Archinect - News

New reporting offers a snapshot on AI usage within the AEC industry

2024-11-13T14:13:00-05:00

A new survey from Bluebeam has documented the widespread use of AI technology in every facet of the AEC industry.

According to their survey of management employees in seven countries, around three-quarters (74%) of all businesses have implemented AI into their workflows. This is especially true in the design and planning stages of projects. It’s worth noting, however, that only 11% of responses came from architecture firms. Of the others, 71% are construction and 18% are engineering firms.

In the way of a broader adoption of digitalization and AI stands a lack of training amongst staff, which, at 32%, was the highest tallied reason ahead of general resistance to change within organizations (26%), concerns about data privacy (22%), budget constraints (19%), and other issues.

Related on Archinect: AI is Good For Architects (For Now)

Also in terms of budgeting, the highest number of responses (40%) to a query said they are currently allocating between 11% and 25% of their IT resources ...

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...

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.

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Global BIM market expected to more than triple to $26.4B over the next decade

2024-07-25T14:00:00-04:00

A new report released by the market research company Prophecy Market Insights on the global market for BIM software has predicted substantial growth by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.3% over the next decade, reaching a total valuation of $26.4 billion by 2034.

Key market players like Autodesk have been proactive in their embrace of the new revolution in technologies such as generative AI and virtual reality. A rise in the use of the software by construction contractors is another factor in the expected market expansion.

As it stands, the current valuation for BIM design software is estimated to be around $8.45 billion worldwide.

Grimshaw launches new building decarbonization platform called Minoro

2024-07-15T12:18:00-04:00

UK mainstay Grimshaw has announced the launch of a new online platform that will help accelerate the decarbonization of buildings. It follows a two-year development phase that relied on the support of 20 other industry organizations, including the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, RIBA, Architecture 2030, and the World Green Building Council.

Minoro is a free resource that provides links and access to more than 1,000 "policies, guidance and methodologies" related to decarbonization. The firm says this centralization enables design teams and other stakeholders to set targets and develop clear, informed actions across every stage of the building's life cycle.

Related Feature on Archinect: The U.S. Just Defined a Zero Emissions Building: Is It Enough?

Paul Toyne, the Sustainability Lead at Grimshaw, promised that it "brings, for the first time, all the key information to help tackle carbon in our buildings together in one place, but will also, importantly, bring team...

Leading Architectural Design, Render Tool Free for Students, Educators

2024-07-15T09:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by D5 Render

In today's fast-evolving architectural design landscape, advanced tools like D5 Render are essential. This leading software offers powerful real-time rendering, built-in AI capabilities, extensive asset library, and high-quality image/animation renderings, now free for students and educators to enhance their skills and innovate. Over 1,600 universities from around the globe have used D5 in their academic research. If you are interested, don't hesitate to apply for the D5 educational license for free.

Exploring D5's Key Features

D5 Render's appeal lies in its comprehensive features, catering to users across various disciplines. Here are some standout features that make it an invaluable tool for architectural design:

Real-Time Rendering with Livesync

D5 Render brings real-time ray tracing to major BIM and CAD applications such as SketchUp, 3ds Max, Rhino, and Revit, helping architects create realistic simulations of materials, landscapes, and l...

Architects would do well to apply lessons from philosophy in the age of AI, says Nayef Al-Rodhan

2024-07-01T17:39:00-04:00

New AI architecture tools will, in the short term, make good design affordable and accessible. But AI will still fall short when it comes to understanding human nature as well our emotional and dignity needs. Dignity means much more than just the absence of humiliation. It also requires recognition, manifested through nine critical human needs: reason, security, human rights, accountability, transparency, justice, opportunity, innovation, and inclusiveness.

"Looking to the future, tomorrow’s architects will need to be equipped with transdisciplinary tools such as Neuro-Techno-Philosophy, a framework I have introduced to understand the AI-neuroscience-philosophy nexus underpinning our society today," Oxford University's Nayef Al-Rodhan argues in a new treatise on the uses of academic philosophy in today's AI-driven design field. "Doing so will help ensure that the buildings of the future are in tune with our neurobiological predilections, neurobehavioral needs, aspirations and values for collective peace and prosperity."

