VAULTED: Rethinking Concrete Construction for a More Sustainable Future

VAULTED: Rethinking Concrete Construction for a More Sustainable Future

With Philippe Block

Following the motto “strength through geometry” and the principles of traditional unreinforced masonry construction, this lecture will show how translating the (lost) knowledge of the Gothic master builders into today’s praxis results in truly sustainable, circular and economical structures, addressing climate change by significantly reducing embodied emissions, utilizing fewer single-use resources and minimizing construction waste.

By attending this talk, you'll learn:

• Concrete is an artificial stone, and like stone, it does not want to be a straight beam; it wants to be an arch — or even better, a masonry arch.
• To reduce the global warming potential of a structure, three main levers should be optimized: the amount of material we need, the carbon footprint of the material we use, and the service life of the structure. Strength through geometry, material effectiveness and circularity are effective strategies to address these.
• At the end of the day (and sadly), the only thing that matters is cost, so we have to find solutions to overcome the green (price) premium of sustainable solutions in order to implement these in real projects and at scale.

We'll also be getting hyped up for Season 13 of Architizer's A+Awards program — start your entry today!

About Philippe Block

Philippe Block is full professor of architecture and structures and head of the Institute of Technology in Architecture (ITA), ETH Zurich, where he leads the Block Research Group (BRG) with Dr. Tom Van Mele. Philippe is also Director of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) - Digital Fabrication. He studied architecture and structural engineering at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his PhD in 2009. With Tom, he translates research into practice as a founding partner of Foreign Engineering GmbH and through the co-founding of the ETH spin-off VAULTED. He is also on the jury for the 13th Annual A+Awards.

About Hannah Feniak

Hannah Feniak is Architizer’s Managing Editor. A trained art historian and educator focusing on architecture, urbanism and photography, Hannah graduated from McGill University and received her MA at NYU, where she later completed a PhD in modern architectural history and theory. When she’s not leading our talented team of writers and interviewing the industry’s most innovative designers, Hannah will likely be found exploring the latest exhibition openings.