Hello and welcome to the February Issue of the Materials for Architecture Newsletter

In this issue, we bring you news on interactive media facades, curled aluminium ribs, a mirrored Mirage house, and more...

Why concrete remains a rock-solid design choice

Dr Bill Price of Tarmac Cement discusses why concrete is increasingly popular with architects for its aesthetic as well as practical characteristics. An ever-popular material for construction, concrete is seeing a new wave of usage and innovation, thanks to both its aesthetic values and its inherent qualities of strength, durability and affordability... Read more...
Published 20/02/2019 via materialsforarchitecture.co.uk

Composite cladding solutions

3A Composites looks at why aluminium composite materials are popular with architects for rainscreen cladding, and at the robustness of testing regimes in the UK post-Grenfell. Aluminium composite panels or alternatively aluminium composite material, are flat panels consisting of two thin coil-coated aluminium sheets bonded to a non-aluminium core... Read more...
Published 18/02/2019 via materialsforarchitecture.co.uk

Dropping concrete blocks to generate energy

Amsterdam Drops, a project by Sinds 1416and Studio Floris Schoonderbeek, aims to help solve Amsterdam’s energy problem by generating and storing energy by lifting and lowering balls of recycled concrete. The project wants to make use of an existing and traditional architectural element of the historical buildings in the city centre of Amsterdam... Read more...
Published 13/02/2019 via materialdistrict.com

Knitted biocomposites as structural systems

Architects and designers Bastian Beyer and Daniel Suarez’s Column Project explores the structural potential of augmented knitted biocomposites. To make the structures, Beyer developed a transformable, modular workstation that can operate both as a knitting loom and a bioreactor. Jute is knitted manually in a pre-designed shape and placed in the bioreactor... Read more...
Published 08/02/2019 via materialdistrict.com

How Gnanli Landrou is closing the cycle

He grew up in a clay house in West Africa. With his ETH spin-off Oxara, Gnanli Landrou is now developing a cement-free concrete made from clay-based excavation material. His goal is to help Africa and the rest of the world build affordable, sustainable houses. A gentle handshake, a friendly smile and a kind, keen look on his face: meet Gnanli Landrou... Read more...
Published 07/02/2019 via ethz.ch

Curled aluminium ribs envelop Xiqu Centre for Chinese opera in Hong Kong

Canadian studio Revery Architecture has completed an opera house in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District, which is covered in curved aluminium slats arranged in wavy patterns. Revery Architecture designed the Xiqu Centre in collaboration with local firm Ronald Lu & Partners. It is located in the Kowloon neighbourhood in Hong Kong... Read more...
Published 06/02/2019 via dezeen.com

Wooden screens around Skyline Residence in Santa Barbara

Stacked volumes made of steel, concrete, wood and glass form this family home in California, which architecture firm Shubin Donaldson created for an industrial designer. Los Angeles-based firm Shubin Donaldson completed Skyline Residence for an industrial designer and his young family living in Santa Barbara, a coastal city in central California... Read more...
Published 04/02/2019 via dezeen.com

Doug Aitken's mirrored Mirage house installed in Swiss alps

American artist Doug Aitken has installed a ranch-style house clad in mirrors in the snow-covered mountains of Gstaad, Switzerland. The single-storey Mirage structure is covered top-to-bottom in mirrors. The structure will remain in its mountain location for two years "reflecting and interacting with the mountain landscape over the changing seasons"... Read more...
Published 01/02/2019 via dezeen.com

This timber hiking cabin in the arctic circle was pieced together like a 3D puzzle

For hikers journeying into the Arctic Circle, this small mountain cabin in Norway provides much needed warmth and shelter. The project is the first of two warming huts designed to promote hiking in Hammerfest. The brief called for a small mountaintop structure that aligned with the existing landscape. The cabin includes views of the arctic terrain below... Read more...
Published 18/01/2019 via designboom.com

MVRDV proposes vibrant 'Taipei twin towers' clad with interactive media facades

MVRDV, together with Nan Hai development, unveils its proposal for the Taipei twin towers to revitalise the central station area of Taipei. The design of the towers is characterised by a ‘pile of blocks’ that generates a vertical urban neighbourhood. Each box serves as a visual expression of its program through an array of interactive media facades... Read more...
Published 09/01/2019 via designboom.com

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