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The most exciting emerging technologies in architecture in 2021

2021-12-30T15:03:00-05:00

If there’s one thing that 2021 has shown us, it is that, for better or for worse, the world is evolving faster than ever. While this is a natural phenomenon, it’s apparent that the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the level of uncertainty the world faces. Sociopolitical and economic issues as well as the increasing threat of climate change have also been added to the mix, intertwining to shape our collective consciousness. With this, new approaches and solutions have been required in order to both adapt to this new reality and make it better.

The AEC industry, in particular, has been spurred to change. An influx of new technology, from carbon-calculating software to the development of new, sustainable materials, has been a major response by a field with such a large influence on each of these issues.

Throughout the year, Archinect closely covered a wide selection of these advancements. Here's a selection of those that stood out.

Skydio releases autonomous drone soft...

MIT-designed self-driving Roboats make a splash in Amsterdam’s canals

2021-11-18T13:33:00-05:00

After six years of design and research at MIT, a pair of autonomous boats have been launched into the canals of Amsterdam. Roboat, a research project undertaken by the MIT Senseable City Lab and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute), seeks to encourage a future where autonomous boats could help the city of Amsterdam move part of its road traffic to the water.

Image © MIT / AMS Institute

From November onwards, the two full-scale prototypes will be used for three use cases: passenger transport, logistics (waste collection), and data collection (surveying water infrastructure and monitoring water quality). The boats will operate with complete autonomy through the use of way-point finding, autonomous docking and undocking, and collision avoidance.

Image © MIT / AMS Institute

“Picture being amid the hustle and bustle on the Amsterdam canals,” explains Ynse Deinema, Roboat Project Lead at AMS Institute. “This urban context involves tight space maneu...

MIT lab creates digital model and formula of how people move across cities

2021-07-07T13:18:00-04:00

Researchers at the MIT Senseable City Lab have unveiled their latest project, which seeks to understand human mobility in cities. Titled Wanderlust, the project uses large-scale cellphone data to understand the movement of people in the metro areas of Boston, Abidjan, Braga, Lisbon, Porto, Dakar, and Singapore. The result is an interactive digital model which quantifies data through time and space, unlocking a new way of seeing and reading cities.

To undertake the project, the MIT researchers analyzed over 8 billion human mobility traces collected across four continents. In doing so, they found that the flows of movement to all locations in each city followed a predictable, universal pattern. This pattern can be reproduced through a mathematical formula: “The number of visitors to any given location decreases as the inverse square of the product of their visiting frequency and travel distance.” This formula can be simplified to say “people are unlikely to travel far too often.” ...

MIT develops interactive digital environment to understand Brazil’s favelas

2021-04-26T18:47:00-04:00

The MIT Senseable City Lab has unveiled their “Favelas 4D” project, dedicated to mapping the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Using 3D laser scanning technology to analyze the urban landscape of Rocinha, the project seeks to understand and quantify the architectural logic of one of Brazil’s famous informal settlements.

Brazil’s favelas consist of dense, multilayered, informal settlements that dot the hills of large cities such as Rio de Janeiro; their urban chaos contrasting starkly with the planned neighborhoods surrounding them. This spatial complexity makes the favelas a difficult terrain for typical open-source mapping tools such as satellite imagery and Google Street View, leaving much of their labyrinthine cityscapes unmapped and misunderstood.

Favelas 4D. Image: MIT Senseable City Lab

On the importance of mapping these informal settlements, the MIT team explains; “The global trend of urbanization is not limited to shining downtown districts and masterplanned developm...

Explore BIM workflow and visualization tools at Microsol Resources' TECH Perspectives seminar in Boston

2019-09-19T09:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Microsol Resources

Technology is transforming the way that buildings and infrastructure are designed, constructed and operated. It is helping improve decision making and performance across the buildings and infrastructure lifecycle.

Join us at TECH Perspectives on September 26, 2019 in Boston where we will discuss and showcase the most exciting technologies driving significant change in the design and construction industry.

