking and sudden failure, making it a promising solution for more durable and long-lasting architectural structures.

The research, led by Professor Reza Moini and Ph.D. candidate Shashank Gupta from Princeton's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was published in Advanced Materials. The study introduces a unique design that incorporates cylindrical and elliptical tubes within the cement paste. Mimicking the structure of bone, specifically the tubular osteons found in human cortical bone, this design allows the concrete to trap and delay crack propagation. This “stepwise cracking” mechanism absorbs more energy, reducing the likelihood of sudden collapse.

Architecture of cortical bone. a) Schematic cross-section of human femur bone illustr...

Pratt Institute Partners with Creative AI Academy to Revolutionize Corporate Learning with Cutting-Edge Digital Credentials

2024-09-13T08:30:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Pratt, an Archinect Partner School

New York, NY – August 2, 2024 – Pratt Institute’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies has announced an exciting new partnership with Creative AI Academy, a leader in AI-driven design education. This collaboration marks a significant advancement in corporate learning and training by integrating Pratt Institute’s prestigious credentials with Creative AI Academy’s bespoke curriculum development.

Pratt Institute, known for its rigorous academic standards, will issue digital credentials that validate the skills gained, while Creative AI Academy, with its industry-leading expertise in AI and design, will craft the tailored training programs to ensure they meet the specific needs of corporate clients. The innovative AI focused curricula, meticulously developed and delivered by Creative AI Academy, will provide cutting-edge learning experiences that meet the evolving needs of today’s businesses.

Pratt Institute, con...

Princeton researchers develop concrete 3D printing method inspired by ancient fish scales

2024-09-05T08:00:00-04:00

Researchers at Princeton University’s Engineering School have developed a method for 3D printing concrete with improved crack resistance. Taking inspiration from fish scales, the team led by assistant professor Reza Moini claims their design increases resistance to cracking by as much as 63% compared to conventional cast concrete.

Princeton’s method drew inspiration from the double-helical structures that form the scales of an ancient fish lineage named coelacanths. The resulting design sees concrete arranged into individual strands, with robotic 3D printing used to weakly connect each strand to its neighbor.

“The researchers used different design schemes to combine many stacks of strands into larger functional shapes, such as beams,” Princeton explains. “The design schemes rely on slightly changing the orientation of each stack to create a double-helical arrangement (two orthogonal layers twisted across the height) in the beams that is key to improving the material’s resistance to ...

Payette is recruiting a visualization designer as AI continues to transform architectural imagery

2024-09-04T08:00:00-04:00

Following our previous look at an opening for a Robotics/Prototype Specialist at the University of Redlands School of Architecture, we are using the latest edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an opening on Archinect Jobs for a Visualization Designer at Payette.

The role, based in Boston, calls for an individual who will be responsible for 3D modeling and grasshopper creation within the firm’s Design Visualizations Group, which “works closely with architecture teams to study, develop, and present complex design solutions.” Among the requirements for the role are a Bachelor’s degree in architecture, excellent 3D modeling skills with Rhino, and preferably experience in Revit, Sketchup, and Grasshopper.

Tufts University Science and Engineering Complex by Payette. Photo: Chuck Choi

Why the role interests us

The open role for a visualization designer at Payette offers us the opportunity to review recent innovations and trends within the architectural visualization space. In Ju...

Editor's Picks #562

2024-08-29T20:31:00-04:00

Earlier this summer, Archinect invited the community to share insights and feedback on the economic outlook of their firm and sector. Analysis of these results has been released in two parts. Part I and Part II

The "survey showed a significant divergence between the sentiments of owners and workers" in a couple of key areas, which made sense to Donna Sink "overall employees are more anxious than owners. Possibly because they're younger and more pessimistic about the future in general?...It's bleak out here."

Plus, Joseph Choma, Director of Florida Atlantic University's School of Architecture, explained the thinking behind FAU’s five-year BArch and their approach to AI, demystifying the digital, teaching "computation even though they are not using a computer" and how "One of the roles of the architect will be to create a web or network to connect the AIs together".

News

The United States Department of Defense finalized a revision to the fee limitations for federal design projects aft...

Hassell and IAAC deploy 3D printing method for greater gender equality in Tanzania

2024-08-29T12:35:00-04:00

A new 3D printed project in Tanzania from Hassell and the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) team of researchers in Barcelona will provide housing, professional skills training, and education for young women in the village of Kibaha.

