What You Don’t See

2018-09-18T19:06:00-04:00

Follow the intricate supply chains of architecture and you’ll find not just product manufacturers but also environmental polluters. Keep going and you’ll find as well the elusive networks of political influence that are underwritten by the billion-dollar construction industry.

In "What You Don't See," Brent Sturlaugson examines the supply chains of architecture to make the case that designers must expand their frameworks of action and responsibility for thinking about sustainability.

Unraveling the networks of materials, energy, power, and money that must be activated to produce a piece of plywood, Sturlaugson argues that "any full accounting of environmental, economic, or social sustainability has got to consider not merely individual buildings and sites but also the intricate product and energy supply chains that are crucial to their construction."

Powering your (SOM-designed) house with your car (and reverse)

2015-10-14T14:55:00-04:00

A research team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) Department of Energy has created a new model for how we can connect the way we power our homes and vehicles. Dubbed AMIE... the platform features special technology that allows a bi-directional flow of energy between a dwelling and a vehicle. In other words, the house can fuel the car and the car can fuel the house. What's more, ORNL used 3D printing technology to build the dwelling and the vehicle...

AMIE, or Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy, is a hybrid of different futuristic technologies, mashed together into a single platform. First, both the house and the vehicle were 3D printed.

The former, a single-room structure, was designed in collaboration with Skidmore, Owings and Merril and features vacuum insulated panels, a micro-kitchen, and a rooftop photovoltaic system.

The car, despite looking a bit like something from Mad Max, can be modified with new, 3D printed parts. It includes an electric hybrid power-train that uses natural gas to supplement the energy provided by the house.

Right now, it's a heavy vehicle, but researchers are working to make it lighter, as well as experimenting with external combustion engines, bio-fuel powered internal combustion engines, hydrogen fuel cells, and flow batteries.

The real jaw-dropping element of the prototype is that it allows a bi-directional flow of energy: from the car to the house, and vice versa.

Today, many electric cars can b...

Archinect - News

What You Don’t See

Powering your (SOM-designed) house with your car (and reverse)