Architecture is at a critical juncture as disruptive technology is remaking the industry wholesale. A litany of issues (housing justice, etc.) worldwide nonetheless commands its attention. As Foucault famously said in the 1970s, society "must be defended."

Digital spatial asset platform Treasury launches in partnership with Zaha Hadid Architects and other creatives

2024-06-25T17:01:00-04:00

A new creative digital suite promising itself as the "Getty Images of premium spatial assets" has just been launched by San Francisco-based design technology startup Treasury Spatial Data in response to the growing influence of spatial computing in nearly every segment of the design industry.

Users of the new platform will have the ability to discover, fingerprint, license, share, and even commission their own spatial assets for licensing while simultaneously ensuring their protection against machine learning software and generative AI.

The platform's founders say: "The Treasury spatial asset platform is the foundation of a new era in design development for spatial assets and their applications."

Image: © Zaha Hadid Architects

Patrik Schumacher, principal of Treasury's early partner company Zaha Hadid Architects, added: "I have believed for many years that the metaverse will become compelling to a large portion of humanity not just when the technology is sufficiently sophisticated —...

Autodesk donates $5 million to help fund Howard University's Design and Make lab

2024-06-18T12:58:00-04:00

This month, Autodesk announced a record-setting $5 million donation to the College of Engineering and Architecture (CEA) at Howard University, a gift it says is meant to ensure the school's new state-of-the-art Design and Make lab will be operated with the most cutting-edge software and other technology the industry has to offer.

What is now the largest such gift in the CEA's history precedes the launch of a new lab within the CEA this fall. Howard says the lab is intended to encourage K-12 learners towards careers in the STEM fields and will be augmented with the integration of the hands-on A World in Motion® (AWIM) PreK-12 STEM program sponsored by the SAE Foundation.

“Howard is a leader in graduating Black engineers, and this gift will expand our ability to provide our students with the best and latest resources throughout the course of their education here. This is increasingly important to us as competition for entry-level jobs continues to increase and as the need for tech and...

Is the sight and scale of New York’s new 5G towers appropriate for the city?

2024-06-11T14:41:00-04:00

“There is a harm to having these 32-foot- tall futuristic towers, often with large video display terminals on them, in residential neighborhoods in historic districts”

The New York Times picks up on the growing “visual distraction” that the appearance of 5G towers has created, along with a debate about their existence vis-à-vis the historic street-level visual character of neighborhoods such as Greenwich Village. LinkNYC is planning to add up to 2,000 more to its already 150-strong inventory. Alternative designs to the “shroud”-covered 32-foot poles were apparently too “ugly” by New York standards.

Still, an expanding chorus of detractors has led to FCC reviews and complaints from at least 16 community boards. Crain's also reported last week the city's Chief Technology Officer, Matthew Fraser, is considering a massive redesign campaign in deference to them and the torrent of tech companies' proposals that have followed since their roll out in 2022.

Why is technological progress still lagging in the building trade?

2024-05-27T11:00:00-04:00

Overall, across Europe and the US, stuff is still built in a pretty manual fashion - not very different to the way it would have been built 100 years ago [...] Construction is a bit of a digital laggard compared with many other industries. It's been slow to adopt digital in the widest sense

Consultant Sam O’Gorman and other experts speak to the BBC about the confounding gap between digital technology and the analog process for delivering residential architecture. Interesting projects mentioned are the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center’s attempts to develop the world’s largest 3D printer and the UK firm Automated Architecture (or AUAR)’s plan to create a network of ‘micro-factories’ capable of producing pre-assembled six-story timber design for just £250,000 ($320,000 USD) using robots.

