Does hyperdensity pose a risk to mental health?
Researchers at Waterloo University use VR to test how dense environments affect mood
How can we live like this? The limits of urban density
By 2050, the urban population will almost double to 6.3 billion. Cities must accommodate 77 million new residents each year
Inconvenient Truths: Who Builds Your Architecture?
As construction becomes increasingly global, a coalition of New York-based designers and educators has formed to ask one urgent question …
Earthquakes: The Enemy Below
Governments and policymakers are in danger of ignoring one of the biggest threats to the built environment — and to human life, writes Alex Copley
The Possible issue 02: why do we do what we do?
This issue considers a vital question for anyone involved in designing and building cities
Plato for Plumbers: Philosophy and Engineering
In his award-winning essay for New Philosopher magazine, WSP’s Mark Bessoudo explains why engineers should read more philosophy.
Urban Capacity: How To Measure A Buzz
The new economy will flock to areas of high “urban capacity”. Teemu Jama and Tuija Pakkanen explain what it is and how to calculate it
Team Angst
We are all taught to believe in the power of collaboration, but what really drives the relationships that create our built environment?
The Future of Shopping Districts
The internet has transformed the world of retail. But commercial centres still have a vital role to play as we move towards an “Experience economy”
Alder Hey: Anatomy of a Modular Hospital
How Laing O’Rourke and WSP built a hospital out of 15,000 pre-assembled elements
Serious hardware: 3D printed concrete
Is this the solution to reconciling mass-production and creative architecture?
Early Riser: La Trobe Tower
Melbourne contractor Hickory’s 44-storey tower was completed in just 16 months
Ron Slade on “thinking diagonally”
An engineer’s view of creative problem-solving
Jean-Paul Viguier: “Creativity Happens When You Do Nothing”
The Paris architect on what helps him to think
Systems medicine: big data to the rescue?
Analyzing millions of patient records could aid diagnosis — if privacy issues can be overcome
Blank Canvas: Can You Make Construction Weather-Proof?
One problem, three engineers, no constraints
Stacked Up: The Long-Held Dream of Modular Construction
Modular is finally becoming reality, thanks to advances in computer modelling, 3D printing and robotics
The Creativity Enigma
Ping pong tables, pod chairs, beach huts and giant slides — is this really what it takes to make us more creative at work?
The Possible issue 01: welcome to our new magazine
Welcome to our new magazine
Interview with Nicola Farinetti: Waving the Fork for Experience Retail
Italian food purveyor Eataly is recognized as one of the most exciting of a new breed of retailers. But what is it?
Designing Flexibly for the Future of Retail
The defining characteristic of future shopping destinations might be their flexibility
Interview: Professor Heinz Wolff, the Inventor of Bioengineering
Professor Heinz Wolff has now invented an entirely new approach to elderly care — a system that relies on man rather than machine
The Smartest Place I Know: Seattle
Mike Steep, visiting scholar at Stanford Engineering, believes Seattle is the most digital place in the world — so far
Pokemon and Robots: Interactive Retail
Tomorrow’s retail districts will feature a host of interactive technologies, all designed to make the shopping experience more personalized and more compelling
Peak Megacity
Crowded conditions, inflated property prices, public health disasters, low fertility rates — Joel Kotkin asks whether it’s time we gave up on super-sized cities
The New Middle Age
We shouldn’t be building better housing just for the elderly, says Lord Richard Best, but for the not-old-yet who are ready to downsize
Everything Is Networked: Rethinking Broadband
Smarter cities are threatened by broadband monopolies, warns Christian Wictorin. We need to liberate our network infrastructure
Five Myths About Driverless Cars
Lauren Isaac pours sugar in the tank of some of the more common misconceptions
Into The Urban Wild
Nathanael Johnson reveals the world of “synanthropes” — the plants and animals that have evolved to thrive in the city, whether they are welcome or not
Climate Change: How To Stop The Titanic
Knowing the future is the easy part. The real challenge is changing course, writes Susan Krumdieck