Cape Town has been ranked as the 47th most congested city in the world, and the most congested city in South Africa – followed by Johannesburg, according to This national increase in traffic congestion brought on by growing urbanisation can be addressed by creating additional business hubs, or so called ‘sub-cities’ outside of the country’s Central Business Districts
Urbanisation is accelerating around the world and will continue until over 7 billion people live in cities by the end of the century. How, under such conditions, can we reduce energy consumption and ambient noise pollution, improve air quality and people’s well-being? “In ever denser cities the space for green infrastructure, such as parks and
A look at then and now: Farnsworth House and Bethells Bach It is the 21st century Architect’s responsibility to find balance between the functionality of our structures, their meaning in our time, the effect on our future and the human experience of space. The Modernist Architectural movement (known as ‘The International Style’) solved numerous problems that
Urban planning is perhaps one of the most invasive forms of social control. Setting out an organisational structure as permanent as the built environment will forever dictate the qualities of space possible in an area. Imposing rigid spacial constraints such as the ‘grid-iron pattern’ with its designated plot sizes, is a form of control that permanently restricts the natural
10 times as strong as steel but much lighter. This could lead to bridges that are literally hung by a thread. A team of researchers at MIT has designed one of the strongest lightweight materials known, by compressing and fusing flakes of graphene, a two-dimensional form of carbon. The new material, a sponge-like configuration with
Our architects are always on the look-out for materials and systems that will improve the spaces we design and increase the efficiency of the building industry. Solar power is “peaking right now, smashing through cost barriers that previously held the technology back, to the extent that in some parts of the world, surplus energy from
All sale of land makes space a commodity that is typically sold to the highest bidder. This is the epitome of the current social ideology of ‘cash is king’. With this ideology at the heart of a design, social behaviour is no longer orchestrated by the exchange-value organisation of architectural space, but rather, the exchange-value
“Windows and solar panels in the future could be made from one of the best – and cheapest – construction materials known: wood. Researchers at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed a new transparent wood material that’s suitable for mass production. The optically transparent wood is a type of wood veneer in which
It may come as a blow to the construction industry, but the era of 3D-printed buildings could soon be enabling safer, cheaper, and more sustainable building practices. A Chinese engineering and design firm has unveiled the world’s tallest 3D-printed building – a five-storey residential apartment block made from recycled construction materials. The [3D printing] machine works by
“The abundance of water on Mars means we may be able to use it as a resource in future exploration, and according to one architectural vision – which has secured the approval of NASA, no less – it could also make the ideal material for human habitation on the planet.” Peter Dockrill – 2
