Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2024 i Frame

While the term ‘metaverse’ may mean different things to different people, we’re defining it here as an umbrella term for interactive online digital platforms, such as Decentraland and Sandbox, that combine innovative communication, immersive experiences and augmented reality. Put simply, it’s a new way for people to experience space in a sort of 3D internet that uses virtual reality. In architecture terms, it’s basically like taking your SketchUp, Rhino or Revit model and throwing yourself into it. But are designers actually using the metaverse – and/or should they be? Can it help architecture transcend physical limitations? In the metaverse, architects can create wallless schemes, floating cities and false realities by manipulating forms in ways that aren’t possible in the real world. On a more pragmatic level, the metaverse can also…

Until recently, phygital retail was an exciting prospect with exceptionally underwhelming results. Dotting a few token iPads through the customer journey was somehow sold as a tech-enhanced experience, even though the tech was often more disruptive than constructive. The experiences weren’t integrated into the overall scheme, perhaps because those creating them weren’t either. At least, that was the case with Random Studio. The Amsterdam- and Paris-based outfit started with the web as its main medium, creating interactive digital experiences. ‘So often we were assigned a corner, either by clients or project briefs,’ says experience director Richard Overboom. ‘What we would do would feel superimposed onto something rather than a holistic experience.’ This feeling prompted a pivot in the late 2010s. The team imagined themselves creating entire spaces as ‘fluid experiences’.…

Digital environments are often criticized for causing isolation and segregation, but in the work of Sasha Belitskaja they help build community and connection. The Estonian architectural designer and XR developer, who also cofounded architecture design studio and research collective Iheartblob with Ben James and Shaun McCallum, believes in democratizing design processes and flipping traditional hierarchies. ‘In my early experiences in the architecture industry, I observed that design decisions often rested in the hands of a few, perpetuating the notion of the “master architect”. This didn’t sit right with me, so I set out to explore alternatives,’ she says. The emergence of NFTs and blockchain technologies fuelled Belitskaja’s interest in decentralization and democratization. In architectural design, but also in the fabrication and funding of architectural projects, she sees opportunities for these…

1 Co-create with AI Designers possess invaluable experience and expertise that will remain crucial for realizing projects and guiding client decisions. AI is just another tool to help them do their jobs, with an emphasis on ‘help’; it should be seen as a co-pilot or creative aid, input rather than output. Thinking of AI in this way and not relying on it for final outcomes will also help to avoid the authorship uncertainties stemming from generative tech. 2 Use the generative to regenerate Despite the amount of energy currently consumed by server farms, AI will become a valuable tool for sustainability. It can optimize – and thus lower the environmental impact of – design iterations, integrate suitable habitats for local flora and fauna into design proposals, digitally test new sustainable…

We live in an age of explosive technological growth. While – on a societal level – we grapple with the (positive and negative) effects of what seems to be an infinitely expanding offer of technology, the design world reflects a microcosm of the same tension. What do new technologies mean for design, and, in turn, how can that enable designers to answer to some of our greatest shared problems? Felix Rasehorn and Robin Hoske, cofounders of Berlin-based multidisciplinary studio Wint Design Lab, somewhat cautiously believe that digital technologies can help us to form a more sustainable relationship with the tangible environment and the goods it comprises. ‘Our approach to technology is balanced between optimism and a natural scepticism,’ Hoske says. ‘We search for potential where technology can become a catalyst…

In February, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) published a report on the use of AI in architecture, attempting to capture who is using it and how. Despite much hype and hysteria about tech replacing the architect altogether, it painted a positive picture of streamlined processes, much like CAD (computer-aided design and modelling) and BIM (building information management) before it. ‘Leveraging the ability of AI to augment, automate and analyse gives architects their time back – not just by increasing productivity, but by giving them the space to be more ambitious and to focus on creative solutions,’ wrote Amy Bunszel, executive vice president of AEC Solutions at Autodesk in one of the report’s introductions. LEGACY FIRMS LEAD THE WAY Right now, it’s the large legacy practices that are best…