62% of A&E firms report using artificial intelligence increased efficiency, according to new Deltek study

2024-05-10T18:28:00-04:00

Statistics revealed in the latest Deltek Clarity Architecture & Engineering Industry Study have indicated wide optimism about the use of AI technology, even as most firms struggle to determine where and how to apply emerging trends in the face of prevailing economic headwinds.

According to the 45th annual report, 62% of all 650 surveyed A&E respondents across the United States and Canada have successfully begun using AI to augment their daily operations. Only 20% of firms now report at least three-quarters of their project leadership teams as possessing the proper project management training to best utilize such tools, with another 44% reporting insufficient time to invest in skill-based learning. Other leading challenges include prioritizing applicable trends and the cost of technology.

The findings add to a body of recent valuable industry trends reporting, including last month’s Autodesk study which stated that 76% of all AEC professionals now feel confident about incorporating ...

Autodesk introduces experimental AI 3D shape generator Project Bernini

2024-05-09T13:53:00-04:00

Autodesk has just announced the development of a new experimental generative AI design tool called Project Bernini, the latest addition to its Autodesk AI inventory for industry professionals and design students in every field.

Project Bernini can reportedly be used to generate complex and unique functional geometric shapes for 3D modeling via text prompts, 2D images, voxels, and point clouds. The model was trained on a range of over ten million different shapes using research from the Autodesk AI Lab in collaboration with the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Its potential will become even more considerable once trained on larger professional datasets after the product is made publicly available.

Demonstration video for Project Bernini. Video courtesy Autodesk/YouTube.

Autodesk says: “If trained on buildings, the models could generate geometrically rigorous creative designs and inspire a new generation of buildings and architects. If trained on video game character models or fanta...

Major uptake in artificial intelligence use across creative industries, Autodesk survey finds

2024-04-10T11:53:00-04:00

Autodesk has released a report on the state of digitization and technological adoption across creative industries. The 2024 State of Design & Make Report found that companies see artificial intelligence “as a current tool rather than a futuristic pipe dream.”

The report’s findings were derived from survey results of 5,400 industry companies and figures across architecture, engineering, construction, design, manufacturing, media, and entertainment. Among the findings was a high level of optimism, with 73% of companies believing they were prepared to handle unforeseen economic or geopolitical changes.

76% of professionals said they trust AI in their industry, with application areas including productivity and sustainability. “More than half of companies say they are approaching or have already achieved their goal of incorporating AI,” Autodesk said about the report findings. “While AI adoption is high, we still have a long way to go to maximize AI’s potential.”

Related on Archinect: Au...

Autodesk develops AI-powered embodied carbon tool for early-stage design

2024-04-03T11:39:00-04:00

Autodesk has developed an embodied carbon analysis tool to be integrated into the software maker’s AI-driven Forma application.

Powered by the C.Scale data model developed by U.S.-based architecture firm EHDD, the tool “enables designers to better understand the carbon impacts from primary material choices and building form during site feasibility and massing studies at the beginning of a project planning process,” Autodesk says.

Image credit: Autodesk

The tool allows architects working in Forma to subject their early design concept to an AI-powered analysis that can evaluate design concepts and iterate toward reducing carbon emissions.

Located in the ‘analysis’ tab in the Forma web application, the analysis allows users to define site-wide analytical properties as well as those specific to individual buildings. Parameters that can be specified include building function, structural system, and envelope factors such as cladding and window-to-wall ratio.

Image credit: Autodesk

Accordi...

RIBA's new Artificial Intelligence Report features revelatory findings about AI within architectural practice

2024-02-29T18:56:00-05:00

The newly published RIBA Artificial Intelligence Report has revealed statistics detailing the architecture industry’s turn towards AI within professional practice using findings from a recent survey of 500+ members. The study also gives clues about the technology’s future and feedback on how new software tools have impacted the design process.

According to the report, 41% of architects in the UK have begun using AI software at least occasionally, with another 43% stating their opinions that it has made the design process "more efficient."

