Articles by Soledad Sambiasi

Helen Taylor of Woods Bagot and Rachel Cooper of Arup Associates team up to explore how deep basements may be the future of the city as density and population growth result in the need to dig deep as well as build high. Using their current joint project as a case study, they share their experience of building the deepest habitable basement in London and among the deepest in the world. Set to open in 2020, The Londoner will offer 350 rooms, multiple restaurants and lounges, a rooftop bar and underground spa with swimming pool, Odeon cinema, and a 1,000-capacity ballroom. At over 35 meters deep and containing a large percentage of the FOH floor area, the basement presented several challenges that required innovative architectural and engineering solutions from both teams, which are presented in the following interviews with Helen and Rachel.

Lucasz Platkowski, Principal and Design Leader at GENSLER, presents his vision on how the world of work undergoes a tectonic shift, due to advancements in technology such as artificial intelligence and job automation, which are disrupting the already known and tested working models. Our new lifestyles, needs and expectations are shaping the way we work, and this is overwriting the boundaries between workstyle and lifestyle.

Sushant Verma, Co-founder and Design Head at rat[LAB] Studio, told ArchDaily about how computational design is currently being used to push the design industry to a faster pace of adaption of new technologies, which has led to innovations of various scales and types, and how architects and designers need to focus on an in-depth mindset of problem-solving, learning new techniques and methodologies, instead of just focusing on specific technologies. 

By 2050, the world’s population is expected to have exceeded 10 billion people, making overcrowded cities one of the most pressing issues of the present. Data analysis, machine learning, transportation developments, and the rapid development of new social technologies are increasingly changing the needs of people and communities, which will have a direct impact on the issue of overcrowding and on our built environment more largely.