BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. www.creators.vice.com
https://creators.vice.com/en_uk/article/mgpqvv/how-technology-is-changing-architecture
2. www.medium.com
https://medium.com/@markoshughes/the-relationship-between-architecture-technology-and-
sustainability-a2d622a713b5
3. www.springer.com
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10699-011-9259-2
4. www.studymoose.com
https://studymoose.com/impact-of-technology-on-architecture-essay
5. www.mafana.wordpress.com
https://mafana.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/how-does-technology-impact-architecture/
6. www.architexturez.net
https://architexturez.net/doc/az-cf-168629
7. www.wikipedia.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_technology
ANNOTATIONS:
1. BOOK NAME: Rethinking Technology: A Reader in Architectural Theory
BOOK AUTHOR: Jonathan Hale, William W. Braham
PUBLISHED DATE: 2006
BOOK DESCRIPTION: This book explains how technology is nowadays one of the vehicles to
grasp the possibilities of a meaningful architecture in the contemporary world and provides a
broad picture of the shift from the 'age of tools' to the 'age of systems'. This book contains 50
different essays, manifestoes, reflections and theories by architects and architectural writers
from 1900 to 2004 that explains how architecture and technology are related in the historical
context with the ever increasing pace of technological change.
2. BOOK NAME: Architecture and Technology: A Discontinuous Relation
BOOK AUTHOR: Andrew Benjamin
PUBLISHED DATE: 16 November 2011
BOOK DESCRIPTION: in this book Walter Benjamin tells the first important philosophical
expression of technological advancement by art works in relation to specific techniques of
production and how at the present art and architecture occur within an age defined by the
move from ’technical reproducibility’ to digital reproducibility.
3. BOOK NAME: Architectural Technology: Research and Practice
BOOK AUTHOR: Stephen Emmitt
PUBLISHED DATE: July 2001
BOOK DESCRIPTION: This book is the first publication to specifically address the area of
research, and in particular its relationship with practice, in the discipline of architectural
technology. It provides one of the accepted foundations needed to underpin the emerging
academic discipline, namely a recognized research base. It demonstrates the importance of
research in architectural technology and aims to stimulate further research and debate by
enlightening, informing and challenging readers.
4. BOOK NAME: City Of Bits
BOOK AUTHOR: William J. Mitchell
PUBLISHED DATE: 1995
BOOK DESCRIPTION: In this book, the author, Mitchell appears to have set out to inform
readers of the multitude of Internet-related applications in use or on the way and to introduce
the concept of examining those phenomena in light of an architectural and urban planning
paradigm.
5. BOOK NAME: Architecture, Technology, and Process
BOOK AUTHOR: Chris Able
PUBLISHED DATE: 1999
BOOK DESCRIPTION: In this book, the author states and explains how technological changes are
fundamental changes in architecture and in the way we think about machines and the world we
live in. This book evokes a unique perspective on new developments in architecture and urban
design in Asia Pacific and many other parts of the world and the collaborative work methods
and technologies creating the adaptable design practices of today.
6. BOOK NAME: New Architecture and Technology
BOOK AUTHOR: Gyula Sebestyén
PUBLISHED DATE: -
BOOK DESCRIPTION: This book explore the interrelation between architecture, materials and
technology. It explains how technology and materials effects architecture, exploring the
technical progress of building showing how developments, both past and present, are
influenced by design methods. They influences architecture in a manner that very fewer others
actively did, bringing a new approach to understand the development of design.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. TECHNOLOGY IN ARCHITECTURE:
1.1 Introduction.
1.2 Influence of Technological Progress on Architecture.
1.3 Background; Technology in the Past.
 Roots in the past.
 The limiting factor.
1.4 Technology in Present.
 Freedom of design.
1.5 Technology in the Future.
 Digital Technology.

2. IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON ARCHITECTURE:

2.1 Common Themes due to Architectural Technology.
2.2 Direct Impact of Technology on Architecture.
2.3 Indirect Impact of Technology on Architecture.
2.4 Features of technology.

