Visualization of a hand in motion during a conversation
Image: jeanbaptisteparis | Flickr

Motion sensors are already all around us, they exist in certain appliances, mobile phones and even within your car — but what if nanotechnology and the miniaturization of these sensors down to the nano scale could have profound impact on the buildings in which we live?

With nanotechnology, development is in the works to make sensors 100 times more sensitive than sensors we have today. Here is a quote explaining this remarkable feat:

“Able to “feel” and sense the movement of individual atoms, the researchers’ new MEMS sensing device uses small carbon tubes, nano in size — about one-billionth of a meter long. Creating these tiny tubes using a process involving methane gas and a furnace, Prof. Hanein has developed a method whereby they arrange themselves on a surface of a silicon chip to accurately sense tiny movements and changes in gravity.”

- from phsorg.com, A More Sensitive Senor Using Nano-sized Carbon Tubes

The question now becomes, how can you as an architect make use of such significant advances in order to improve and uplift the lives of your occupant? And yes, I do believe that uplifting the lives of your occupants should be a primary focus for your work as an architect. Nevertheless, it is time to think outside of the box.

Where Would You Embed a Nano Motion Sensor?

Since MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) will be not only more sensitive, but also a lot smaller, your designs can make use of their ability to sense very slight motion. For instance, with architectural kinetic installations, perhaps your components which are in motion could respond to Read more

Nanotechnology is allowing for the development of new materials that will revolutionize how buildings work. It is important for architects to understand some fundamentals about how nanotechnology can change materials and their behaviors. As smart materials gain greater ability to interact and change properties, it will be up to architects to design for their meaningful integration into our built environments.

VIDEO REVIEW

A nanometer is very small. It is 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. And yes, nanotechnology involves seeing and constructing things at this scale. Such a shift in size allows for greater control over nanomaterials – ultimately giving us flexibility to change a material’s behavior.

As we gain greater ability to customize nanomaterials and their unique behaviors, scientists are uncovering creative and unique ways to make such “new” materials work. This video does a good job of illustrating why such materials behave the way they do – where quantum confinement and surface area play major roles. I found it particularly interesting to know that Read more

Image: LiTraCon Bricks by es0teric

Have you heard about translucent or ductal concrete?

Here’s the latest on concrete materials…

Kinder, Stronger Concrete

It’s not just opaque anymore. Glass fibers can be added to the mix, for fortification and translucency. That’s just one of the innovations in the cement-mortar marriage. Another one is Ductal concrete, designed to be 6 to 8 times more resistant to abrasion, pollution and scratching than its conventional cousin. How do engineers do it? Ductal concrete contains metal fibers that make it ductile, or transformable. Those fibers give the tough stuff more give, making it flexible and stronger. Its manufacturer, Lafarge, says Ductal concrete (also known as ultra-high performance, fiber-reinforced concrete) can stand up to bending and breaking far better than traditional concrete because it has 5 to 10 times the compressive strength of conventional concrete, without any added weight. (1)

Although traditional concrete is used rather successfully in some designs, these advances involving concrete materials will allow for some creative design solutions. Concrete gaining light, strength and flexibility should bring about a few changes — perhaps architects will find some renewed ways for concrete to feed the senses.

(1) Silver, Laura. Hot to Trot. Popular Science. February 24, 2009.

Image: Carbon Nanotube | ghutchis | Flickr

NANOTECHNOLOGY IS HERE…

Nanotechnology will have profound effects on the way we live. Already, developments are underway for newfound uses. For the architecture profession, nanotechnology will greatly impact construction materials and their properties. Materials will behave in many different ways as we are able to more precisely control their properties at the nano-scale.

WHY CARBON NANOTUBES?

Carbon nanotubes are a great example of how useful materials are being developed. This material is said to be one hundred times stronger than steel because of its “molecular perfection” as explained in the paper Year 2050: Cities in the Age of Nanotechnology by Peter Yeadon. In addition, because carbon atoms can bond with other matter; such material can be an “insulator, semi-conductor or conductor of electricity”. As a result, carbon nanotubes will have significant influence on the architecture industry as such materials can act as “a switchable conduit, a light source, a generator of energy and even a conveyor of matter”. (1)

Image: Aligned Carbon Nanotube | CORE-Materials | Flickr

IMPACTING BOTH DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION

As materials gain such transient features, architectural design and construction will evolve. By transforming the essential properties of matter, nanotechnology will be able to change the way we build. For instance, structures will be constructed from the bottom-up because materials like carbon nanotubes can self-assemble. (1)

Nanotechnology will profoundly affect the industry of architecture at all scales; and, interior design, building design and city design will all benefit. Architecture will have the ability to function at more optimum levels – revolutionizing the way inhabitants live.

NANO-ARCHITECTURE UNLEASHED

Nanotechnology: Molecular Speculations on Global Abundance is a great book that explains how nanotechnology will impact environments. For example, nanotechnology will give architecture superior interactive functions — allowing occupants to better “communicate” with their surroundings. Windows and walls with variable transparency and mood/context sensitive clothing are just a few ways this will become possible.(2)

As new materials and construction methods emerge, “nano-architecture” will definitely unleash the designer’s imagination. For this reason, Nanotechnology: Molecular Speculations on Global Abundance is worth reading.

Here is the link: Nanotechnology: Molecular Speculations on Global Abundance

(1) Yeadon, Peter. Year 2050: Cities in the Age of Nanotechnology
(2) Crandall, BC. Nanotechnology: Molecular Speculations on Global Abundance. MIT Press. 2000.