Contents:_

_6 _Abstract

_7 _Methods and Methodology

_8 _Fundamentals

_14 _Emergence of Nanotechnology

_15 _Practical Applications

_18 _Fields of Nanotechnology

_23 _Conceptual Projects Using Nanotechnology

_26 _Steps Towards Reality

_28 _Building a Nano Technology

_33 _Conclusion

_36 _Bibliography

2 3
4 5
 _Abstract “Nanotechnology can make a concrete contribution to
the following areas:
With the ever-increasing demand on new building
• Optimization of existing products
developments, how can emerging nano-technologies like
• Damage Protection
molecular assemblers, Nano scale robotics and self-
• Reduction in weight and/or volume
replicating machines make an evolving architecture?
• Reduction in the number of production stages
Over the last few years major developments have been
• A more efficient use of materials
made in the ‘bottom up approach’ to Nano design in both
• Reduced need for maintenance (easy to clean,
mechanical and organic systems although it is suggested
longer cleaning intervals) and/or operational upkeep
that future proposals of architecture look into a unison
And as a direct result:
of cellular based assemblers and mechanical constructs.
• Reduction in the consumption of raw materials
Nano technology is a broad subject that is predicted
and energy and reduced CO2 emissions
to improve efficiency in medical studies, material
• Conservation of resources
construction, material adaptation, computer architecture,
• Greater economy
robotics and organic and mechanical fusion (Kurzweil,
• Comfort”
2005 pp 183). Nano is a scale of measurement denoting a
(El-Sammy, 2008)
factor of 10-9 and the definition of Nano technologies
is a component that deals with dimensions of less than
100 nanometers.
There is already over 300 consumer products
_Methodology
Over the course of this document I will first examine
available that incorporate these technologies to help the theoretical grounding of nanotechnology by Eric
improve the efficiency of older products like self- Drexler (1986) and explore its implications for the
compacting concrete, self cleaning material coatings future in construction. I also consider the views of
(lotus Effect), Easy to clean materials (ETC) and many other scientists and science fiction writers in relation
more. Most of these products are a final addition to to extreme architectural design. There are multiple
ready made products although many pioneering architects sources for this information as it is generic knowledge
James Muir with the University of Technology, Sydney presented by various physicists that has been tried and
is building the ‘Nano House’, (arch.uiuc.edu, 2012). tested continually over the last 36 years.
Plus Peter Testa Architects in Los Angeles with the
Carbon Tower (testawieser.com, 2012), are now looking at
technologies that will employ the bottom up approach to
construct new types of materials molecule by molecule.
Over the course of this document I will unpack and
explore these conceptual ideas and how they will change
the design of architecture and the possibilities for the
“Grey-Goo Principle” (E, Drexler 1986). This scenario
originally presented by Eric Drexler in his book Engines
of Creation (1986) is his interpretation of ecophagy or
“eating the environment”, where the molecular assemblers
that can assemble products in the real world situation
will continue working and/or mutate after they have
completed there task by self-replicating and producing
products continually until they have consumed all the
resources.

Diamond Nano-Tip. The tip has a radius of 10 nm. Credit: William King

6 7
 _Fundamentals
When it comes to assembling materials at a Nano-
scopic scale there are five recognised approaches that
can be used in constructing components:

TOP DOWN:
This works in the same way that many products are
manufactured today, imagine how an ice sculpture works
with a large block of ice to create an elegant carving.
This relies on starting with a large quantity of the
molecules required and breaking away at them layer by
layer until you get the required component. The advantages
of this process is that because it is already used on a
larger scale its process can work on a smaller scale by
using more precise cutting tools, however this method
has only recently made it into nano scale and the CNC
routing required can struggle with complex shapes while
being wasteful with materials that can’t be recycled
back into the process with 100% efficiency.
Tetrapods increasing surface tension of a material Image: Xin Jin

BOTTOM UP:
This is currently the main focus from crowd sourced
research centres as this process has the potential
to build components atom by atom. This will allow us
to create fully customised materials and therefore
customised components of the great efficiency which
will also be a step to meet E.U. rulings over maximising
sustainability A Sustainable Europe for a Better World,
(2001). Bottom-up manufacturing works in the same way
a mechano set does, the process allows you to bond
atoms together in the order that you need so that the
components can be built as small as possible.

