New Website Follows Glasgow's 'Future City' Project

You may remember us blogging about Glasgow's selection as a 'smart city' in an earlier post this year. 

We were celebrating Glasgow's competition win to pilot how technology can make life in the city, smarter, safer and more sustainable. The competition had been organised by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) - the Government's innovation agency. Glasgow's £24 million funding bid met with approval by the Board who have set up a number of specialist teams working on various technological projects around the city. A smartphone app for cyclists, intelligent street lighting and 'citizen science' mapping are some of the trail-blazing technologies in the pipeline which the public, academics and businesses will be encouraged to use and improve in a pilot focused on the 'smart' future of our cities.

We're revisiting the Future City /Glasgow project after discovering that a dedicated website has been launched making its work easier to follow online. The site brings visitors the latest news on the 'Demonstrator programme' as  it's been dubbed, with details relayed via press releases.

Check the website for details of the projects and to keep up-to-date with news. It's also worth navigating from the main page to read the blog discussing the nature of 'smart' and 'future' cities and to check the event-footage that's being streamed of events including science-related news from the ongoing UK Space Conference (Monday 15th to Wednesday 17th July). We found this video of the new City Operations Centre which will house the teams monitoring Glasgow's new CCTV network, the city's traffic lights and traffic cameras. You'd be smart to follow!

WIRES - Women in Renewable Energy

Remember as you traipse through the blustery snow on this Spring day, that the cold and windy climes of Scotland are useful for generating a large proportion of the country's economy. As we capitalise on the money generated from our renewable energy sources and subsequent developments in the industry, there is a thriving employment sector springing up. Surprising then, that of this large demographic, (covering careers such as engineers, lawyers, environmentalists and admin staff) women account for just 17%.

That's according to WIRES, a forum for female professionals working in the industry. Its aims are to support and inspire women to seize the emerging employment opportunities, and highlight the benefits to business of diversifying in a sector where women are chronically under-represented. The thinking is that if employers and industry representatives can be made to recognise the talents of women studying and working in renewable energies, then Scotland can be helped to achieve its potential as a world leader in renewable energy- with a lot more than just the poor weather going for us! 

Events are occasionally held in Scotland with talks given from MSPs and women in the industry. Visit the WIRES website http://www.wirescotland.com/, or follow the group on LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Women-In-Renewable-Energy-Scotland-3713259

'It's Alive!' - New ARUP Report Imagines Intelligent Cities of the Future

Last week's report from Arup's Foresight + Innovation team is helping to feed our blog's current appetite for all things futuristic. The 'It's Alive' report predicts that in 2050, buildings will be continuously adapting and made from materials that will enable them to do everything from filtering air to producing energy.

According to its vision for the future "structures will be fully integrated into the fabric of the city, responsive to changes in the external environment, and designed for continuous adaptability, according to real-time needs and demands of its users.” Buildings' facades will react to changing environmental conditions and use this information to make intelligent decisions that are able to support tomorrow's cities.

The evolution of buildings from aesthetic casings to living and breathing structures is expanded on by Josef Hargrave, foresight and innovation consultant at Arup : “In the ecological age, buildings do not simply create spaces, they craft environments.” Rather than continually churning out buildings that are well-designed in the classical sense of the word, Arup's Frankenstein model proposes a seismic shift at the heart of how architects approach the function of the building and arguably, their roles as architects of the future.

With population trends showing an increase in the number of city-dwellers over the past few years, the idea of the robotic building may be an experiment that offers much inspiration to many an architect dwelling on the possibility of bringing our buildings to life. The report can be read on Arup's site at this link:
http://www.arup.com/Home/News/2013_02_February/4_Feb_New_report_predicts_the_future_of_buildings_in_2050.aspx

New cardboard architecture e-book

'Cardboard in architecture: research in architectural engineering' is a new e-book now available to GSA staff and students which provides much-needed technical information on using this highly sustainable material in an architectural context. Topics covered include paper felting, the building of a cardboard pavilion and house, structural engineering in paper and cardboard, cardboard partitioning, the mechanical behaviour of cardboard in construction, and the cardboard dome.

RIBA Sustainability Hub

The RIBA has created this Hub to to provide a free, central internet resource on all aspects of sustainable design in architecture. It includes Design Strategy pages which offer an introduction to techniques, materials and practices; Case Study pages which explain how these strategies were incorporated; and Sustainability Hub Shorts: short films designed to connect theory into practice.

Passivhaus primers

The BRE (Building Research Establishment) has published online a series of documents which set out the key principles of the Passivhaus low energy construction standard, and explain the process and application of Passivhaus design.

