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I wonder if it is possible to design buildings that are made to be changed and improved on without having to use jackhammers and raise a ton of dust. Same for t

I wonder if it is possible to design buildings that are made to be changed and improved on without having to use jackhammers and raise a ton of dust. Same for the streets - have modern stone pavement that is rearranged when you need to dig under the street. There is a lot to be improved in construction - it is horrible for the environment, a lot of the buildings don't last, labor productivity has grown more slowly compared to other industries or even fallen.

jessmartin 4y ago
Christopher Alexander theorized about this in a great short article entitled Specifications for an Organic and Human Building System: http://worrydream.com/refs/Alexander%20and%20Jacobson%20-%20Specifications%20for%20an%20Organic%20and%20Human%20Building%20System.pdf http://worrydream.com/refs/Alexander%20and%20Jacobson%20-%20... His key attributes: 1. A common pattern language 2. User design 3. Repair and piecemeal growth 4. A human-scale building system
syntheweave 4y ago
With respect to the architecture there are many attempts at addressing slow and error-prone builds with modular or 3D print methods. The savings is not a clear win in all cases, however - it's not at the disruptive level we'd want(yet). There are also some material innovations taking place that ease the involved costs. Graphene has become available enough to be used in concrete mixtures for a substantial strength/weight improvement which can reduce material usage. On the streets, the big change going forward will be AVs and micromobility(e-bike, e-scooter etc.) - right now most cities are not Amsterdam, because they're locked in on the idea of providing space mostly for heavy vehicles that are unused 95% of the time; once you add AV rentals to the mix, it becomes substantially easier to cut down the size of the fleet, both in a vehicle dimensions sense and number of vehicles. This in turn makes it easier to use the lightest vehicles safely, so the streets will wear down much less quickly, even with no change in the builds themselves.

jessmartin 4y ago

Christopher Alexander theorized about this in a great short article entitled Specifications for an Organic and Human Building System: http://worrydream.com/refs/Alexander%20and%20Jacobson%20-%20Specifications%20for%20an%20Organic%20and%20Human%20Building%20System.pdf http://worrydream.com/refs/Alexander%20and%20Jacobson%20-%20... His key attributes: 1. A common pattern language 2. User design 3. Repair and piecemeal growth 4. A human-scale building system

syntheweave 4y ago

With respect to the architecture there are many attempts at addressing slow and error-prone builds with modular or 3D print methods. The savings is not a clear win in all cases, however - it's not at the disruptive level we'd want(yet). There are also some material innovations taking place that ease the involved costs. Graphene has become available enough to be used in concrete mixtures for a substantial strength/weight improvement which can reduce material usage. On the streets, the big change going forward will be AVs and micromobility(e-bike, e-scooter etc.) - right now most cities are not Amsterdam, because they're locked in on the idea of providing space mostly for heavy vehicles that are unused 95% of the time; once you add AV rentals to the mix, it becomes substantially easier to cut down the size of the fleet, both in a vehicle dimensions sense and number of vehicles. This in turn makes it easier to use the lightest vehicles safely, so the streets will wear down much less quickly, even with no change in the builds themselves.