FUNCTIONAL APPROACH:
This focuses on producing components of a specific
functionality regardless of the methods used to produce
them, this is useful for molecular scale electronics zinc oxide crystal is shaped like a tetrapod Image: Xin Jin

as well as synthetically chemical methods. This process

has for example been used to create a ‘nano car’ which
is a single molecule with four wheels, designed by Rice
University in 2005.

8 9
 BIOMIMETIC APPROACH:
The use of bio-nanotechnology uses natural techniques
used in nature to produce the required outcome. This
study is used in DNA research that is important to
nanotechnology as I explain later.
The final approach is less refined and is known
as the speculative approach, this considers the
possibilities for future like nano robotics, nano systems
and programmable matter. This category can be expanded
upon as we develop new technologies and increase our
understanding of how forces work at the atomic and Nano-
scopic level.
I will focus more on the bottom up approach, as
this is the basis for molecular assemblers that will
be able to construct components efficiently and quickly
from a resource of basic elements. This is where the
majority of the research has been carried out as
this will develop the framework for developing other
technologies. In architectural terms this would allow
us to develop new designs that don’t have to adhere to
current restrictions of building requirements. We can
develop designs to accommodate new possibilities of
thinner walls, greater spans between supports and many
of more abstracted building designs.
A top down approach is similar to how we work with
materials today and therefore design accordingly. Using
this method in nanotechnology will allow us to improve
the efficiency of our materials however it will not
affect the architectural design and so I will not be
focusing on top down methodologies for this document.
There are two levels of molecular constructors. The
one we are closer to realising is a constructor that
will assemble molecules together that can for example,
assemble molecules of specific materials to grow a
larger structure to a designed system, the other option
has been used in science fiction for many years is a
10
molecular assembler that can custom build materials atom
by atom. This option is still a long way off as this
will allow 100 percent custom materials that will have a
very high atomic precision that can create bonds between
atoms to build molecules. This has also been known as a
replicator in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and
is considered as a 24th century technology that can build
anything with a recorded molecular structure, provided
that it is a stable substance. However it cannot build
a living organism or molecules in a constant state of
flux because of the low resolution.
My main focus for this article will be on the
Nano robotics, the methods of construction and how
this affects the design process used by architects,
to generate new materials, and through this to change
the character of architectural designs. With carbon
nanotubes we can currently reach a tensile strength of
63 GPA which is over 50 times greater than steel with
a theoretical GPA of 300. In architectural terms this
will allow us to produce skyscrapers many times taller
with substantially thinner support beams that can open
up a space creating a better user experience. Another
product of these could potentially increase the average
span of a truss from around 8 meters to over 100 meters.
Buildings would now allow entire floors to be open with
very little support beams allowing unique spaces to
be created with seemingly impossible structural logic
(Min-Feng Yu et al, 2000).
After understanding the tolerances of various
materials and how far we can push them with these kinds
of technologies, I look at conceptual proposals made
by architects, like the ‘nano house’ and ‘carbon tower’
that develop the possibilities of these nano materials.
There are a few architects like John M. Johansen who
have generated a conceptual city that relies on the
11
 of Nanotechnology (IoN) founded in 1997 and funded by
the UK’s National Initiative on Nanotechnology (nano.
org.uk). They work with international universities to
develop all aspects of ‘Nano’, currently there are no
architecture related courses as the focus is currently
on developing the material qualities and molecular
assemblers.
Swarm Architecture is based on a system of assemblers
working together. Within nanotechnology ‘nanobots’ work
together under the control of a central processing in
order to produce a finished building. Nano systems will
be the central part in order for new construction and
material properties to transition into architecture,
using theories in broadcast architecture as well.
This is a solution proposed to prevent the ‘Grey Goo’
principal from occurring by offering commands to bots
individually, limiting their intelligence to what is
required to perform a single task.
A Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) gear train manufactured on silicon. The
larger gear at center is about 80 microns wide. (Institute of Micromachine and
Microfabrication Research at Simon Fraser University)