The shareable future of cities

Alex Steffen, a leading voice on sustainability and social innovation, talks on TED about the challenge of meeting the energy needs of a rapidly-urbanising planet, and discusses a selection of neighbourhood-based green projects that expand our access to things we want and need, while reducing the time we spend in cars.

New e-book in the Library

Where possible, we'll be purchasing electronic copies of key texts again this academic year to ensure their maximum availability to students. We've just bought an e-copy of Dean Hawkes' 'The environmental imagination', which explores the changing relationship between the poetic intentions and technical means of environmental design in architecture. Read this book online using your 'MyGSA' account; there's also a link to it from the GSA Library catalogue.

A natural factory

Earlier this year, Sust (Architecture and Design Scotland’s Sustainability in Architecture Programme) and the Forestry Commission Scotland collaborated on an exhibition at the Lighthouse in Glasgow to showcase recent Scottish buildings that use of timber in their construction. Much of the exhibition's content is now available online in the form of case studies of 25 buildings, including photographs and plans.

Biomimicry in architecture

This recent podcast from the RSA features Michael Pawlyn, director of Exploration Architects, talking about how nature offers a sourcebook of extraordinary deign solutions for the challenges of building a sustainable future. Pawlyn's new book, 'Biomimicry in architecture' will shortly be available in GSA Library.

Scotland's energy sector

The Scottish Parliament's Information Centre compiles regular briefings on key topics, and these are a valuable way to better understanding many current issues. The Centre has recently turned its attention to Scotland's energy sector, focusing on energy for transport, heat and electricity, and measures to reduce demand and boost renewable technologies.

Sensing a historic low-CO2 future

Colin Porteous, Senior Researcher at GSA's Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit (MEARU), has made freely available online his contribution to a new book 'Chemistry, Emission Control, Radioactive Pollution and Indoor Air Quality'. Entitled 'Sensing a historic low-CO2 future', Colin's chapter highlights the longstanding role of CO2 as an indicator of air quality inside buildings, and looks at the contemporary dilemma between achievng airtightness and maintaining air quality.    

Power to the People

Historic Scotland recently held a conference to celebrate the achievements of Scottish architects and engineers in pioneering the generation of hydroelectricity in the UK. An associated free book can be downloaded from the Historic Scotland website which traces the development of the industry and assesses the contribution of a number of distinguished pre- and post-war architects. A gazetteer provides an overview of the existing infrastructure in Scotland.

Using social media to change attitudes

Researchers at Newcastle University have embarked on an experiment with some brave students which photographs the contents of their household rubbish bins. Images of discarded packaging are automatically posted onto Facebook to see whether 'naming and shaming' those who fail to separate their rubbish for recycling is effective in changing their behaviour.

Thomas Heatherwick talks

Architect Thomas Heatherwick is on TED talking about five of his recent projects which feature ingenious bio-inspired designs. He explains the re-working of established designs for a bus, a bridge, a power station, and apartment blocks, but his main focus is on the astonishing Seed Cathedral at the Shanghai World Expo.

Open Architecture Network

The Open Architecture Network is an online, open-source community dedicated to improving living conditions worldwide through innovative and sustainable design. It encourages architects to collaborate and share ideas, and is part of the Architecture for Humanity charity. The Network's website showcases hundreds of successful projects, grouped thematically, and gives details of forthcoming competitions.

Qatar's football stadia for 2022

Following the decision to hold the 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar, there is increasing interest in the design of the stadia, particularly given the country's aspiration to stage a zero carbon tournament. One starting point for information on the web is the MENA (Middle East construction news) Infrastructure website, which includes architects' visualisations in the form of movies of each stadium, together with background information.

Material efficiency

An interesting and freely downloadable report from the Concrete Centre (the central development organisation for the UK concrete industry) points out the surprising fact that the industry now uses and recycles more waste than it produces, thus diverting significant volumes of waste from potential landfill and reducing the depletion of natural resources. It explains how the material properties of concrete, such as high thermal efficiency, can also contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Rammed earth construction

My trip to Berlin last month included a visit to the Chapel of Reconciliation, built by architects Rudolf Reitermann and Peter Sassenroth, and straddling the former 'no man's land' of the Berlin Wall. The chapel is a refreshing change from the city's architectural mega-projects, and one of its many interesting aspects is that it is Germany's first rammed earth building. Read more about this technology in Jean Dethier's article 'Building with raw earth: an eco-revolution?', in the Architectural Review, May 2009, pages 94-95.

Building Design And Construction Handbook

Building design and construction handbook

Building design and construction handbook by Jonathan T. Ricketts, editor.—6th ed.
dowmload: