To the Micron: A New Architecture Through High-Resolution Multi-Scalar Design and Manufacturing

Rapidly shrinking tolerances and increasing fidelity of emerging additive layer systems are beginning to afford a new opportunity: the ability to design below the macroscopic scale. This is resulting in the engineering of hybrid materials in which every element of their properties can be prescribed at the point of design conception. Richard Beckett of the Digital Manufacturing Centre (DMC), London, and the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, and Sarat Babu of Betatype explore a potential new architecture that encompasses a scalar hierarchy of matter, enabling design to take place concurrently at scales ranging from the micrometre to the metre.