Taking place at 9 OFS, a conference center located on the open-air terrace on the 9th Floor of One Federal Street in Boston’s Financial District on Thursday, September 26, 2019, Microsol Resources will host a half day program of architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry thought leaders.

“Technology is changing how designers and builders collaborate more effectively throughout the project lifecycle,” said Emilio Krausz, President of Microsol Resources. “TECH Perspectives will share the newest innovations shaping our ...

The future of elevators: Biometrics, on-demand services, and smart repairs

2019-08-14T09:00:00-04:00

As high-rises keep growing taller, more connected and more efficient, there is increasing pressure on Otis and rival elevator companies Schindler, Kone and Thyssenkrupp to reduce wait times for rides and to personalize experiences—for instance, by allowing riders to call elevators from smartphones.

Neil Green, Otis Elevator Company's chief digital officer, discusses the future of elevator design and functionality with The Wall Street Journal.

According to Green, the future of vertical transportation is set to include a larger focus on digital and smart technologies, including advanced detection systems for needed repairs, app-based elevator calling services, and biometrics to help ferry passengers to their desired destinations without the need to wait.

Green tells The Wall Street Journal, "I can envision a future where I simply walk up to the building, it recognizes who I am from biometrics, it knows that I work on the 10th floor, and it points me to the specific elevator car."

Should New York's subway rails be paved over for driverless cars?

2018-07-24T19:03:00-04:00

Visions of the future [autonomous vehicles] will bring have already crept into City Council meetings, political campaigns, state legislation and decisions about what cities should build today. That unnerves some transportation planners and transit advocates, who fear unrealistic hopes for driverless cars — and how soon they’ll get here — could lead cities to mortgage the present for something better they haven’t seen.

With new technologies emerging, cities are debating the most effective transportation systems to fund. Caught in the midst of this struggle is the proposition of paving over the New York subway in order to create an underground highway for autonomous vehicles. Those championing the idea believe this system would move the most people using the least amount of space, when theoretically services like Lyft and Uber no longer have to pay drivers.

Many, however, believe this is an unrealistic faith in new technology to solve all of our cities transportation problems. If everyone uses their own private, self-driving car this could create enormous amounts of traffic. Not to mention the belief that there is something inherently better about everyone traveling together on public transit rather than in their own isolated vehicles. Should cities invest in these new transit models replacing public infrastructure with private systems? Or hold out for unknown future technologies?

A call to embrace automation in the job market with a collaborative vision

2018-07-18T17:17:00-04:00

This partnership between human and machine is what lies ahead as automation tools permeate our lives at a quickening pace. As many worry about the potential for robots to steal our jobs (or lead a violent overthrow of society), the reality may be more nuanced: They may end up being something more like creative collaborators [...] We must re-tool the workforce, be ever learning, and open to rapid change to reduce the negative impact.

Brooks Rainwater asserts urban spaces as the testing grounds for the impending automation revolution and asks whether this will simply eliminate jobs or create new, better ones. While job displacement estimations vary, there is no denying the tremendous impact emerging technologies will have on our future workforce. Rainwater empowers present decisions of embracing these inevitable changes through forming collaborative partnerships with automation.

How big tech companies are shaping US city development

2018-06-25T16:05:00-04:00

I’m not saying America’s cities are turning into dystopian technocapitalist hellscapes in which corporations operate every essential service and pull every civic string. But let’s take a tour of recent news from the metropolises.

Farhad Manjoo unpacks the extreme impact big tech companies have on US city construction citing cases from Amazon, Elon Musk's Boring Company, and Bird's electric scooters. Are these innovations simply breaking through the red tape of local government or are they dominating with no input from the public?

How financial technology benefits from architectural design

2018-04-16T16:13:00-04:00

Design lies at the heart of both architecture and software. People continuously try to define what design is (which maybe means designers are not good at designing design), and the reason is perhaps because there is no single type of design but several. Here I’m going to talk about three that are relevant to both architects and fintech: blueprint-based design, recipe-based design, and systems design.

