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Many of the materials that we use in architecture today are rather static. For this reason, some buildings and even cities suffer. Venice, for instance, is sinking. The good news; however, is that people like Rachel Armstrong are coming up with new and innovative solutions — like architecture constructed from living systems.
Armstrong is working on metabolic materials for architecture. She is in the process of uncovering how nature operates so that, as architects, we can begin to solve design problems from the bottom-up. Instead of imposing structure upon matter (which she claims is the old approach), we can begin to use materials that actually can grow, self repair, and respond to environmental changes.
By studying such living systems, like cells, Rachel Armstrong is finding answers so that we can use metabolic materials within our built forms. She notes that, in the future, people will not be able to tell whether certain built forms have been Read more