possibilities of nanotechnology, and looks at the design

entirely differently to the current approach(2005). Some
designs spur towards Ray Kurzweil’s (2005) theories of an
approach to the ‘Singularity’, which is explained as the
point at which we have the technology to combine organic
knowledge into a mechanical form, or the unification of
man and nature.
With multiple projections about how emerging Nano
technologies and swarm architecture will influence
design I will be able to compare and contrast between
these theories trying to understand what will actually
be possible in improving the design within extreme
architectural conditions. The main school in the UK with
varied departments in nanotechnology is the Institute
Film still The Day The Earth Stood Still, 2008.
A swarm of nano robots that are consuming a football stadium to break down and
gather resources to construct new alien structures.

12 13
 _Emergence of NanoTechnology
Nanotechnology is “capable of producing any
chemically stable structure that can be specified”
(R. Feynmann, 1945). This then promoted physicist-
designer William Katavolos to start studying the affect
of Molecular nanotechnology (MNT) in architecture by
imagining the construction of a large floating city.
He could see that with the knowledge of chemical
composition and advanced production methods materials
could be built with specific functions programmed into
them individually (John Johansen, 2002).
New techniques in micro scale visualization allow
us to study molecules that exist at a few billionths
of a meter, the atomic force microscope allows us to
understand the compositions of materials down to their
atomic structure. This is on the nano-scopic scale in
which light waves affect products differently and so
cannot be seen using traditional levels (R. F. Egerton,
2005). It was this technology that allowed us to
develop the bottom up principle from Eric Drexler in
his published book Engines of Creation: The Coming Era
of Nanotechnology, from which he, “took inspiration
from biological systems to predict the engineering of
molecular-scale machines”(R. Armstrong, 2008 p87).
He suggested that mechanical robots could carry out
industrial roles at a nanoscopic level precisely and
quickly. “In biological systems, a bottom up strategy
has been adopted for the hierarchical structuring of
molecules”, (Shimomura, 2001 p12).
Nano scale is currently far more interesting
than kilo, milli, micro, pico and femto because at
this scale molecules act differently and have unique
characteristics that cannot be seen when scaled, these
are called metamaterials.
_Practical Applications
Daimler Chrysler is working with thermoplastics and
manipulating the nanoparticles within the composites to
re-invent parts for the motor industry, he is currently
working on a new material for hardtop cars but it
will allow stronger and lighter parts to replace the
steel and aluminium currently used. However some of the
complications of using materials at their atomic scale
bring forward many problems due to a current uncertainty
with the understanding of quantum physics. The atoms
can change size, colour and properties unexpectedly,
which makes them very hard to work with.
John B Pendry has been working with optics within
plasmonic metamaterials that theoretically allow light
to be transmitted through the skin of a device, which in
science fiction films is known as a ‘cloaking’ device.
If this were to be used on an industrial scale within the
skin of a building it could open up new possibilities
and create light and influential spaces within the dark
crevices of our cities. We would be able to light an
underground bunker with the views of the penthouse suite
by redirecting light naturally without the power hungry
demand on light emitting diodes.

A micro model created in the eye of a needle by Wilard Wigan in Birmingham,

If we can fit a micro model of this detail inside the eye, imagine what the size
of a nano model would be. If we were to write on the inside rim so that each letter
is a few atoms high we could fit the entire British encyclopaedia.

14 15
 For the architectural industry one of the most
intriguing inventions of the 21st century has to be an
11-nanometre rotary motor that consists of a “bacterial
protein and a metallic nanorod”, (C Montemagno, 2006, pp
327-361) powered only by the chemical energy contained
within cells. This unification of mechanical and
bacterial substance enabled the motor to rotate eight
times a second. Originally invented at the University of
Cincinnati has been improved by the Carbon Nanotechnology
Laboratory at the Institute for Nanoscale

Science and Technology, to create a NanoCar powered

by light. I see this device as important for architecture
because it could be manipulated as the new ‘builder’ for
buildings. This device would be the fundamental component
in a bottom-up construction system that could transport
base materials and construct them into architecture in
the millions. Models of Barack Obama, each made with approximately 150 million tiny carbon na-
notubes, are photographed using an electron microscope by University of Michigan
Mechanical Engineering Department (2008)

“Nano-vehicles could ultimately be incorporated

into biological systems to create radically new ways
for manipulating biological materials in architectural
practice” (R. Armstrong, 2008 p88). This ultimately
would enable us to design an environment in which nature
and industry could work in harmony, as I will explain
in the conceptual designs chapter with John M Johansen.