3. ARCHITECTS AND ARCHITECTURAL TECNOLOGY:

3.1 Joseph Paxton
3.2 Le Corbusier
3.3 Mies Van Der Wohe
3.4 Zaha Hadid
3.5 Frank Gehry

4. CASE STUDY:
4.1 The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
 IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON ARCHITECTURE
ABSTRACT:
As Vitruvius has stated; “Architecture is a science arising out of many sciences and adorned
with much and varied learning”.
“Technology is the collection of techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the
production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific
investigation.”
(SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA.ORG)

“The branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their
interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial
arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.”
(SOURCE: DICTIONARY.COM)

From the beginning of time, technology has an everlasting impact on architecture. In fact it
wouldn’t be wrong if we say that architecture and technology go hand in hand. Technology has
played a big role in shaping the current society and its surroundings. It has affected every
aspects of human life and one of them is space in the field of architecture. As technology
changes, so does the practice of architecture.
Since the early days, architecture is one of the most important needs of man. It provides space
to live and works, an environment for interaction and provoking emotions, as well as a realm
where experiences and memories are created. As technology developed, the meaning of
architecture started to adapt accordingly. Currently, with the creation and development of
building technology, the inventions of cutting-edge and futuristic looking forms and shapes are
possible. New materials and structures are created and evolved everywhere. Using technology
to discover new forms and shapes for architecture in order to reflects the idea for which it was
designed. It has great implication in the creation of space in architecture.
Moreover; technology opens the door to the future, since it a science of building. It is one of
the main essence that shape and changes the way society behaves, as well as transcends the
surrounding to suits the way society lives. Nowadays, the effect of new technology has reached
almost every level of the society, and one of it is modern building technology.
Therefore, this report aims to investigate the impact of technology in architecture. As well as to
argue that the current technology has increased the value of architecture.
 CHAPTER ONE:
TECHNOLOGY IN ARCHITECTURE
INTRODUCTION:
The use of technology to design and construct buildings with respect to their conditions and
situations is considered to be a novel and particular concept in modern architecture. The
accurate and appropriate use of technology can result in the creation of perfect and flawless
buildings. As Stephen Guest, managing principal at RMW Architects and Interiors, says; “There
is no greater influence on building design and office culture today than technology,"
In this report we will discuss how technology and architecture is inter-related to one other and
how one impacts another.

INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS ON ARCHITECTURE:

Technological progress has always influenced the architecture of any period. Without the
utilization of the results of technological development, the architectural requirements of
strength, permanence, beauty, economy and efficiency could not have been secured in
architectural work. Architecture, without technological progress, would have stayed stagnant,
stereotyped and incapable of the many artifices, which impart truth, beauty and goodness to
structures. It is technology that led architecture from simple and pure form to a trend of
homogeneous buildings, which made architecture looks similar with its surroundings.
This progress in the technology had enabled mankind to build not just great buildings, but great
buildings that pushed design forward, decade after decade. Or as Sudjic puts it: “Taken
together, they provide not just an account of the individual histories of a sequence of
remarkable buildings, but an alternative history of the present.”

John Hancock Center, Chicago CCTV building, OMA, Beijing London Design Museum, UK
Technology holds architecture in its grip and every architect has, therefore, to remain abreast
of all technical developments in the matter of design, construction and materials, if he has to
keep himself professionally up-to-date.

TECHNOLOGY IN THE PAST:

Since the early days, when man crawled out of his cave to establish himself on the surface of
this earth, his chief anxiety was to make himself safe by constructing rudimentary shelters of
whatever material that was available close at hand. Therefore his mind, soul and the art of
architecture has developed in response to these needs of his survival and for further
developments. In rocky places he used stone, in forest areas he built with wood and where
neither was available, he used mud. All these primitive dwellings, were in this barbaric age, the
result of their progressing technology and strength.