"Our findings show architects are curious and open-minded about AI, and some of us are true pioneers," RIBA President Muyiwa Oki summarized. "By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and a culture of responsible innovation, we can harness the power of AI to create a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable built environment. There’s no turning back."

In an Ontario plaza, interactive pavements play music ‘as if by magic’

2024-02-28T13:28:00-05:00

Montreal-based studio Daily tous les jours has completed a public space design in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Titled 'River Lines,' the project saw the creation of an interactive stage in an urban plaza for big impromptu musical ensembles.

Video credit: doublespace photography

Part of the studio’s wider Musical Pavement series, the interactive wave-patterned pavement is embedded with 62 sensing light rings that “get people moving through musical collaboration exercises.” The infrastructure is formed of twelve in-house tailored audio tiles that have no visible hardware and blend with the wider pavement pattern, meaning “music emanates from the ground as if by magic.”

Image credit: doublespace photography

Located on the site of a 19th-century foundry, the artwork is “a response to the historical nature of the site” and “an exemplar of how investment in the public realm is essential to reimagine and activate places and encourage collective interacti...

NASA tests autonomous construction robots for future use in outer space

2024-02-06T11:09:00-05:00

NASA has unveiled details of a robotic system designed to construct and maintain structural components in space. The system, developed by NASA’s Automated Reconfigurable Mission Adaptive Digital Assembly Systems (ARMADAS) team, consists of inchworm-like robots that may one day assemble, repair, and reconfigure structural materials in orbit, on the lunar surface, or on other planets, before humans arrive.

A Scaling Omnidirectional Lattice Locomoting Explorer (SOLL-E) builder robot carries a small building block called a voxel – short for volumetric pixel – as it maneuvers, stepping inchworm-style, along the exterior of a mechanical metamaterial structure. Image credit: NASA/Dominic Hart

NASA’s system revolves around a set of 3D building blocks called voxels, which resemble a wire-frame soccer ball. Made of strong, lightweight composite materials, the voxels combine to create a system that, according to NASA, is comparable to current high-performance structures such as bridges, aircraf...

Largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history begins construction

2024-01-02T15:55:00-05:00

Construction has begun on the largest clean energy infrastructure in U.S. history. The joint SunZia Transmission and SunZia Wind projects will span New Mexico and Arizona, bringing power to 3 million people.

The project is being delivered by Pattern Energy, which has secured $11 billion in financing to begin construction on the project. SunZia Transmission will comprise a 550-mile transmission line between central New Mexico and south-central Arizona, with the capacity to transport 3,000 MW of electricity. The SunZia Wind facility, meanwhile, will be the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere, spanning Torrance, Lincoln, and San Miguel Counties in New Mexico.

“Our hope is this successful financing of the largest clean energy infrastructure project in American history serves as an example for other ambitious renewable infrastructure initiatives that are needed to accelerate our trans...

Toronto Metropolitan University unveils plan for SCITHub, the 'world’s first fully digitally-enabled building'

2023-12-28T15:49:00-05:00

A new prototype demonstration of different burgeoning smart building technologies is coming to the campus of Toronto Metropolitan University as part of a cross-institutional effort that will result in the construction of a new 3,229-square-foot Smart Campus Integration and Testing Hub (SCITHub) designed by WZMH Architects.

The initiative has been in development since 2019, with a finalized design for the structure submitted two years later, and its construction is now fully funded through a mixture of public grants and private donations that covered the total project cost of about $6 million.

The TMU SCITHub is part of the Network of Living Campuses (NLC), which involves seven other universities across Canada. Researchers are hopeful it will serve as a kind of nexus for the various data-driven investigations into smart building tech that are happening at their respective campuses.

Image courtesy Toronto Metropolitan University

A mass timber building envelope and exterior Intellige...

