Visionary architecture: a single city for the entire world’s population
Imagination is one of the sources from which, as a creative profession, architecture draws its nourishment. Precisely, one of the latest proposals with the greatest dose of imagination has caught our attention: Planet City. It is a visionary idea rather than a project, mixing fiction and reality or, more precisely, science fiction and architecture. Los Angeles-based Australian architect Liam Young proposes a Copernican twist in urban planning and architecture: a single city to house the entire world’s population. This is the part of the imagination, or science fiction, whilst the part of reality is provided by the challenges of deforestation, species extinction and climate change facing the world today, to which he intends to [...]
Trends in architecture for a new decade
Advances in technology, together with population growth and the fight against climate change, are factors that will shape the development of architecture and construction in coming years.
The world’s tallest hybrid tower (+video)
A hybrid tower project that gathers up the past of the city of Sydney and projects it towards a sustainable future.
The UN plans for 83 trillions euros to be used in sustainable infrastructures until 2030.
"The world needs to intensify its efforts (...) to contain climate change in the magnitudes dictated by science —as much as 1.5º Celsius— ", said the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, during the opening of the Climate Action Summit, held in New York last September. "The road we are taking at this moment faces a global warming of at least 3º Celsius by the end of the century," he added, and concluded: "This is not a Climate Negotiation Summit; you cannot negotiate with nature; This is a Climate Action Summit». About 2,000 cities were represented among the main actors of [...]
The Saudi crown prince plans a landmark city in technology and innovation.
Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, plans to create an artificial city of 26,000 square kilometres in the Gulf of Aqaba, adjacent to the Red Sea and near the commercial routes of the Suez Canal. Amongst his plans is the idea of using the latest technologies and inventing those that do not yet exist, as well as relying exclusively upon renewable energy, in a project that aims to be a world reference in the field. "A place for the dreamers of the world," he said in the 2017 presentation speech. In this fantasy city called Neom, a name [...]
Microsoft Hologram.
Microsoft has created a hologram that transforms someone into a digital person who speaks another language. The software magnate presented its new technology during a Microsoft partner conference in Las Vegas. Using a combination of voice and body capture technologies, Azure AI and HoloLens, Microsoft created an almost photorealist hologram of executive Julia White. It then made the hologram give a speech in Japanese, a language that the real person is unable to speak.
New technologies to create personalised experiences.
Today, customers want establishments to anticipate their every need, in order to meet their requirements and enjoy a perfect stay. With new technologies, the actors in the sector can offer personalized and original experiences to attract and retain customers. To convert a basic stay into a dream one, actors can implement effective strategies with innovative digital tools. Augmented / virtual reality and connected objects offer, for example, virtual visits to hotel rooms to help potential guests choose accommodation. Many hoteliers use augmented reality to attract customers. It’s a way to publicize the services of the hotel through a sensory experience. [...]
Smart rooms at the service of customer experience
Nowadays, travellers seek new technologies and new experiences. Hotel companies know this and they should act to satisfy this demand. As such, smart hotels have become a priority for hoteliers. Actually, smart rooms have many functions that allow hotels to be more efficient. They allow costs to be reduced in terms of water and electricity consumption, and avoid personnel carrying out too many mechanical tasks. Currently, designing or renovating a room is not just about design and colours. In fact, transforming a room is about implementing new technological equipment; adjusting the lighting with several options to create a personalised ambience, [...]
MIT creates a new material that grows, strengthens and self-repairs with CO2
Engineers at MIT have created a material that grows, strengthens and self-repairs by extracting carbon dioxide, through a process similar to the way that plants incorporate carbon dioxide into their growth tissues. It is a polymer material that, should there be an imperfection or superficial crack, would self-repair the affected area just with the presence of the surrounding air and solar light or some type of interior illumination. This is a completely new concept in material science, that not only avoids the use of fossil fuels to create it, but it also has great benefits for the environment and climate, [...]
Technologies at the service of the client experience in the hotel industry
With the rise of new technologies, customer expectations continue to grow. Consumers are increasingly demanding, especially in regards to quality of service. Those involved in the sector have to confront this trend and hotel technology is developing at an incessant rate throughout the world. In fact, in this sector, customer experience is the key to success and new technologies are an inevitable way to meet consumer needs. This phenomenon is due to the change in customer behaviour and the emergence of new profiles. As a generation born between 1980 and 2000, Millennials grew up with new technologies and have a [...]