 Roots in the Past:

Technology has its roots in the past. According to Vitruvius; consistency, beauty and function
are the distinguishing features of architecture. Starting from the Egyptian’s rectangular
architecture, the post and lintel principle, to the pyramids, all these are the historical examples
of the technological progress in architecture.
The great pyramid at Gizeh has been described as the greatest and most accurate structure ever built.
Each of its four sides is almost a perfect equilateral triangle, with its apex 481 feet above the base. This
monument which is more like a mountain of stone would not have been possible, if the Egyptians were
not well up in their knowledge of mensuration and geometry to execute such a huge and accurate
structure confidently.

The Great Pyramid At Gizeh- Egypt

Later on, the Greeks progressed in architecture by refining their techniques in construction as
well as the proportions of design which was further enriched by sculptural decorations.
The achievement of Romans consisted of building cheaply and rapidly on a vast scale. of As
Ruskin has said “The Romans went in for a cheap and easy way of doing that, whose difficulty
was its chief honor”. Without technological development, the architectural requirements of
Romans might have remained unachieved. It should be noted that the real beauty of Roman
architecture lies not merely in their decorated buildings, but, also and mainly, in the
technological and engineering applications they involve, for the achievement of their aims.

Parthenon, Greece Roman Aqueduct, France Colosseum, Rome-Italy

Civilizations considered the utilization of technology and useful developments as essential and
critical. Islamic architecture has emphasized the sensible and appropriate application of
modern technologies since architecture depends on time and should represent its own
peculiarities; this is regarded as a justification for the dependency between architecture and
technology.

 The Limiting Factor:

Technology has always influenced building forms. But in history there has always been a
limiting factor. To the Greeks, the stone lintel was the limiting factor; to the Romans—the arch;
of the Gothic period, the pointed arch,—the ribbed vault, and flying buttress are well known.
The renaissance period, although it presents many magnificent examples of architecture,
cannot be said to measure any advance in architectural expression except in so far as dome
technology was concerned.
TECHNOLOGY IN PRESENT:
There is a saying that necessity is the mother of invention. By the introduction of cast iron and
later on of rolled steel to meet new needs, the nineteenth century was placed on a plane of
equality with the great structural periods of the past. Joseph Paxton, in his crystal palace built in
the year 1851, showed how iron framing and sheets of glass could produce a marvel of airy
grace and speciousness by the use of factory-produced building components.
And now the concept of prefabricated building components such as beams, columns, wall
panels, etc., is changing the whole nature of building construction. It is merely a question of
time that these ready-made structures will bring a revolution in architectural design and
construction.

Sydney Opera House, Australia Burj al-Arab, Dubai Eiffel Tower, Paris

Thus the development and rapid progress of technology have given very useful tools, in the
hands of the architects, for bringing out the beauties latent in the nature of the materials, and
for enhancing the aesthetic value of his structures, with economy.
 Freedom of design:
Today an architect has a feeling of much greater freedom in planning. He is no more tied down
to the location of load bearing walls, and walls upon walls to carry the floors and roofs which
obviously restrict the size of enclosures and freedom in planning. The means of dividing the
space can be light and portable, the windows can run from floor to ceiling to throw light to
greater depth and to cut out glare.
Thus in a modern building the various
functions can be performed without
interference to one another, with greater
overall economy and efficiency.
TECHNOLOGY IN THE FUTURE:
As technology has advanced towards a new stage, which is the modern building technology, the
nature and value of architecture started to shift and adapt as well. The birth of modern
technology is as the result of architects using experimental science and engineering theory and
tools to inform the form and construction of their buildings.
Previously form and structures of buildings were relied strongly on the knowledge of the
craftsman or builder. This development has begun to revolutionize architecture into an entirely
new direction. Through this modern building technology, architects and designers are provided
with a new range of materials and tools to achieve and satisfy their hunger for more advanced
forms. Previously, the architectural form of each location has their own unique characteristics.
The rapid spread of population in the last hundred and fifty years, together with the
development of vehicular transport, has created the necessity for tall multistoried buildings and
sky scrapers. These engineering feats, which compel respect, are structurally so light and
delicate and yet are so strong and aspiring. These could not have been designed and executed,
without the advance in the field of structural engineering and foundation engineering, which
arc the products of modern technological development.