Architecture's top green projects and sustainability innovations in 2023

2023-12-27T20:28:00-05:00

Wrapping up a year in the wake of the recently concluded COP28 UN climate summit that resulted in, well, mild levels of agreement on the role of fossil fuels, it is possible to sense a slightly increased urgency toward this most pressing planetary issue on a high-minded diplomatic level. As we're quickly approaching the quarter mark of the 21st century, however, much more concrete action and innovation in various sectors of the AEC domain is needed — and is already happening — on the ground level as well, as we have seen in our reporting on Archinect.

Continuing with our 2023 Year in Review series, let's take a look back at some of the story highlights focusing on decarbonization efforts, material research, policy implementation, and successful applications of sustainability principles this year.

Building Electrification

Energy-efficient heat pump technology is gaining in popularity. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons user Øyvind Holmstad.

The process of gradually phasing out fossil f...

Looking back at our in-depth exploration of artificial intelligence in 2023

2023-12-20T08:00:00-05:00

One of Archinect’s most significant editorial undertakings of 2023 was our Archinect In Depth: Artificial Intelligence series. Across the year, we spoke with over 30 experts in the field, producing dozens of interviews and features alongside almost 50 news stories covering the hyper-fast pace of progress emerging from the AI community.

The result is an all-encompassing, rigorous, and diverse collection of perspectives and reflections on what artificial means for the future of architects, architectural practice, and the architectural profession, along topics including ethics, labor, inequality, skills, and licensure.

Explore further insights on Archinect's leading coverage of architecture's relationship with artificial intelligence across 2023 below.

Conversations across the intersection of AI and architecture

Behnaz Farahi. Image credit: Behnaz Farahi

'The Notion of AI as a Form of Augmentation or Enhancement Is Fascinating to Me'; A Conversation with Behnaz Farahi

In May, we spoke ...

Explore Harvard GSD's latest Executive Education course on Blockchain and Real Estate

2023-12-13T09:00:00-05:00

This post is brought to you by Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education

While the NFT bubble has burst, the tantalizing potential of blockchain, which is the foundation of NFT’s, bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, endures. Some have even written that blockchain offers the “possibility of entirely reorganizing the profession” of architecture.

Harvard University Graduate School of Design Executive Education offers From Crypto to the Metaverse: Blockchain Applications in Real Estate to equip architects for this paradigm shift.

We asked Jose Luis Garcia del Castillo y Lopez, Lecturer in Architectural Technology at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, to introduce this January's program.

Video courtesy of Harvard GSD Executive Extension

We also asked him which applications of blockchain he is most excited about — he said (1) Tokenization (fractional asset ownership) and (2) Blockchain-enabled transfers of title and ownership claims.

Video courtesy of Harvard GS...

Detroit installs America's first wireless EV charging track

2023-12-08T12:24:00-05:00

Detroit has debuted an EV charging roadway concept from Electreon inside of its new Michigan Central Station innovation district they say represents a “major milestone in the future of mobility” as the first-ever wireless charging roadway in America.

The quarter-mile track through the city’s Corktown neighborhood was developed by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) after being announced by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in February of 2022. The track will serve as a five-year test pilot for the anticipated boom in EVs that are expected to hit the road in the next decade, cornering about half of the total market by the year 2035.

Similar concepts are been developed in Europe by Electreon, which hopes to open the new, eventually one-mile-long Detroit track to the public next year. The installation was also made possible by Ford (backers of the Michigan Central project), Jacobs, DTE, KIEWIT, Next Energy, and ROUSH CleanTech.

Related on Archinect: Detroit to host first public w...

Autodesk launches VR tool for reviewing BIM models with Workshop XR

2023-11-16T19:24:00-05:00

Autodesk has unveiled a virtual reality tool described as an “immersive design review experience for the AEC industry.” Named Autodesk Workshop XR, the tool offers multiple users the ability to explore design models in real-time using Meta virtual headsets, including abilities to flag and update issue items.

“Workshop XR will transform how architects and building engineers plan and review projects,” said Nicolas Fonta, Senior Director & General Manager, XR at Autodesk, in a statement. “Most building projects that go over budget do so because issues are discovered once construction has begun. We’ve heard many customers share the challenges of reviewing designs across dispersed teams.”