Within the new Hope Village master plan, which is being undertaken with help from Australia’s Clarke Hopkins Clarke (CHC), a new Community Building structure will take shape using earth materials and locally sourced timber sections.

Its realization expands on research that first began in Spain and has since earned the Shaping A Circular Industrial Ecosystem Prize at the New European Bauhaus Awards in 2023. Construction will start in 2025. Mark Loughnan, the Principal and Head of Design at Hassell, states: “We’re using design to uplift the way people experience their daily lives. In this instance, we’re using it to hopefully help, heal and educate — and we’re also using it to innovate.”

...

Diller Scofidio + Renfro partners with biotech company on OXYA green product line

2024-08-26T17:50:00-04:00

Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) is the first American firm to partner with biotech startup Pneuma Bio on a new product line of carbon-sequestering materials made from microorganisms such as algae that can be used in commercial architecture and residential buildings. Their OXYA product line was born out of years of materials research that began at North Carolina State University and continues through a collaboration between the University of Sheffield and the VTT Technical Research Centre in Finland.

A press release states: "Over the next 15 months, the company will cover 15 buildings with OXYA through partnerships with DS+R, hotel chains, and paint manufacturers. Across these building spaces, the materials are proving quite versatile and are being used to cover walls (as liquid wallpaper or paint), windows, fabric for covering furniture, light fixtures & chandeliers, among other things."

Good with robots? University of Redlands' architecture school is hiring a robotics and prototyping specialist

2024-08-26T08:30:00-04:00

Following our previous look at an opening for an Exhibition Design Internship at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, we are using the latest edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an opening on Archinect Jobs for a Robotics/Prototype Specialist at the University of Redlands School of Architecture.

The role, based on-campus in Redlands, California, calls for an individual who will “support the application of computer science/information technology including robotics and prototyping to architecture and design,” as well as deliver orientations and demonstrations to students, staff, and faculty for the university’s robotics lab. Among the prerequisites for the role are a bachelor’s degree in architecture, information technology, or a related field, alongside experience in computational design.

Related on Archinect: Inside a new robotic housing factory in British Columbia, Canada. Image courtesy: Intelligent City

Why the role interests us

Redlands’ search for a robotics specialist ...

UMaine experiments with 3D printed floor panels made from recyclable natural materials

2024-08-10T11:00:00-04:00

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Maine are leading interesting new engineering research into floor cassettes made using recyclable natural materials that are strong enough to be used in multi-story buildings. Thanks to experiments at UMaine's cutting-edge Advanced Structures and Composites Center (which previously contributed to our coverage of bio-based 3D printed homes), engineers were able to produce a capable model made from polylactic acid and lumber by-products, such as wood flour.

The SM2ART Nfloor cassette components can be 3D printed in roughly two-thirds the time it takes for a typical floor cassette to be factory assembled, thus saving labor costs. Scott Tomlinson, a structural engineer at the Center, shared: "This technology holds a lot of promise for the future of sustainable buildings." The project came together at the initiative of the SHoP offshoot Assembly OSM.

The work was also recently on display as part of the ...

AI has massive potential to aid decarbonization in the building sector, LBNL paper claims

2024-08-09T11:45:00-04:00

AI's capacity to initiate energy use reductions and decarbonization of the building sector was documented recently by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. A new study of medium-sized office buildings in the United States revealed the potential for an 8% emissions reduction by 2050. An up to 20% reduction of annual on-site energy costs can also be achieved through widespread augmentation combined with other emerging technologies such as robotics.

Utility Dive, which first reported on the paper's publication, summarized its findings further: "Adopting AI in [one] scenario can help reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions by roughly 19% in 2050, compared with the policy scenario without AI."

This comes on the heels of the General Service Administration's announcement of $9.6 million in new grant funding to test AI-augmented products and other emerging building technologies as part of its Green Proving Ground program.

AI-induced creativity and the novelty dilemma looming over architectural design

2024-08-08T12:23:00-04:00

The impact of Generative AI on human creativity is one of the most observed and debated knock-on effects of users adapting to ChatGPT, Midjourney, and other large language models (LLMs). Now, a new study has shown a "social dilemma" that occurs when creatives are given a choice between AI-assisted prompts, which resulted in better-scoring work that was nevertheless plagued by the question of novelty.