As the city becomes more technological, architecture will become more essential. Technologies
are growing as part of the functioning of cities.
The attitude of embracing technology is the easiest way to deal with the challenges of the ever-
increasing importance of technology in building. By promoting technology, the architect can
hope to raise attention with the client´s otherwise economic, functional, and structural
considerations. Addressing artistic issues as technical ones promises greater success than
insisting on artistic integrity.

 Digital Technology In Architecture:

The digital design technology has facilitated the representation of the design and architectural
drawing which were accomplished manually before providing these means. However, the major
effect of this technology was on the design process itself. Nowadays, most of the architectures
use programs not only to develop ideas but also to draw and represent them. These programs
can coordinate between several data and different types of information with which the
program is provided to form streamlined and regular shapes without defining specific functions
of them. This allows creating organic and dynamic in a precise and organized way, which helps
in transferring these ideas from the architect’s imagination to reality.
 CHAPTER 2:
IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON ARCHITECTURE:
As time goes on, places that people used has became more diversed, sophisticated and
complexed which made architecture consistently changing as well. Not only materials that has
evolved, functions and tools to build each building have advanced as well. Similarly, the form,
material, tools and function of the architecture evolves because of the resources that is
available in the environment. The needs for stronger materials to create shelter and better
materials to craft the atmosphere for different functions has made the tool or building
technology to advance too. Thus they both are co-dependent on each other, leaving an
everlasting impact on the development of the world.

DIRECT IMPACTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON ARCHITECTURE:

 With the creation and development of new building materials and technologies, the
inventions of cutting-edge and futuristic looking forms and shapes are possible. New
materials and structures are evolved and manufactured everywhere. These advancements
have made architects trying to work out and explore the possibility of how these new
materials can be used to elaborate and create new structures for buildings.
 Buildings with big outfalls and with delighted and flexible spaces, which can be adjusted
with the user’s needs are considered as the positive effects of technology on architecture.
 With the help of technology, human are able to generates unique experience which would
enriched the physical and psychological sensory in an architecture.
 With modern building technology, transportation of materials from one location to another
location has become possible, the ability of mass production has lowered the cost of
construction, and computer software has accelerated the time to finish the drawing or
design of a building.
 Back then, buildings are limited with height. Mainly it is because of the limitation of
materials and tools that caused architects and designers to think and design horizontally.
But with modern building technology, current buildings are able to go higher becoming a
skyscraper or go deeper underground, maybe becoming an earth scraper, and not only
going vertically, it also allows the buildings to be built diagonally.
 From geometric to organic form or from masses to pixels, current technology makes
everything possible.
 The use of pre-stressed concrete is making all structures lighter, with equal strength and,
therefore, much more economical and pleasing.
These developments have made the process of realizing architecture become more efficient
and effective in every layer, either it is the time span to complete, the construction, the
planning of the project, the creation of the building's form or even the innovation of new and
better materials is continually increasing.
INDIRECT IMPACTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON ARCHITECTURE:
Today we are witnesses that the idea of architectural project is not the same as it was during
the Renaissance, the Baroque or even 20 years ago. We are now in the Digital Age where
architects, we find a new way to represent, express, generate and construct buildings through
digital information.
 The utilization of computers in architecture has created the concept of beyond the two-
dimension in the minds of numerous people. The photos which can be produced from
computer applications such as Auto cad, 3Dmax, Revit, Photoshop and etc., are able to
demonstrate and simulate the design of the spaces of any kind of structure before they are
constructed.
 Digital Technology allows complex calculation, a variety of complex forms to be created
with great ease using computer algorithms and increasing the possibilities in architecture
design, rather than simply production.
 Digital Technologies are enabling a relation between what can be designed and what can be
built, also they enable a real image for the building before it is actually built.
 Moreover, modern building technology is being used for visualizing and selling the ideas
that the clients wants.
For example 3 dimensional simulation software that are able to produce photo realistic images
of the building even though it has not being constructed yet. Architecture has entered into a
realm of visual form which is nothing more or less than the creation of building's tangible and
visible shapes.