David Galbraith, previously featured in our Working Out of the Box series, explores what financial technology can learn from architectural design by diving into three design types. Galbraith has worked for Norman Foster and Fisher Park, and is currently a partner with Anthemis Group, a VC firm that focuses on financial services.

Airbus to build interchangeable sleeping compartments in cargo hold

2018-04-16T15:49:00-04:00

European plane-maker Airbus has announced it is to develop lower-deck passenger modules that sit inside the cargo hold. In a press release Tuesday, the firm said it was partnering with Zodiac Aerospace to build the compartments, complete with sleeping berths for passengers. Airbus said the intention is to receive formal approval from aviation bodies by 2020 with the first installation to be made on an A330 aircraft.

Airbus and Zodiac Aerospace are creating sleeping modules that would be interchangeable with regular cargo containers. This would give airlines the flexibility to reconfigure their cargo on layovers or turnarounds. Their first mock-up was reportedly well received by airlines.

Take a look in their sleeping module mock-up:

TV series Project Impossible showcases unprecedented engineering feats

2018-03-26T17:53:00-04:00

The History Channel will soon air Project Impossible, a series following the next generation of massive engineering projects considered unthinkable only a few years ago. Shot in 14 countries, the first season includes 10 one-hour episodes focusing on undertakings shaping the future of our society. Season one looks at projects tackling sea level rise, and technological breakthroughs like the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).

MOSE wall sea barrier system located in Venice, IT.

The series features engineering feats such as the Venice MOSE wall, a complex sea barrier system made of massive steel flap gates. With the growing threat of sea levels rising, the flaps will also rise from the sea floor to prevent the Adriatic from flooding Venice.

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) located in France.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France is also quite a feat of engineering. This fusion reactor releases huge amounts of ...

Applications are now open for Emergent Technologies and Design (M.Sc. / M.Arch.) 2018-19

2018-03-22T13:50:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by AA EmTech

AA Emergent Technologies & Design (EmTech) Graduate Programme investigates new synergies of architecture and ecology through the critical intersection of computational design and fabrication.

Emergent Technologies and Design Programme (inaugurated in 2001) is open to graduates in architecture and engineering who wish to develop skills and pursue knowledge in architectural design science that is located in new production paradigms.

Our focus is on exploring experiential and social potentials of new material and spatial configurations for architectural and Ecological Urban Designs situated in the dynamic contexts of emerging biomes. The programme is designed to stimulate critical thinking through experience of research driven design projects that are developed in an intellectually rigorous and creative studio environment. Our projects are pursued by multiple iterations through hypothesis, material and computational experimentation, robotic fabr...

UNStudio's new tech start up, UNSense, launches with smart city and solar brick innovations

2018-03-14T19:50:00-04:00

UNSense, a new arch tech startup based in Amsterdam, is being launched by UNStudio. Operating as an independent sister company to UNStudio, the company will explore and develop new integrated tech solutions specifically designed for the built environment.

UNSense explores new technologies related to the built environment. Image: UNSense.

The new tech innovation boasts a wide range of collaboration with data analysts, algorithmists, neuroscientists, policy makers, students, municipalities, sociologists, economists, data architects, business case modellers, financial specialists, architects and more.

CitySense will collect data through sensory digital infrastructure. Image: UNSense.

Initial technology solutions include CitySense and Solar Brick. CitySense collects data through sensory digital infrastructure in order to design experiences improving life in the city. Trials are currently running in South East Amsterdam and a number of other Dutch cities.

Solar Brick allows for massive ...

TyBot: a robot invented for tying steel reinforcement bars in construction

2017-11-16T13:47:00-05:00

Tybot is a robot recently invented that can tie together steel reinforcement bars saving time and reducing risk in construction projects. Thousands of joints must be tied before pouring the concrete, however this step has traditionally been labor intensive, hazardous, and a cause for major delays in the building process.

