As new emerging technologies surface, the idea of “transition” will take on entirely new form. Not only will “transition” continue to exist between building materials (like you see in buildings today), but “transition” will also be present within a material’s properties — changing the very nature of how a particular material behaves at any given time.

For instance, smart materials will be able to change in real time as certain variables like temperature, light or stress trigger them. Similarly, new sensing technologies will come together to yield smart environments where ubiquitous computing is tuned to give occupants a more personalized experience.

Furthermore, as nanotechnology and biomimetic systems rise into the forefront, you as an architect will need to consistently rethink how building materials typically function — by building for them from the bottom up.

The “rules” behind designing for material behavior are changing and new smart material systems will give you a new kind of flexibility which you can optimize by taking both function and form to entirely new levels.

A key to doing this is to rethink your notion of Read more

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

Smells can make or break a space.

Odor is actually a major reason why people complain about an indoor environment, yet nobody likes to talk about it much when it comes to building design. Smells within a building can either be good, bad or simply neutral. Plus, after being in a space for a longer time, you may actually stop smelling a particular odor which was pungent when you first came in.

So, what’s all the hype about? How can you design for someone’s sense of smell — particularly when everyone interprets smells differently?

I think attention needs to be paid to the institution-type of your building and what functions go on there. Yes, you will have to design appropriately in terms of choosing the right building materials, (after all, these have individual smells themselves) but what about the functions that go on within a particular space?

We all know that a gym smells different from an office which can smell different from a classroom.

THE OLFACTORY SENSE

The key is to think about the olfactory sense (smell) while you design. Think of Read more