Dream architecture

As building materials and technologies advance, architects are creating new kinds of urban environments. Among the innovations showcased in this book that are contributing to new architectural forms are parametric modeling enabled by computer- aided technology, environmentally friendly building skins, and HOPSCAs – a hybrid building type – that can house hotels, offices, parking, shopping, a convention center, and apartments under one roof. The 'dream' buildings in this book reflect a changing architectural and cultural environment, and the processes that turn these concepts from vision to reality will open a new chapter in architectural history. Many of the architects represented here are addressing themes of developments in structural and material technologies that will allow infinite possibilities in form. Within the new urban landscape of greater complexity, architects must either find appropriate 'new textures' or construct new rules. One imaginative process demonstrated here is the merging of nature and architecture – sometimes through the use of natural forms, and at other times through materials and levels of energy consumption. A related new process, bionics – the application of biological principles to the design of architectural systems – has been used to streamline buildings and simulate nature. Yet another process at work today reflects a continuity with Modernism in architecture in which simple forms as well as traditional materials and construction methods cannot disguise the elegance of their conceptual rigor. This choice leads to two contrasting ways to adapt: to 'exceed' or to 'retreat'. Most of the featured projects in this book embody the method of 'exceeding'. With this approach, architects use height and context to create new urban spectacles. The contrasting strategy is to 'retreat' by creating introverted projects that interject a built form of silence and tranquility into the noise and chaos of the city. We also include examples of comprehensive projects that attempt to reply to the urban question and suggest a future era of 'the monumental building as city'. These immense projects can cover several city blocks in which architects strive to find levels of balance between city and street. By examining the thought processes behind these bold and innovative designs we can formulate some essential questions: how does technology bridge the boundaries between different countries and cultures? Will our cities come to resemble those in science fiction movies? Will the notion of 'form follows environment' be the natural successor to 'form follows function'? Although we can’t answer these questions at present, we hope that merely asking them might provide insights that will shape our views and spur creativity. Xing Rihan is a trained architect and owner of Rihan International Culture Spread Ltd.