FEATURES OF TECHNOLOGY:
 It is an instrument for changing the environmental and surrounding circumstances.
 It is a device for transforming the natural resources into useful objects and artifacts.
 It can be regarded as a source for generating prosperity for the human beings.
 It can be considered as a factor for making social changes.
 It is a factor for causing intentional and planned effects on the process of development.
 CHAPTER 3:
ARCHITECTS AND ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY:
Until early 19th century, when modern building technology was discovered. Very few architects
were able to incorporate their design with it. This technology allowed iron to be used in
architecture because it has become relatively cheaper. Moreover, because of its properties, it
can be used for free-form designs.
In this period, glass has also been widely used and available. The architects or designers has the
power to controls light which creates an illusion that the building are able to change, move and
create certain atmosphere. And for architect light is one of the powerful tools in crafting
experience in architecture.
Progressing to the late 19th century, concrete is being reinforced with iron or steel in order to
increase the strength of tension and to minimize cracking problem. Because of these special
properties, reinforced concrete is still one of the most popular materials that are being used.
In the 1960s, technology has reached such an unprecedented and unforeseen development
that almost any type of innovative and audacious designs can be operationalized. The
developments of technology should not be limited to the structure of the constructions; rather,
the effect of technology in architecture is evident in almost any aspect of industrial productions
which can be applied and used in architecture
In 20th century, plastics became widely known and popular as well. It is because plastics are
lightweight, resilient, generally resistant to corrosion and moisture, and can be molded and
formed into complex shapes. And because it is the only man-made material, this allowed it to
be developed even more in the future. This development has opened the door for architects
and designers to realize all the unrealized ideas that they had in mind.

COMMON THEMES DUE TO ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY:

 The notion that ” form follows function,” a dictum originally expressed by Frank Lloyd
Wright’s early mentor Louis Sullivan, meaning that the result of design should derive
directly from its purpose.
 Simplicity and clarity of forms and elimination of “unnecessary detail”.
 Visual expression of structure (as opposed to the hiding of structural elements)
 The related concept of “truth to materials,” meaning that the true nature or natural
appearance of a material ought to be seen rather than concealed or altered to represent
something else.
 Use of industrially produced materials.
 Adoption of the machine aesthetic, particularly in International Style modernism.
 A visual emphasis on horizontal and vertical lines.
Thus as time went, many architects became more and more drawn towards technology. Around
1900 a number of architects and designers around the world began developing new solutions
to integrate traditional precedents (classicism or Gothic, for instance) with new technological
possibilities. Some of the early architects that used modern building technology are:

JOSEPH PAXTON:
One of the architecture that reflects a building of
high technology in early 19th century is the Joseph
Paxton's Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition. Built
in 1851 in London, this building was made of
modular cast iron and glass which symbolized the
industrial, technological and economic superiority
of the modern building technology.
It was a remarkable construction of prefabricated
parts. It consisted of an intricate network of slender
iron rods sustaining walls of clear glass, which
Joseph Paxton made possible only because of the
technological progress of that time.

LE CORBUSIER:
The famous architect Le Corbusier believed in
technology and its effect on architecture and
referred to the house as the life machine. But this
terminology was later argued against him.
His formulation of the "five points" for residential
design, pilotis, free plan, free façade, long
horizontal sliding window, and the roof garden that
restored the ground were embodied in his project
for the Stuttgart Weissenhofsiedlung of 1927 and the Villa Savoye at Poissy, 1929-1931. These
could be thought to represent a transposition to architecture of the engineer's aesthetic and
the products of the new modern construction technology that Le Corbusier had so long
admired to at least the basic structural frame for living.

