IX Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2017

It is well known that the world does not stay the same and the sphere of architecture keeps up with the times, creating our modern environment. Scientists constantly discover new internals of the habitual materials and elaborate new ones, which are suitable to the expected standard of safety, ecological properties and aesthetics.

This paper analyzes materials, which extend abilities of architects, engineers, designers all over the world and make building cheaper and simpler, or more complicated, but more enjoyable, adding to modern architectural sphere something fresh and unusual. Steady progress, social advancement force specialists to keep up with the times. Most of product innovations are focused on energy saving and ecological safety. These questions are part of the World Problems, which affect everybody, including architects and designers.

For a start there should be observed the main points of analysis: a description of newest materials (their properties and special features, advantages and disadvantages), comparing with previous analogs (if they exist) and generalizing.

Let`s consider a bright collection of innovations of last decades, which includes covering made of synthesized spider threads, consumer products bio-engineered from discarded shrimp shells, bacteria and others, representing the culmination of years—sometimes decades—of research.

Did you know that habitual materials could amaze you as an innovation?

Concrete is one of the most widely used materials in the world, but at some point, no matter how it is mixed, it will crack and deteriorate. Microbiologist Hendrik Jonker thought about how the body can heal bone through mineralization, he looked into whether a similar method could be used with concrete or not. By mixing it with limestone-producing bacteria, he found that any cracks that formed in the concrete were patched over. The bacteria, named Bacillus pseudofirmus or Sporosarcina pasteurii, are found naturally in highly alkaline lakes near volcanoes, and are able to survive for up to a staggering 200 years without oxygen or food. They are activated when they come into contact with water and then use the calcium lactate as a food source, producing limestone that, as a result, closes up the cracks. The Price of this material is totally reduced considering durability of this one.

The next disadvantage of concrete, apart from cracks, is its opacity. In 2001 this problem was been solved by a Hungarian architect Aronlosonzi by using glass fibers. Transparent concrete is produced by mixing 4% to 5% (by volume) optical fibers in the concrete mixture. This concrete has less weight compared to original one, but it doesn`t lose its durability. Obviously, the main advantage of transparent concrete is that it can transmit light. There, it can be used to make green buildings. Since it can transmit light from natural as well as artificial sources, the building may have fewer lights to meet its demand for lighting. Transparent concrete uses sunlight as source of light instead of electrical energy and reduces power consumption; it can also be used in cold countries to transmit heat with sunlight.

Talking about saving energy, it`s impossible not to mention Solar Activated Façade (SAF), the cladding system that combines wood louvers and back-vented glazing. It has been originally developed by Switzerland-based architect Giuseppe Fent.

SAF is a unique, innovative cladding system angled to deflect the summer sun while inviting the winter sun's radiant energy into an interior.

In winter: deep solar penetration increases the solar impact on the wood-absorber allowing a greater intake of solar energy.

In summer: the high solar incidence angle causes a part of the solar radiation to be reflected off the glass while the rest impacts merely the tips of the wood-absorber.

Solar Activated Façade can be applied in both new and retrofit construction of residential, commercial and public buildings, both single and multy-storied.

Two simple and brilliant ideas also help to save energy and reprocess the waste products producing isolation for structures. The first one is made with grinded waxed pasteboard boxes. It was developed by students of Portland University. This material is almost free because of reworking and more than that amazingly non energy-consuming in production. The main disadvantage of this isolation is fire resistance, but by inventors’ words, it could be solved with, for example, adding in the mass a special component.

The second isolation innovation is wooden foam. This is ecological equivalent of plastic foam which is in full accordance with accepted standards from building to public health. Wooden foam is manufactured of natural wood and gaze. The wood is thoroughly grinded to viscous consistence and later the gaze is added to the mass, reacting with it and turning viscous grinded wood into foam. Later this foam becomes hard, flexible and ready-to-use.

Finally, research continues to bring us closer to tomorrow's plastic. Scientists at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have developed a new bioplastic made of discarded shrimp shells. Using the remarkably tough yet flexible natural chitin, or insect cuticle, Wyss founding director Don Ingber and postdoctoral fellow Javier Fernandez have created thin films with the same structure and composition as chitin. Made with using the processed derivative chitosan from shrimp shells, the new bioplastic matches aluminum in strength at only half the weight. It is also biocompatible, biodegradable, inexpensive, and may be molded to a variety of 3D shapes. The researchers are optimistic about the material's ability to replace fossil fuel–based plastics in consumer and medical applications. This is critical giving the proliferation of non-biodegradable plastic waste discarded every year, much of which is polluting the world's oceans.

In general, the materials which have been mentioned above are excellent examples of scientist`s labor products, environmental care and people`s ingenuity. Undoubtedly, each of this innovation couldn`t be habitual for most of architects and designers, but furthermore it gives our society more than just new appearances of structures, it gives us abilities to make our environment more comfortable and less harmful to nature and people`s health.

The list of literature:

1. Davis J. Service, Self-healing concrete repairs its own cracks,

Available at: http://www.iflscience.com/chemistry/self-healing-concrete-repairs-its-own-cracks/ (accessed 20 October 2016);

1. The Constructor - Civil Engineering Home, Transparent (Light transmitting) concrete,

Available at: http://theconstructor.org/concrete/transparent-concrete-light-transmitting-concrete/9271/ (accessed 11 October2016);

1. The journal of the American institute of architects, Brownell B., Five cutting-edge materials to watch in 2016,

Available at: http://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/five-cutting-edge-architectural-materials-to-watch-in-2016 (accessed 1 October 2016);

1. SAF – Solar Activated façade, What is SAF?

Available at: http://www.saf-usa.com/index.php/description (accessed 20 October 2016)

1. Building internet-portal

Available at: http://www.klag.ru/newteh/detail.php?ID=31019 (accessed 20 October 2016)

1. Building internet-portal

Available at: http://www.klag.ru/newteh/detail.php?ID=32838 (accessed 20 October 2016)

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