Top five hot topics of 2019
The most popular practice pieces on ArchitectureNow this year cover topics from prefabrication to co-housing and more.
These five articles have been our most-read practice pieces of 2019. Their rankings shed light on what issues are increasingly taking centre stage in our conversations: prefabrication, alternative housing models, designing for aged care and emerging technologies are all topics you’ve been most interested in this year. Here’s to continuing the conversation in 2020.
1. Prefabrication: Better, cheaper, faster
Architecture New Zealand editor Chris Barton speaks with three New Zealand firms who are deeply committed to prefabrication and offsite manufacturing. From new materials like cross-laminated timber, to new typologies such as small second-dwellings, these companies are shaking up the traditional building process and hoping for less waste, more housing and affordable options as a result.
2. Co-what?: Alternative housing models
Abigail Hurst explores co-housing, co-living and cooperative housing: essentially, models of property ownership that subvert the norm. She looks at examples from here at home in Aotearoa and overseas where people are sharing the brunt of property ownership and creating communities in the process.
3. Future of Design: The rise of a new design tribe
This series, authored by Mott MacDonald’s Advanced Computational Design Lead Maria Mingallon, has proved popular with each iteration. In the introductory piece, Mingallon explains some different areas of computational design and the ways in which they might help design professionals now and in the future. Mingallon is a great advocate for technology and she deftly explains these tools in easy-to-understand language.
4. Global perspective: Design for ageing
This piece by Simon Bush-King delves into another topic that will become increasingly important as our population ages. Bush-King talks to designers and experts in Sweden and New Zealand for insight into how we can design better communities for older populations. We learn how important design is to combating loneliness and creating a sense of belonging.
5. Bamboo frontier
Kiwi-born architectural designer Richard Morris has found a passion in bamboo construction. Here, he demonstrates how this unique, perhaps unconventional, material is durable and sustainable through his work in Myanmar. “It was a no-brainer moment. Myanmar is a country with an abundant supply of an extraordinary, sustainable building material while also being in urgent need of buildings – particularly schools, decent housing and clinics,” he says.
See also the top five houses of 2019 and the top five commercial projects of the year.