This robot is the first offering from the firm Advanced Construction Robotics (ACR) launched by construction firm boss Steve Muck and robotics expert Jeremy Searock. The machine only requires transportation and setting up the frame using the existing infrastructure, which can be done in half a day's work. TyBot is then ready to go to work, often at night, needing only one worker supervising it in operation.

Click below and watch TyBot in action.

DAZZLE, new interactive installation at the San Diego Airport, is inspired by a camouflage technique used on ships during WWI

2017-09-14T14:39:00-04:00

Ueberall International, an LA based design firm, in partnership with E Ink created DAZZLE, an interactive work of public art at the San Diego airport's new rental car station.

DAZZLE. Image: E ink

The interactive facade is created with e-paper, a technology similarly used in e-readers, but applied here on an architectural scale. Made with over 2,000 interactive tiles, the installation spans a third of a mile. The design is inspired by Norman Wilkinson’s “Razzle Dazzle” camouflage technique used on ships during World War I.

Razzle Dazzle on WWI ship. Image via Wikipedia.

Watch the video of the instillation bellow:

Digital Elytrons. Latest Architecture Technology at the V&A Museum.

2016-07-06T04:48:00-04:00

Todays, pavilions are an omnipresent type of building. Unburdened to a certain degree from constraints of conventional architectures, such as program or function, pavilion designs offer architects a reign of technological and formal possibilities. Architects are commissioned for designs, in which speculation, provocation and experimentation is allowed, or even more, it is requested. Currently, visitors of Victoria & Albert Museum, run in the courtyard into an exemplary architecture experiment, posing a radical statement for contemporary digital architecture technology.

The Elytra Filament Pavilion, designed by a team of architects and engineers around Achim Menges from the Universities of Stuttgart and Munich, demonstrates a visionary for a yet to be determined digital future in the building industry. Within the context of the exhibition "Engineering the World: Ove Arup and the Philosophy of Total Design", the museum's courtyard has been turned into a test ground for the latest emerg...

Chris Downey on designing inclusive "multisensory" environments for the visually impaired

2015-07-06T18:40:00-04:00

Many people view GPS and similar emerging interior-wayfnding technologies as a way to 'solve the blind wayfnding challenge.'...Architects still need to be better multisensory placemakers to design and create effective environments for the blind and visually impaired.

Chris Downey, whose story as a blind practicing architect was recently documented in the AIA's "Look Up" campaign this past May, dishes in on his own experiences with embossing printers, wayfinding devices, and graphic input tools, and other emerging technologies that have the potential to vastly improve how architects — both visually impaired or not — will work. However, he also warns about relying too much on those technologies and that architects must uphold the responsibility of designing effective environments that are accessible to everyone of all abilities.

Previously:

AIA launches second video in "Look Up" campaign featuring a blind architect

Virginia Tech Center for Design Research exhibition showcases experimental digital fabrications

2015-03-16T17:48:00-04:00

We are in the midst of another industrial revolution – softer, less obtrusive, faster, and more pervasive. All aspects of daily life are changing through the integration of things made of atoms and things made from bits. Surrounded by an increasing number of sophisticated devices, digital heartbeats, and sensors are now standard components in products. How should architecture education respond?

Advances in digital technology are creating an explosion of possibilities related to the basic building blocks of design: material and form, light, movement, and pattern. Virginia Tech student work featuring 3-D printing, robotics, and dynamic fenestration is currently on display in Clark Nexsen’s office and gallery space in Town Center, Virginia Beach.

Exhibition materials were developed with digital tools in an undergraduate studio called CRD – (trans)LAB at Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture and Design. Students from different disciplines explore how the advancement of technological and computational processes can challenge and inform the practice of architecture and design. The exhibition examines how architecture education should change in response to an environment where analog, mechanical, and electronic technologies are being replaced by rapidly emerging digital technologies.

Students participating in the exhibition include Laura Escobar, Ryan Hawkins, Brian Kato, David Ko...