Materials

Recycling “breakthrough” could usher in zero-emissions cement

May 31, 2024 Rima Sabina Aouf 0

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have devised a way of cheaply producing low-carbon concrete at scale by making use of waste cement and the steel industry’s electric arc furnaces. The method developed by the engineers involves recycling old cement from demolished buildings by heating it up and reactivating the compounds within it. Key to

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Buildings “biggest lever” for improving global resource efficiency says UN report

March 25, 2024 Jennifer Hahn 0

The built environment is the fastest-growing consumer of materials in the world – but it also offers the most potential for improvement according to Julia Okatz, advisor on the UN’s landmark Global Resource Outlook. Making buildings and neighbourhoods more efficient could reduce the global need for raw materials by 25 per cent by 2060, the

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‘regrow willow’ poses hybrid earth construction system strengthened with digital fabrication

March 17, 2024 KIT-DDF 0

fusing the tensile strength of willow and the compressive strength of earth, the installation offers a sustainable alternative to reinforced concrete.
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ICON develops 3D printer to build enclosed multi-storey structures

March 12, 2024 Ben Dreith 0

Texas-based ICON has unveiled Phoenix, a robotic-arm-mounted 3D printer that can create fully-enclosed, multi-storey structures from a low-carbon mixture, at SXSW. ICON revealed the demountable crane-based 3D printer during a talk held as part of the annual SXSW festival in Austin, Phoenix allows ICON to construct multi-storey houses with enclosed systems. It said that it

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Construction commences on world’s “tallest 3D-printed structure” Tor Alva

March 7, 2024 Amy Peacock 0

Architects Michael Hansmeyer and Benjamin Dillenburger are creating a 30-metre-tall tower in the Swiss Alps, which is being 3D-printed with concrete by technology university ETH Zurich. Named Tor Alva, or White Tower, the building will become the world’s “tallest 3D-printed structure” once complete in Mulegns later this year, according to Hansmeyer and Dillenburger. ETH Zurich

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“The allure of the ‘bio’ prefix must be taken with some healthy scrutiny”

February 15, 2024 Sioban Imms 0

Biomaterials have the potential to significantly cut carbon emissions but designers should approach them with caution to avoid creating a whole new set of problems, warns Sioban Imms. The vision of a civilisation based on biomaterials is compelling: products, clothes and buildings made from materials that have been “grown”, rather than derived from polluting, extractive

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First full-height timber wind turbine opens in Sweden

January 29, 2024 Rima Sabina Aouf 0

The world’s first full-scale timber wind turbine has started turning in Sweden, with a tower built by wood technology company Modvion. The 105-metre-tall tower, located in the region of Skara, is Modvion’s first commercial wind turbine tower, and follows on from a smaller 30-metre-high demonstration project the company completed in 2020. While its rotor blades

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Studio Bark devises structural use for waste timber in English woodlands

January 26, 2024 Rima Sabina Aouf 0

British architecture practice Studio Bark has worked with students from the University of East London to devise a roof-supporting column with otherwise unusable timber at a site within ancient English woodland. Named Spindles, the project, which borrowed techniques from local chair making traditions, involved using small pieces of shaped wood to make a roof-supporting column.

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Dezeen Agenda features apartment building made from Lego-like blocks

January 23, 2024 Saudatu Bah 0

The latest edition of our weekly Dezeen Agenda newsletter features an apartment block in California constructed like a “real-life Lego-kit”. Subscribe to Dezeen Agenda now. Florida-based manufacturer Renco has completed a Palm Springs apartment complex that was made using Lego-like blocks made of repurposed materials and designed by architecture studio Arquitectonica. Constructed from a composite blend

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Revalu aims to improve access to materials data for architects

December 22, 2023 Rima Sabina Aouf 0

The Revalu platform uses one million data points and an AI-powered accuracy checker to enable architects to compare the environmental impacts of different building materials. Founded by data scientists in Denmark and launched earlier this year, Revalu aims to cater to both large and small architecture practices, with three different ways to engage with its

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