In the views of authors Anil R. Doshi and Oliver P. Hauser from the University of Exeter and University College London (UCL), this dilemma "point[s] to an increase in individual creativity at the risk of losing collective novelty."

What can be gleaned from this study in an architectural sense calls into question many of the basic precepts for augmentation, namely that it affords designers a greater range of ingenuity in terms of form, program, scale, and functional spaces without significant drawbacks. Recently there has been a shift in the zeitgeist that had previously considered the ...

IAAC team expands on first 3D Printed Earth Forest Campus in Barcelona

2024-07-30T20:15:00-04:00

Archinect has received new project images of the latest 3D printed building prototype produced on-site in Barcelona’s Collserola Natural Park by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC).

The 100-square-meter (1,076-square-foot) Earth Forest Campus project (also called TEIXIT), which uses local soil and natural materials with a Crane WASP 3D printer, was created in collaboration with Hassell and provides a live laboratory for testing new architectural solutions and sustainable construction methods.

Image: © 3DPA

The team says the "organic spatial distribution" of its design is key to the experiment's success. It stands as proof of concept for the "beginning of a labyrinth that distances itself from repetitive standardized contemporary architectural solutions and demonstrates a high level of adaptation of buildings to their users’ needs."

Image: © 3DPA

The master plan includes a mixture of enclosed, covered, and open spaces supported by natural stone foundations. To...

German researchers discover carbon sequestering concrete additive made from cyanobacteria

2024-07-29T19:37:00-04:00

Researchers from Germany's Fraunhofer Institute have discovered a new bioconcrete solution made using cyanobacteria (formerly known as blue-green algae) that sequesters carbon through a process of photosynthesis. Their work for the “BioCarboBeton” project examined the potential of stromatolites to be used as an additive in traditional concrete mixtures, finding success after mimicking their natural binding processes by using a new technological method.

The project, which aims to scale up production for commercial uses, also found potential applications in insulation material, brick, formwork filling, and even mortar.

Take a look also at similar SOM and Drexel University-led material research for concrete and concrete alternatives that we published in the past year.

Archinect - News

Editor's Picks #564

New version of sustainable design tool Tally to launch in 2025

Meta announces investment in low-carbon concrete production plants

Watch LAX's new Midfield Satellite Concourse South taxi to its final destination

Google updates Open Buildings data sets using AI

BIG debuts new 3D printed mycelium structure at Scandinavian industry summit

NCARB releases statement on AI and the future of the architectural profession

Interior design reaches new frontiers with release of Vast's Haven-1 commercial space station concept

Market for digital twin buildings projected to reach $20.2 billion by 2032

Robotic fabrication and hybrid structural systems are showcased in the University of Stuttgart's new ITECH Pavilion

Construction tech start-up sends AI-powered "micro-factories" to the US to build affordable housing

HOK debuts modular vertiport design for future flying car race series

Walmart to 3D print an expansion to its store in Athens, TN

Refik Anadol Studio to open DATALAND Museum of AI Arts at The Grand LA in 2025

Zaha Hadid Architects create Fornite experience for London with Epic Games

ETH Zurich researchers develop robotic process for impact printing earth materials

MIT team creates 3D-printed glass bricks for reusable construction

Engineers develop bone-inspired concrete for stronger structures

Pratt Institute Partners with Creative AI Academy to Revolutionize Corporate Learning with Cutting-Edge Digital Credentials

Princeton researchers develop concrete 3D printing method inspired by ancient fish scales

Payette is recruiting a visualization designer as AI continues to transform architectural imagery

Editor's Picks #562

Hassell and IAAC deploy 3D printing method for greater gender equality in Tanzania

​Diller Scofidio + Renfro partners with biotech company on OXYA green product line

Good with robots? University of Redlands' architecture school is hiring a robotics and prototyping specialist

UMaine experiments with 3D printed floor panels made from recyclable natural materials

AI has massive potential to aid decarbonization in the building sector, LBNL paper claims

AI-induced creativity and the novelty dilemma looming over architectural design

IAAC team expands on first 3D Printed Earth Forest Campus in Barcelona

German researchers discover carbon sequestering concrete additive made from cyanobacteria

Diller Scofidio + Renfro partners with biotech company on OXYA green product line