MIES VAN DER ROHE:

Mies Van Der Rohe had indeed a passionate interest in modern architecture. Though he was
considered as a reticent and taciturn architect, he highlighted the significance of technology on
architecture. He believed that the only way towards the development and advancement of
architecture was through technology. Mies strongly argued that the value and merit of
technology is in the novelty and innovation of it.
However, at the time of Mies, technology was not
highly developed. According to the current
standards of technology which Mies used was the
relationship between prop and pillar. In his style of
architecture, props and pillars had the highest
significance. He delicately designed the props and
pillars simplistically and nakedly and put them on
display. Of course, it should be argued that other
qualities which are characteristic of Mies’s
architecture include visible trusses on the ceiling,
visible space frames and large outfalls.
There are many other examples that would display
distinctive attitudes toward technology that formed
a fundamental part of an architectural aesthetic.
Mies Van der Rohe's corner of the Alumni Hall at
Illinois Institute of Technology demonstrates an
insistence to emphasise the materials of the
building's making even though the actual structure
lies behind the brick, mandatory for fire reasons.
The truth of the condition is revealed by allowing
the brick to pass under the steel corner elements, thus conveying their non-structural role.

FRANK GEHRY:
Technology can be very helpful in architecture. For example, Frank Gehry knows how to use
those advantages of technologies and lead us to a new style and a new way of thinking.
For several years, many architects have been famous for being biased towards computers and
excellent in manipulating them to highlight their distinctive design ideas. Frank Jerry career
path has been greatly influenced by the design technology in his career.
The Beekman Tower in New York by Frank
Gehry is an example of technological progress
in the field of architecture. It is a curious fusion
of public and private zones. The main design
feature is the organic form of the building's
facade which is made of aluminum foil. The
organic folds evoke the sense of water ripples.
And the effects of ripples are being enhanced
more on the daytime because of the natural
light. This building is surely a successful design
and appealing to one of human senses.
ZAHA HADID:
Another example is, Zaha Hadid who has been very famous for her designs which gained
international acknowledgement and appreciation, and at an early stage of her professional
career, she could not use the computer in her designs as modern design software was not
available at that time. Zaha Hadid was expressing her ideas through drawings and works of art.
However, by developing design software and the possibility of its use in the design process, she
has been able to represent her designs more realistically through digital solids. This has enabled
her to transform her paintings into architectural designs including schemes, sections, and all of
the engineering drawings required for construction.

CONCLUSION:
Architecture is an internally ordered world. Its elements take on meaning in relation to one
another and to the environment, both natural and architectural, in which they are located.
Language has as its primary aim to convey meaning. Like language, architecture has the
capacity to define new ideas and to convey new meanings, but it also accumulates bits and
structures of older languages that have unpredictable connotations when reused. Most
architects are aware of this, and it affects the aesthetic attitudes that many architects and their
clients have toward technology, and that arguably have driven the making of architectural
form.
 CHAPTER 4:
CASE STUDY:
THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM BILBAO:
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao building represents a magnificent example of the most
groundbreaking architecture of the 20th century. The Museum represents an architectural
landmark of innovative design and technological progress of the 21st century. Gehry used all
three technology types for this structure, such as digital tech, material tech, and construction tech.

The computer has enabled Gehry to generate formal and spatial complexity that would have
been inconceivable only a few years
ago. Due to the mathematical
complexity of Gehry's design, he
decided to work with an advanced
software initially conceived for the
aerospace industry, CATIA, to
faithfully translate his concept to the
structure and to help construction.
For the outer skin of the building, the
architect chose titanium after ruling
out other materials and seeing the
behavior of a titanium sample pinned outside his office. The finish of the approximately 33,000
extremely thin titanium sheets provides a rough and organic effect, adding to the material's
color changes depending on the weather and light conditions. The other two materials used in
the building, limestone and glass, harmonize perfectly, achieving an architectural design with a
great visual impact that has now become a real icon of the city throughout the world.
CONCLUSION:
With regard to the above-mentioned features, we can contend that technology is a means of
survival, organization and development for the community of human beings. As a matter of
fact, technology may have negative as well as positive impacts on the society but the
mainstream policy in the development and application of technology should be to minimize its
negative effects and maximize its positive and useful effects.
Technology is the product of work and thought. In any society in which people are actively
involved and interested in productivity, development and efficiency, they should apply
technology. Since human beings themselves are the creators of technology, they have to
consider the process of developing and utilizing technology.
On the other hand, this modern technology should be applied in harmony with local, temporal,
social, behavioral and in particular cultural circumstances of a region.