Tradition Revised

Throughout the history of architecture, the application of materials has played a very important role in the design process of a building. Some architects think of materials at the very first stages of conceptual design and others wait until the final part to decide on the architectural palette of the project. Architecture has always been linked to society in a strong way since it is the only activity where users actually experience the product in three dimensions. Materiality, form, rhythm, balance, scale, proportion and spatial perception are some of the elements that are perceived by the user and this experience causes reactions and conclusions.

Earlier Architecture and Construction were based on practical experience, but several factors such as structural analysis and design, information, telecommunication, technology, etc, have improved building materials and design processes. Several of these affect the architectural appearance of buildings, although not all changes in architecture can be explained by technical progress. So what are the advantages of using new materials against traditional materials?, Is there more merit in handcrafting a brick instead of fabricating it with a CNC machine?

We find ourselves in a point where most of this releases as good or innovative as they may be, are not available for most countries, we also find that traditional materials are being processed, revised and reconsidered in order to make them more efficient, technology is giving way to benefit this processes. Are the new computer-based design techniques and the new designs leaning towards a complete new architecture that requires new materials for its development?
Parallel to the progress in materials sciences, the technology of construction and manufacturing of building materials have also evolved tremendously. The different architectural styles have been developed by a sum or technical development and ideas or architects. The ambition or architects along with the requirements of the clients, has provoked a technological development as in terms of design as in materials for construction.

Traditional materials such as timber and bricks along with 19TH century materials such as concrete (as we know it today, because a similar mixture named lime mortar had been used from the 4000 b.C.century) find their application in new architecture. As a matter of fact such materials are much favored by individual architects and some groups or architects. Traditional materials have been perfected: new types and composites of materials developed.

The so called new architecture, complex geometries and material evolution do not exclude the conventional material that has been used forever in construction, such as concrete, timber and bricks. The research has addition new components, new processes that evolved the way in which this materials has been used in the last years.