Archinect - News

MVRDV and other Dutch studios look into the future with the speculative 'WHAT-IF: Nederland 2100' study on urbanism and adaptability

2024-07-05T12:20:00-04:00

The consequences that climate change presents to the future natural and built environment of the Netherlands have led to a new study on urbanism titled 'WHAT-IF: Nederland 2100,' produced by a trio of Dutch studios that includes MVRDV, IMOSS, and Feddes/Olthof. The research is aimed at adaptability and features a series of feasible plans to greet such challenges while showing how the country can "live with nature, provide housing and quality of life, protect its cultural heritage, and adapt its economy to a new normal."

Image courtesy MVRDV

Importantly, the authors say, these pragmatic potential solutions can be studied and applied to the situations of nearly 900 million global residents who are similarly imperiled by their lives in low-lying areas.

Image courtesy MVRDV

A 'decision matrix' is employed to answer all possible scenarios, including the maximum predicted global warming. In the end, the cities in the east become 'hyper-dense,' while the currently more populated large citie...

Busan to take the lead in trying on Bjarke Ingels' floating OCEANIX CITY prototype in 2025

2021-11-30T09:00:00-05:00

In an effort to mitigate the impending effects of sea-level rise on coastal populations through architecture, UN-Habitat and OCEANIX are once again taking the lead with a new prototype for a floating settlement in the South Korean city of Busan.

The buzzworthy pair had previously made waves with a Bjarke Ingels-backed 2019 proposal for a floodproof habitat which has now officially found a home thanks to a groundbreaking agreement with the city’s government.

Now, with almost 50 centimeters of sea-level rise expected for the southern peninsula by mid-century, leaders in South Korea look to the prototype as a guide to extreme adaptation efforts that could help circumvent the challenges caused by an influx of coastal city dwellers overrunning a country of 52 million whose total land area is roughly equivalent to the state of Indiana.

Previously on Archinect: Bjarke Ingels presents utopian plan for sustainable floating cities to UN

The city proposal claims to be designed to withstand a...

Architects present their Homes of the Future at the 2018 China House Vision Exhibition

2018-10-04T15:36:00-04:00

Coinciding with Beijing Design Week, the China House Vision exhibition asked ten Chinese and Japanese design studios to envision the future of living. Presenting a diverse range of living environments that address issues such as population crowding, space travel and climate change, firms such as MAD and OPEN Architecture showcased pavilions that challenge the way we currently think about living, and explore how we might inhabit the world of tomorrow.

House Vision is a cultural research project initiated in 2013 by Japanese graphic designer and curator Kenya Hara. The recent Beijing-based edition, sited just meters from Beijing's iconic Olympic Stadium, is the first one to be held outside of Japan. Below, take a look at the futuristic designs.

Concrete Vessel by Atelier FCJZ:

Photo: Nacása & Partners Inc. © HOUSE VISION

House ATO by Atelier Deshaus:

Photo: Nacása & Partners Inc. © HOUSE VISION

e-Vege House by Yang Design:

Photo: Nacása & Partners Inc. © HOUSE VISION

Mars Case by OPEN ...

New European hyperloop proposed running from Amsterdam to Frankfurt

2018-09-14T13:07:00-04:00

The UNStudio Futures Team (UNSFutures) recently announced plans for a 'Station of the Future' at the first edition of HyperSummit. Organized by Hardt Hyperloop, the summit took place in Utrecht, Netherlands focusing on urgency, research, and collaboration to realize a European hyperloop.

'Station of the Future' from Amsterdam to Frankfurt by UNSFutures © Plompmozes

The proposed hyperloop will run from Amsterdam to Frankfurt in 53 minutes. Using technology powered by solar panels, the hyperloop will produce no sound or environmental emissions and can provide the necessary energy to power itself.

'Station of the Future' modular diagram © UNStudio

The station has been envisioned as a series of tessellating components which can adapt to a range of possible contexts: city-centre, edge of city or adjoining an existing infrastructure hub, such as an airport.

Thesis project develops drone architecture for adaptable public spaces

2018-09-07T14:49:00-04:00

A recent thesis project from three students explores adaptable architecture using drones and "smart" materials. The project, Cyber Physical Macro Material, uses lightweight carbon fiber building blocks with integrated sensing communication to create dynamic public spaces.

Cyber Physical Macro Material thesis project by Miguel Aflalo, Behrooz Tahanzadeh, and Jingcheng Chen. Image: University of Stuttgart.

The user can program drones to reconfigure the canopy according to the sun's position, providing occupants with optimum shade thorughout the day. The architecture system can also actively rebuild itself to influence the occupants or retreat completely to nearby rooftops.

Cyber Physical Macro Material thesis project by Miguel Aflalo, Behrooz Tahanzadeh, and Jingcheng Chen. Image: University of Stuttgart.

The project was developed by students Miguel Aflalo, Behrooz Tahanzadeh, and Jingcheng Chen within the Integrative Technologies and Architectural Design Research (ITECH) Master Progr...

Can work stress be reduced with adaptive rooms? UNStudio is looking into it

2017-02-14T14:08:00-05:00

Part inhabitable mood ring, part psychological experiment, the exhibition "Work 3.0 – A Joyful Sense at Work" from UNStudio and SCAPE is an attempt to create spaces that make work stress more bearable by testing out adaptable environments in the form of a "fully immersive, modular structure."

This immersive structure, known as a RESET pod, will be on display at the iSalone deal Mobile in Milan from April 4th through 9th, and incorporates input from a neuroscientist, an ambient intelligence technology integrator, and a technologist/interaction designer. The feedback from visitors to the exhibition will help the designers determine what spaces do and don't work for office worker stress mitigation.

Here's the text of the full press release from UNStudio:

Can a space adapt to your stress levels? UNStudio and SCAPE join forces with a multidisciplinary team of experts to tackle stress in the workplace.

UNStudio and SCAPE have joined forces with a multidisciplinary team of experts for the ex...

“Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15” to represent Canadian Pavilion at 2014 Venice Biennale

2014-05-22T19:01:00-04:00

After being selected in a juried national competition back in March, the Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15 exhibition will represent the Canadian Pavilion in the upcoming 2014 Venice Biennale. The timely exhibition will also mark the 15th anniversary of Nunavut, Canada's youngest territory.

Curated by Lateral Office of Toronto, "Arctic Adaptations" will examine the complex relationship that modernism has had with Nunavut's indigenous communities throughout the last century, and the innovative ways they have responded to those changes.

The exhibition will also showcase five themed proposals that explore the various aspects of Nunavut's evolving architectural, social, and cultural landscape. Each design team consists of a Canadian architecture school, a Canadian architecture office with extensive northern experience, and a Nunavut-based organization.

More details on Bustler.

Adaptable architecture

2014-01-07T18:47:00-05:00

[...] what if the design of a house allows it to grow and change in conjunction with the needs of its occupants? The UK’s Lifetime Homes Standards encourage precisely such a principle, setting out a list of guidelines that have been adopted into the building regulations. The focus is on design features that make the home flexible enough to meet whatever comes along in life: a teenager with a broken leg, a grandfather with a serious illness, or parents dealing with an unwieldy Bugaboo.