Single Molecule NanoCar 2 by 4 Nanometres

16 17
 _Fields of Nano Technology
Nanotechnologies are often combined into groups
with genetics, nanotechnology and robotics (GNR),
Rachel Armstrong refers to this paradigm as ‘Systems
Architecture’ in Systems Architecture: A New Model For
Sustainability… (2009). Ray Kurzweil writes about GNR
as an overlapping progression of discovery and believes
that we are currently in the early stages of genetics and
still have a long way to go before we can successfully
explain and practically synthesise nanotechnology and
robotics. He explains that the three topics (GNR) will
be three steps and that once we understand the first
(genetics) we will be able to advance our understanding
of nanotechnology and then by compiling both of these
we will be able to control and build robots at the nano
scale.
“Humans will remain ‘second class robots’, meaning
that biology will never be able to match what we will
be able to engineer once we fully understand biology’s
principles of operation” (Kurzweil, 2005 pp 401). The
majority of our understanding of genetics and nano
technology comes from studying animals that have adapted
to survive in unique circumstances. This allows us to
study the different parts of the genetics which can
help us to build a mechanical version with the hope of
adapting and improving these ideas.
By using the information we hope to gain from genetics
we can re-program biological cells to carry out a set
task by broadcasting information to it. Enzymes are
biological machines that already make, break and re-
arrange bonds holding other molecules together with the
DNA as the computer controlling them. This is the basis
of the research into mechanical assemblers.
18
To build a mechanical molecular assembler at a nano
scale it requires a computer (intelligence of the global
aim), instruction architecture (single-agent task to
be carried out each bot), instruction transmission
(broadcasting to each bot), construction robot, robot
arm tip (atomic precision mechanical arm) and energy.
The whole process was originally presented in 1992 by
Eric Drexler as a desktop sized box, although since
then using modern technology to bring the possibilities
up to the cutting edge the process has been updated
by Ralph Merkle, J. Storrs Hall, Forrest Bishop and
Chris Phoenix, as well as many other pioneers that have
developed components or systems that work to improve
the vision. Although there are many speculations about
the possibilities there is believed to be some negative
affects that this technology could have on the economy.
If everyone had access to a desktop manufacturing nano-
factory would the construction industry become limited
to constructing items that can not be assembled by
small components? No one would require factories to mass
produce products as the blueprints could be downloaded
and essentially printed into the product. This could
make architects and designers the only necessary role
within the construction industry but is this theory a
realistic projection (John Burch, 2003)?
The first Nanobot (Single Molecular Assembler) that
has been successfully built is an organic cell that has
had its genetic DNA modified to carry out a single task.
Rachel Armstrong has been studying a field similar to
this with the Protocell which is a cell formed of
a few chemicals without DNA that will carry out a
single task continually (as mentioned in the emergence
of nanotechnology). This unification has brought us the
‘NanoCar’ and other machines less than 5 nanometers
square.
19
 Kurzweil in, The Singularity (2005), represents a
single celled organic nanobot as the nano assembler
that can construct amino acid sequences with an attached
nano computer that will have a wireless connection to a
mainframe that it can receive its tasks from and store
the modified DNA sequences.
‘Broadcast Architecture’ is a key design of
nanobots, (Kurzweil, 2005 pp 176) as this is the way in
which the mainframe computer with the global idea can
upload the specific jobs to individual robots. There
are currently different research fields for this with
the most commonly accepted using a central computer that
would hold the global design schedule, with a wireless
connection to each nanobot being sent each task as it is
required. This way we have total control of the entire
process allowing changes to be made through out the
project. There is also an extra layer of security that
would prevent the nanobots from causing the ‘Grey-Goo’
problem of devouring/reconstructing the planet piece by
piece uncontrollably.
An animation created in 2005 by John Burch and Dr.
Eric Drexler shows a visual representation of a desktop
nano factory. This can be used to produce multiple
components including computers with over a billion CPU’s,
clothes, furniture and even cooked food, providing we
have a structural logic on how it works, to use this
Film Stills From Eric Drexlers NanoFactory Animation (2005)
