“Living” Concrete Made From Bacteria

Developed by researchers at the University of Colorado, a new concrete alternative could provide a carbon-free option for buildings in remote places—where lugging traditional concrete ingredients proves difficult. Only two components—photosynthetic bacteria and gelatin—make up this “living” concrete. Due to its photosynthetic nature, it starts off green before drying into a brown hue. Perhaps most impressive of all, the concrete can regenerate: “When half of …

Biodiversity Heritage Library’s Immense Free Image Archive

A collection of images, diagrams, sketches and research surveys believed to be “the world’s largest open access digital archive dedicated to life on Earth,” the Biodiversity Heritage Library is comprised of over 55 million pages of literature. The library (with ephemera dating back to the 15th century) has made over 150,000 illustrations from their collection available for free, high-resolution download. There are also a number …

Lisbon Triennale Surveys Ornament in Architecture

The theme for this year’s Lisbon Triennale—”The Poetics of Reason”—poses the question of whether or not ornament is integral to architecture. Positioning photographs and up-close sculptural renderings of classical Victorian structures and their decorations alongside an international assortment of patterns, prints, decorations and furniture, the curators encourage visitors to understand architecture and ornament as two separate entities. The former is rooted in reason, while the …