Different civilizations in different parts of the world have been building with earth and clay for many centuries. Modern life and the current globalized world, though, have taken this material to a peripheral role in our cities. Its properties of climate and humidity regulation, its connection with the place where we build and its culturaltraditions have basically vanished through the appearance of other construction techniques and cheap energy in the 20th century. But this story seems to have an inflection point. The 27th World Congress of Architects UIA2021RIO brought strong voices advocating for a different kind of architecture – a shift from spectacular architecture to vernacular architecture.

This debate is part of the complementary activities of the UIA2021RIO and intends to stress this discussion further, through the dialogue between prominent international architects, whose work is deeply connected with earthen architecture and biological materials. Martin Rauch and Fernando Minto will share their experience working primarily with earth and earth-based materials in such different contexts as Brazil and Europe.

Facing a dramatically increasing urbanization worldwide and our limited resources, we need to find new ways to design and fabricate buildings. Digitalization and automation, which are still in their infancy in architecture and the construction industry, must play a key role in this field. The research group Digital Building Technologies investigates how to create a more sustainable and more diverse built environment through the combination of computer-aided design methods and digital manufacturing processes such as large-format 3D printing. This webinar will focus on the possibilities of additive manufacturing in the field of concrete construction. Several strategies will be presented in which 3D printing can not only help to use concrete more efficiently but also to fabricate complex and customized designs. Finally, the webinar will present a vision of a radically digitalized process from design to fabrication in architecture towards a digital building culture.

Join us online as we explore the photography of Chilean photographer Isabel Fernandez from her Copperbrdige Foundation residence at Perla Blanca in Brazil. The beautiful sleepy beach and fisherman village served as a subject for this exhibit titled “Castaways”.

Isabel and fellow renowned photographer Maggie Steber share in a candid conversation about the work and process.