Foundations 19 – Infrastructure Space

The participants investigated the traditional relationship between design and technology, and they considered new ways to link the two. What is a smart city? And how would it interact with its envi- ronment? How can the aesthetics of technology be used? In his summary, Georges Teyssot stated that current developments in technology are becoming increasingly important in buildings and in time will probably become as important as the architec- ture itself. The workshop participants also dealt intensively with the mistakes of the past. “Sometimes we deny our failures; society would rather look the other way,” Teyssot stated. “But we have to face our failures.” And the fear of disaster is important because it can spur change. Georges Teyssot also referred to some particularly interesting presentations on elements of infrastructure, for instance windows or climate control systems that use completely new approaches. Many new technologies are extremely well suited to the needs of users. But therein lie new challenges, because “comfort can be very boring.” Thus there remains much to discuss at the interface between infrastructure and design. But what does interface mean? “Our conclusion could be: Infrastructure and architecture will soon be one and the same,” said Georges Teyssot. “They will form a new unit. The future will therefore be very interesting.”

How does Infrastructure Space affect the building materials industry? “Buildings have always been for humans. So the complexity of life has to be reflected in the way architects build and also in the way industry develops.” Laurent Stalder, Professor of Theory of Architecture at the ETH Zurich

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