Materials & ProductsExclusive Articles, from ArchDaily

In the Lujiazui financial district in Pudong, Shanghai, Kengo Kuma has reimagined a 1972 shipyard into a new 9,000-square-meter multi-use complex, named Shipyard 1862. Behind original, rugged brick walls, the old shipyard was once defined by a 12 by 30-meter grid, which allowed for massive interior spaces to hold ships. In this industrial-style adaptive reuse project, Kuma was careful to preserve the building’s structural and material integrity. These photographs provided by Julien Lanoo show how the industrial shell has been transformed by the refurbishment project.

The use of bamboo in construction is not yet widespread. This is the reason why Eleena Jamil proposes the use of this sustainable material in different configurations, resulting in a resistant, light and permeable structure.

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With the aim of promoting more efficient ways to isolate and protect building envelopes, the Chilean team Rootman has developed Thermoroot; a biodegradable and 100% natural insulation made from roots without genetic modifications or chemical additives. These roots make up what the company is calling a Radicular Mattress which, in addition to thermally and acoustically insulating the walls, floors, and ceilings of buildings, it is fire resistant.

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Designed and developed by Fiction Factory, a company of creative makers from Amsterdam, Wikkelhouse loosely translates to ‘wrapped house.' This sustainable modular house is uniquely created with cardboard as its main building material and is customizable in its size and function.

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San Diego Airport has unveiled their permanent interactive artwork DAZZLE on the Airport’s Rental Car Centre commissioned by San Diegos County Regional Airport Authority, that features the debut of E Ink's revolutionary prism technology on a large architectural scale. The installation has been designed to manipulate the form of the façade using inspiration from the World War I military technique “razzle dazzle” that camouflaged the outlines of ships. This phenomenon of visually scrambling the shapes to hide from being spotted can be witnessed in nature too, as the stripes on a zebra equally become an optical illusion to disrupt the predator’s perception.

Siam Research and Innovation Company (SRI) is a Thailand-based cement manufacturer that has been developing innovations to push the limits of 3D printing in architecture. Their project 'Triple S' –developed in 2017– is based on traditional Thai craftsmanship to generate Surface, Structure, and Shelter in a single process; its specific artisanal form creating beautiful framework for structural purposes, easily building living spaces.

Ateliereen Architecten has proposed a metal and wood configuration for an observation tower in Peize, Netherlands. Their plan is to construct a resistant, permeable and playful structure.

"Exoskeleton" is a pavilion that shows how Computer Aided Manufacturing can create rapid prototypes. This manufacturing process allows for real-scale construction and experimentation with limited resources. 

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Asif Khan's Vantablack pavilion, the world's first super-black building, will open at the PyeongChang 2018 Opening Ceremony on 9 February 2018.

WATG Urban's first prize design for The Freeform Home Design Challenge in 2016 is now moving one step closer to becoming a reality. Since winning the competition, WATG's Chicago office has been developing the winning design, dubbed Curve Appeal, alongside Branch Technology. Curve Appeal is now undergoing the "wall section testing, research and development phase" with an anticipated goal of breaking ground later this year. This revolutionary project could change the way we construct complex, freeform structures.

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Designing public spaces without considering the circulation and parking of bicycles is no longer an option in today's world. Accessibility for the free traffic of cyclists must also be accompanied by adequate security conditions, incorporating these devices in the best possible way to parks, sidewalks, parking lots, and the streetscape as a whole. 

Last year we shared a guide to the United States' ADA Standards for Accessible Design. Given the article's success and the diversity of our audience, we're making available a collection of guideline documents from Latin America and Spain. Whether you're working on projects in these countries or you're looking to broaden your knowledge of universal design, these guides should come in handy.

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This vertical cladding for facades is a high-density laminated panel, composed of a core of paper fibers -compressed at high temperature and pressure- and an outer coating highly resistant to weathering and UV radiation. The wood used in the panels has been treated with Everlook®, a component that - without the need for maintenance - extends the useful life of the panel and the stability of its color regardless of weather conditions.

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Brikawood is an intuitive and logical construction system of wooden bricks that allows the rapid construction of an entire house without the use of nails, screws or adhesives.

Whether architects are trying to meet the Architecture 2030 Challenge or pursuing their own mission to save energy, they have an opportunity to design buildings that can limit carbon emissions and be resilient against changing climate conditions.

The social design from Natura Futura Arquitectura for a greenhouse in the warm subtropical climate of Nayón, Ecuador, the proposal approaches the use of local material resources in the construction of low-budget productive structures for the development of the collective.