20
within architecture components can be constructed in a
modular form or using larger assemblers. This focus is
different to creating lots of separate machines as we
always have total control of what can be produced and
so the risks of loosing control of the production are
minimized.
This contained design is much more restrictive than
an army of robots as buildings can be manufactured in
a modular sense like a three-dimensional printer. I
feel this approach is likely to be easier to accomplish
because of the contained operating area, it will work
like a normal micro form factory only using refined tools
that can operate on a nano scale and will not require
building an entire network of self sustaining robots.
Although will not be as useful in extreme architectural
projects because of the ‘desktop’ size limitations as
well as the need assembling components together will
become even more challenging with increased danger on
site.
Nanotechnology in architecture has a large variation
of applications from the simple touching up of building
exteriors by utilising specific materials to get new
and exclusive finishes.
Globalisation plays an important role in nanotechnology
as single companies and research centres can only provide
a certain amount of funding and intelligence to offer
a high level of research. Therefore by utilising modern
communication technology and our early establishment
of globalisation multiple companies can share their
intellect to further improve technologies. This way no
one is wasting time in attempting to develop the same
product, only to further improve other discoveries.
Currently Nanotechnology is one of the most popular
research fields for crowd sourced funding thanks to the
global coverage. It is estimated that the total funding
provided for nanotechnology research in 2005 was 3.8
21
 billion Euros and that it has increased considerably
since then (nano.org.uk, 2012). The main method for
developing new nano technologies is to study how the
living world operates and to find out any problems we
find, that way we can use the mechanical world to find
an answer. Another way is by studying the way nature
works well and trying to replicate it mechanically.
So for example self cleaning windows were developed
from the nano scaled coating on the wings of certain
tropical butterflies or certain high strength light
weight materials have been developed from some creature
shells (Super-Bodies, 2012).
Carbon Tower Proposal 2002 prototype
22
_Conceptual Projects Using
NanoTechnology
One of the key movements that many architects see
in the development of nanotechnology is that soon
buildings will be able to ‘live’ in symbiotic harmony
with nature and so they will both be relying on the
products or sources of the other. This for example
could relate to plants supplying oxygen or other plant
specific matter that Nanobots (molecular assemblers)
could use to construct a tower which in turn could
create new surfaces for the plants to grow on or water
streams to direct vital water to certain parts of the
plants.
John M Johansen is an Architect in America who
studied under Walter Gropius at Harvard and has worked
very closely with physicists to produce a proposal for a
building or self-contained city that has been constructed
in 8 days using only nano technologies. He suggests that
buildings will soon have “phenomenal strength, lightness,
integral structure, seamless continuity of surface,
transparency, and in evolving, growing forms” (Johansen,
2002). His proposal relies on the ‘bottom-up’ approach
to constructing a nanoarchitecture, by programming
molecular assemblers to construct the structure at a
sub atomic level using natural resources giving them
the appearance of a fast and growing architecture.
His designs are suggested to adjust instantaneously
by manipulating the matter like it were a living
organism according to the weather, light, temperature
and humidity as well as the requirements of the people
using the structure. He mainly focuses on a chapel that
will be built at the highest point of the building. In
an animation of this room he shows it off like a flower
with the petals as a cover that will open with the
23
 rising sun and close as the sun sets.
“From the outset, it should be understood that
molecular-engineered buildings are still theoretical
in nature. Though the projects that I have developed
over the past decade are indeed based upon technologies
that, before long, will be realized, the applications of
molecular engineering, architectural included, remain
speculative” (Johansen, 2011).
Nano House is a global initiative funded by the
European Commission. “Activities towards the development
of appropriate solutions for the use, recycling and/or
final treatment of nanotechnology-based products”, is
the proposal put forward to allow companies the chance
to challenge the improvement of housing by utilising the
