If the goals of the Paris Agreement for decarbonisation and energy transition are to be met, future cities, at the very least, will have to be rebuilt based on new sustainable materials and methods that reduce their material footprint. Basic procedures will include the regeneration of systems and infrastructures to maximise the reuse and circularity of resources, as well as the optimisation of energy flows and the networks that depend on them, from mobility to food supplies. The new architectural materiality also includes logistics, microbiology and technology.

Many of the contemporary city’s conflicts actually arise from intangible fields or transcend our senses. The new technologies and applications aiming to make smart cities are creating new uses and connections to urban space that are changing the fabric and even materiality of the streets themselves going beyond the capacity of current regulations – and their speed of transformation – to regulate them. From applications for home-deliveries of food to applications for sexual contacts, from car-sharing to fast-delivery e-commerce. Many of the city’s contemporary problems can be found in intangible aspects which architecture is constantly turning into material issues. From the air-quality crisis to noise and light pollution, how do we react architecturally in this measured and enhanced city?