A super-strong carbon fibre rope means a single lift shaft could soon extend more than a kilometer, effectively doubling the height of today’s tallest buildings such as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai – which stands ...

A Belgian designer is working with smart materials which expand under heat to form any desired shape. This self-construction is possible using a shape memory polyurethane (SMPU), which expands to a preset design at the ...

The ancient art of origami is being revolutionised by an Israeli artist who creates beautifully tessellated objects out of metal, concrete and even cake mix. Materia discusses some of his fabulous, folded works below. Ilan ...

A new public pavilion in London is an interesting experiment in the architecture of materials. It is a stripped down podium of steel and plastic – and nothing else – which sounds elementary but which ...

Herzog & de Meuron have completed an extension to a convention centre in Basel, using sheets of brushed aluminium that transform into beautifully woven façades that look like they can breathe. The texture and visual ...