latest discoveries in Nano technologies. This process
was started in January 2010 and set to run for 42 months
making the finishing deadline June 2013. There are also
similar projects happening around the world, for example
Australia has an initiative including over 50 companies
using nanotechnology within the building process.
Technology has in the past been the trigger of new
NanoStudio PRoject (George Elvin)
24
architectures, from the Bauhaus movement with the merging
of form and function to work by Peter Eisenman and Frank
Ghery with their abstracted forms. These design changes
have all been triggered from the improvements made in
modelling and materiality to create new and exciting
forms. Nano technology could be the next transformation
in design, allowing us to push forms to a new level,
with many cities becoming “transparent and flimsy”,
(M. F. El-Sammy, 2008 pp 75) with large, identical
corporate sky scrappers, a new design technology could
re-introduce an identity and style in architectural
designs.
Nano techniques, as described by most of the architects
and scientists described so far, allow us to generate
custom designs. This will remove the need for companies
to try and match the 21st century corporate image and
instead allow everyone to focus on generating designs
that match the image of the company or individual while
still maintaining the efficiency and productivity of the
site thanks to nano sensors and systems for adjusting
all living conditions to best increase work rate.
Nanostudio, is a project being worked on by George
Elvin, he has conceptually designed generic buildings
that utilise the full potential of carbon nanotubes,
nanosensors and other nano materials. With the nanotubes
having a strength of 100 times stronger than steel, the
entire 5 story office block cantilevers out over the
ground floor, maximising the space that can be utilized.
The second main focus relies on nano-sensors embedded
into the whole building including all the components
and even the potential for them to be apart of the
users. This will allow a generic design to be fully
customised by changing interior colours, light levels,
wall and ceiling opacity instantaneously according to
the individual users (G. Elvin, 2012).
25
 _Steps towards reality technologies, although the minimal coverage could slow
the development of these products or even generate a
Nano tubes are now being developed for use in the
negative affect.
construction industry, recently nanotubes have been used
Further risks include our own health, nano-engineered
as conveyor belts for moving small indium molecules
particles are not found naturally in nature and so
around by applying a small electrical charge to them.
our bodies cannot distinguish from them if inhaled.
“We’re not transporting atoms one at a time anymore —
Therefore some types depending on the program could
it’s more like a hose,” (Chris Regan) Berkeley Lab’s
adversely affect our health and if released into the
Materials Sciences Division. This provides an answer
atmosphere in large quantities could start attacking
to being able to supply molecular assemblers with raw
natural habitats, (M. El-Sammy, 2011). However similar
materials by using the main structure to supply these
risks were presented with the development of motor
materials using only a small electrical charge.
engines, power stations and even mobile phones and the
Nano Architecture risk, something that is often put
necessity for these items have allowed us to develop
after all the promises that nanotechnology promises.
safe ways to use these products. Therefore with the
Are we hiding the potential risk in an attempt to
right promotions and studies into these side affects
speed up the development work and funding funneled into
the benefits could far outweigh the risks.
this area. Science fiction has always been the major
competitor to expose the faults with nanotechnologies.
The Day The Earth Stood Still, 2008. Film. Directed
by Scott Derrickson is a recent critique exposing how
nano robotics could work as a collective to consume all
of our resources and living matter to regenerate new
forms that are designed by the collective conscious of
the robotics and therefore having no functionality or
need for the constructions they are creating. Plus the
additional factor that there are preconceptions that
these robots will be able to self-replicate and build
themselves using the bottom up construction techniques
that are programed into them.
Jane Macoubrie (2005) published a document explaining
how the lack of information on nanotechnology affects
the public opinion and perceptions. This makes it
clear that although may governments are promoting the
technology, it is not clear who is responsible for Forests of nanotubes grown directly from graphene at Rice University are a hy-
maintaining the safety and environmental conditions brid material with a massive surface area