Image credit: Autodesk

In the Workshop XR environment, multiple users will be able to track issues, catch errors, and explore working BIM models linked to the Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC). “With automatically connected data from ACC, no-prep model loading, and synced issue tracking, Workshop XR make...

Cambridge researchers develop AI model to help retrofit and decarbonize housing

2023-11-02T11:45:00-04:00

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have unveiled a “first-of-its-kind AI model” that can help policymakers identify and prioritize houses for retrofitting and other decarbonizing measures. The deep learning model, trained by researchers from the university’s Department of Architecture, promises “to make it far easier, faster, and cheaper to identify these high-priority problem properties and develop strategies to improve their green credentials,” the team says.

The model and wider research centers on ‘hard-to-decarbonize’ (HtD) houses that, while responsible for a quarter of all direct housing emissions, are rarely identified or targeted for improvement. According to the team, the age, structure, location, availability of data, and socioeconomic context can all lead to a house being classified as HtD.

In response, a team including urban researcher and data scientist Maoran Sun and the university’s Sustainable Design group lead, Dr. Ronita Bardhan, has developed their AI mo...

Iconic Parisian cathedral transformed into ‘sensory nighttime exploration’ by multimedia company Moment Factory

2023-10-26T12:53:00-04:00

Montreal-based Moment Factory has completed an immersive multimedia experience inside the iconic Dôme des Invalides in Paris. The project, titled 'AURA Invalides,' consists of a 50-minute experience combining video mapping, lighting, special effects, orchestral music, and sound design to celebrate the building’s architectural and historical heritage.

Image credit: Moment Factory

Conceived in 2019 by cultural operator Cultival in collaboration with Musée de l’Armée, the project seeks to create a “sensory nighttime exploration” in which visitors wander through the Dôme des Invalides and its six chapels guided by light. The experience is divided into three acts, each portraying a distinct facet of the site: “its construction, the memories it harbors, and its power to inspire one and all.”

Image credit: Moment Factory

To project an experience onto the main dome, which measures 295 feet high and 98 feet at its smallest diameter, the t...

Archinect - News

New reporting offers a snapshot on AI usage within the AEC industry

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

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

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

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

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

Global BIM market expected to more than triple to $26.4B over the next decade

Grimshaw launches new building decarbonization platform called Minoro

Leading Architectural Design, Render Tool Free for Students, Educators

Architects would do well to apply lessons from philosophy in the age of AI, says Nayef Al-Rodhan

Digital spatial asset platform Treasury launches in partnership with Zaha Hadid Architects and other creatives

Autodesk donates $5 million to help fund Howard University's Design and Make lab​

Is the sight and scale of New York’s new 5G towers appropriate for the city?

Why is technological progress still lagging in the building trade?

62% of A&E firms report using artificial intelligence increased efficiency, according to new Deltek study

Autodesk introduces experimental AI 3D shape generator Project Bernini

Major uptake in artificial intelligence use across creative industries, Autodesk survey finds

Autodesk develops AI-powered embodied carbon tool for early-stage design

RIBA's new Artificial Intelligence Report features revelatory findings about AI within architectural practice

In an Ontario plaza, interactive pavements play music ‘as if by magic’

NASA tests autonomous construction robots for future use in outer space

Largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history begins construction

Toronto Metropolitan University unveils plan for SCITHub, the 'world’s first fully digitally-enabled building'

Architecture's top green projects and sustainability innovations in 2023

Looking back at our in-depth exploration of artificial intelligence in 2023

Explore Harvard GSD's latest Executive Education course on Blockchain and Real Estate

Detroit installs America's first wireless EV charging track

Autodesk launches VR tool for reviewing BIM models with Workshop XR

Cambridge researchers develop AI model to help retrofit and decarbonize housing

Iconic Parisian cathedral transformed into ‘sensory nighttime exploration’ by multimedia company Moment Factory

Autodesk donates $5 million to help fund Howard University's Design and Make lab