Architecture That Grows And Repairs Itself

“Like any organism [a city] has a circulatory system in his streets, railroads and rivers, a brain in his universities and planning offices, a digestive system in its food distribution and sewage lines, muscles in its industrial centres and any city worthy of the name has an erogenous zone…” — Matthew Dumont, Arthropods

We like to consider the city as an organism but are cities really living? Thanks to new technologies, living architecture and literally sustainable cities may become a reality. Rachel Armstrong collaborates with architects and scientists to explore the use of metabolic materials for the practice of architecture — construction materials that possess some of the properties of living systems, and can be manipulated to ‘grow’ architecture. Still puzzled? This great TED talk puts you in the picture.

Using the protocell technology, Rachel Armstrong hopes to build sustainable cities while connecting them to nature. A growing limestone reef under Venice, Italy, could save the city from sinking and attract local marine ecology. Cities living in harmony with their environment… This should not sound as a breeding ground for Sci-Fi authors or environmentalists. We have the choice, and every discipline can use innovation to create greener cities.

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