that could potentially be affected. It documents that in

America only 17% of people had heard of nanotechnology.
This is a major factor when it comes to public trust
because people like to make informed choices about new

26 27
 _Building a Nano-Architecture
The way we design our cities is crafted by the methods
we use to visually experience them. In person we can
appreciate architecture and design from the colours we
can see, to the wide viewing angle. But with fabrication
at the nano level our eyes require magnification that
is currently beyond the possibilities of glass optics.
With the new process of ‘two-photon lithography’ which
can print three dimensional models smaller than a single
grain of sand, seeing our designed fabrications requires
a scanning electron microscope. This builds an image
by compiling the combination of x-rays and electrons
emitted when electrons are fired at the material.

This change in visual data can change our methods

of design because of the limiting factors. The detector
does not detect light and so consider how shadows are
created? Depending on the angle of the detector and
whether it picks up secondary electrons, backscattered
electrons or x-rays we can build up a different version
of the same object. Shadows look soft and more realistic
in secondary electron images however they are created
by areas that are not emitting anything towards the
detector, like a dead pixel in an LCD panel array.

This image has been simulated as a nano model that

has been built in a ‘bottom up’ fashion by a two-photon
lithography printer, it works in a similar way to a 3d
printer but with an extremely high precision. It fires
photons into a liquid resin, allowing it to harden, at
this scale we can build this model in under 4 minutes.
As the image is built up layer by layer it is impossible
to create a perfect curve, it has a similar aesthetic of
building an extravagant architecture only from bricks.

Spiller Simulative nano scaled model.

The first architecture designed at a nano level as a testing playground towards a
self designing system.

28 29
 There are other methods of
building nano models that How can this nano model contribute to architecture
are currently less developed at the human scale? The ability to build a complex
but could prove to be more structure at this scale allows us to test designs with
detailed and versatile. new aesthetics at this different scale which could be
Carbon Nanotubes can be transferred to create interesting forms. We could also
used to create models, these use this method to build up a customised texture on
can show up very cleanly in objects the size of a building. This can create entirely
an SEM (Scanning Electron custom finishes that may not be easily visible to us in
Microscope) they are also detail, but will show unique and continuously evolving/
very strong because of the reconstructing dimensions, shading, texture and tone
molecular bonds naturally USS Enterprise Built from a focused Ion across the span of a building.
formed. Another method that Beam at Himeji Institute of Technology
has been successfully used
at a microscopic level is a focused ion beam with
phenathene gas by Takayuki Hoshino and Shinji Matsui of
the Himeji Institute of Technology. This has been used
to create an 8.8 micrometer model of the USS. Enterprise
from the TV series Star Trek, which is 1-billionth of
the actual size, this method is less precise but allows
us to create slightly more fluid shapes as the form can
melt layers together.

The nano model has a unique level of detail because of

the residue left on top of the model as well imperfections
in the detector. How do we class the level of detail? In
my simulation there is a much smaller level of detail
shown compared to the hand drawing that was done by
Neil Spiller, however the model is smaller than a single
grain of sand and so smaller than the thinnest line
that Neil put to paper. So if we are considering both
the images at the same scale it is clear that the nano
model can not replicate the detail put into the visual/
optical textures by pen and pencil that our creativity
can create the illusion of certain materials, which
isn’t as easy to create in the three dimensional nano
scaled model because of the limited resolution compared
to drawing a larger drawing with finer lines in detail.
Multiple materials are also not so easy to combine at
nano scales as they are to represent in a drawing like
Neil Spiller’s Original Hand Drawing of an exploding
Neil’s. baguette on a wheel barrow. This drawing shows a high
amount of detail in the textures that are accented by
the deep projected shadows.

