In establishing a new research lab, PLP Architecture seeks to respond to emerging technologies and expand the remit of architecture, says partner Midori Ainoura
PLP Labs is an extension of PLP Architecture, a 10-year-old practice which has a mission to investigate how emerging technologies and shifts in cultural practice can combine to establish novel forms of architecture and new kinds of experiences.
Since our inception, we have been fortunate to work on innovative buildings such as the Edge in Amsterdam – one of the greenest office buildings and, according to Bloomberg, the smartest building in the world – and Oakwood Tower, an all-timber super-high-rise poised to radically transform our relationship with nature in the city. The common ground underpinning these projects is an effort to expand the repertoire of problems to which an architectural intelligence can be applied. As a result of this work, we are increasingly asked to undertake projects that go beyond a conventional architectural remit.
Devised by PLP Labs with Swedish state-owned research institute RISE and LogistikCentrum, ‘NuMo’ is an urban mobility protocol supporting on-demand, emission-free and autonomous mass transit. A research report published in March models its application in Gothenburg and Stockholm, and extends the concept to London and New York. It can be read here
A recurring type of project for us is to explore new strategies for future cities and buildings which anticipate needs and social habits enabled by emerging technology. In order to respond to such a task, we first need to rethink the role of the architect beyond that of a designer to that of a mediator between the unprecedented speed of technological and digital change and the comparative slow pace of urban development.
This is why we have recently set up PLP Labs, a design research collaborative at the intersection of technology culture and space. PLP Labs looks specifically at as-yet unexplored territories of the built environment to propose new scenarios that add social, environmental and financial value. The intention is that the Labs serves the practice’s architectural and urban work, as well as external clients which require the kind of services that an architect does not traditionally provide.
Our ambition is to develop concepts and technologies that anticipate progressive policies as well as commercial opportunities”
Our ambition is to develop concepts and technologies that anticipate progressive policies as well as commercial opportunities, that propose intelligent models of organisation which balance individual need with social and ethical motivations, and that make the built environment more integrated with emerging technologies, more user-conscious and better equipped to fight climate change.
An ongoing body of work looks at the role of mobility in the contemporary metropolis. For example, SkyPod is a new concept for vertical transportation which could revolutionise skyscraper design, reducing the need for space-inefficient elevator shafts and allowing previously unimaginable buildings to be built. Another project is CarTube, an urban transport system based on a fusion of two technologies – mass transit and autonomous vehicles – that might radically reinvent the nature of public realm in the city.
We also aim to make cities more inclusive by increasing the number of voices imagining new urban realities. To this end, we are collaborating with experts from across a wide spectrum of disciplines to offer an expanded range of knowledge-based services. For each assignment we assemble a team of specialists experts around the Labs team, such as neuroscientists, social and data scientists and tech companies. This cross-pollination will allow PLP Labs to address new urban, human and digital frontiers so we can dig deeper into the pressing issues affecting our lives.
