Wednesday 16 September, Studio Flex was at ARCHITECT @ WORK. We have seen many interesting innovations and have gone home wiser. It was a very nice visit, despite the corona measures, it provided us with new knowledge and new insights on design and innovation.
There were presentations from different architects including OMA, studioninedots and Barcode Architects. we went to a presentation given by Barend Koolhaas, where he talked about “Flexible structures”. Here he discussed some of his first projects and how he designed flexibly and the process of how he got it. In one of his first projects, as a student, he was asked to design an outbuilding with six study rooms. By thinking out of the box, he came up with a design in the shape of a flower, where the walls have a round shape and can be moved. By moving all the walls, the building can also be used as a classroom. Most of the time it was used as classroom function. He showed several designs in which, by making a flexible design, you motivate the user to create their own space. He also talked about a few recent projects and his current vision on the construction industry. For example, he said that in the run-up to construction work, various organizations would have to leave to save costs. These costs can then be put into construction in order to realize buildings that contain maximum dimensions and have standard dimensions in order to be able to have multiple functions. In this way, fewer buildings will be demolished in the future and can easily be reused.
There were a lot of innovations to see at the fair. This year’s theme is “future-proof” and that is what all these innovations are about. From façade cladding to innovations for a “smart home”, everything was about bringing products to the market as (sustainable and) smart as possible, with focus on the future. We had many discussions with different manufacturers about the product they were presenting. In this way, you make new contacts that may be useful in the future. The variations in innovations was interesting to experience. For example, you could find innovations for a comfortable indoor climate to improve your health. At the moment this is often seen as a “luxury”, but how will that be in 10 years?
Several exhibitions were on display at the fair. When you walk in, you will see the first exhibition. The “Project wall” was set up by world-architects. There were many different projects by different architects who are members of world-architects. The projects were very different from each other and they are all over the world.
There was also an exhibition called EXHIBIT: FANTASTIC FUTURE by MaterialDistrict. Here it was shown how far you can go with making materials more sustainable and how to apply them. You could feel the materials to learn more about them. There were many different materials that could be used as facade, floor, interior trim, or for furniture and much more.
Next to these exhibitions, there was also an exhibition by DAPh. Where you can see photos of the architectural photographers, focusing on the theme of “future-proof”.