30 31
 In development from these static images the future
_Conclusion
of these could be the combination of nanotechnologies
So how far has nanotechnology come? We have discovered
to create a living nano model that can change and
that currently nanotechnology is already developed in
improve continuously to self improve its design and
certain coatings that we apply to walls, window and
purpose being crafted by computers and controlled by
other components to increase the efficiency and purpose.
nano sensors. Producing a system that is continually
However the architectural interaction with this world of
working and offering new ideas and styles to construct
technology is still highly limited in terms of progress.
from.
As well as the functionality, design is the other main
component to architecture, this is the side that allows
us to show creativity and individuality but is the nano
globalization going to unify the design of everything
even more?
The methods we currently use to construct buildings
is fundamentally different to nano-technological
approaches. It promises to increase energy efficiency,
performance and add the government requirement of
sustainability. It has been described as a ‘fusion’
technology (A. Hemeida, 2010), this means it incorporates
many different areas of expertise within technology, this
means that the general structure becomes very complex
and is not hypothetically possible to be covered by only
one of the technologies.
However will the transitions over lose all of the
knowledge and character that we have built up using
current design methods, or will it coexist and work
harmoniously? I believe it will be a long time before
nanotechnology is fully incorporated into the design of
a building, as currently we can replace standardized
products like windows and insulation into any design,
however until the structural elements and new construction
methods have been developed and tested the advanced
design possibilities cannot be realized.
The largest advertised problem with molecular
assemblers, that can construct a design on site or in a

Colourised Image of Halloysite Nano-tubes that are natu-

rally occurring in the earth and are comprised from hy-
drogen, aluminium, silicon and oxygen. They can be used to
strengthen materials. Image by Wired UK

32 33
 contained location, was originally called the ‘grey goo’
problem by Eric Drexler. Having studied as many possible
sources of this data I have compiled enough data to
make some assumptions. For these ‘nanobots’ to evolve
to start consuming our planet uncontrollably requires
a certain level of artificial intelligence, which is
theoretically impossible at this moment in time because
of the processing power and coding within each of these
bots. The largest problem with new technologies to date
is the factor of human error either in programming or
misuse. Computers cannot generate formulas to follow
at the moment, they generally require human input to
explain the process which it can then repeat for as long
as it is programmed to.
With most new inventions of this level of intellect,
they could be reprogrammed by terrorist organizations
to build weapons or even deconstruct targets. This
would form a new nano-terrorism, this would mean that
the organization I mentioned earlier should also have
to explore these risks, deconstruction of most bonded
molecules requires a substantial amount of energy to
break each part down into a usable building material and
so this risk of deconstruction is at current, minimal.
With the vast amounts of information we have discovered
with nanotechnology, should this be the main focus of
study with mechanical or organic molecular assemblers.
Ray Kurzweil covered the unison of both, the simplicity
of an organic cell with an attached mechanical control,
this will probably be the closest to creation although
wont be as efficient as a fully mechanical constructor.
As Kurzweil stated in The Singularity (205) mechanical
beings have that advantage because of the increased
efficency.
At some point we will have the technology for molecular
assemblers to construct entire buildings on site, using
carbon nanotubes and constructing all the materials in
34
place. Will we still need architects? Computers are
able to calculate more efficient ways of constructing
something, however I do not feel they could design
something from scratch with a single function put into
the process. We are the ones who have to experience
these architectures and as sensors cannot have emotions,
it is our feelings about projects that help use to
design and improve them. Therefore I don’t think it is
possible for nanotechnologies to design something for
human interaction without the human input.
Again, without emotions I do not think nanotechnologies
could design projects with any creativity they will follow
functional design instead. This may spur an interesting
design movement like modernism, but styles change and
evolve. Or companies may prefer this aesthetic because
it will mean maximum productivity for minimal cost and
so that way our designs are being influenced by larger
companies rather than personal interest. This could
overcome Digital Regionalism, Progress in Nanotechnology
(2008) taking away all local design interests, making
globalization a unification of nano design as well as
knowledge. Nano design will allow the customization of
all materials instantaneously, so this could remove all
Regionalism, or it could improve it, it will give us the
ability to take a generic structure and grow out symbols
that are traditional to the area, allowing us to match
traditional colours and materials of the local area.
To conclude, as architectural trends normally follow
a few years after the technology is commercially available
because of the extended testing and design process that
has to be rigorously carried out, we have many years
before it is influencing architectural design. When it
does come the entire process used in design will be
considerably changed allowing much more extreme designs
to be formulated to overcome mass urban compression of
increasing population density currently affecting cities
as well as improving our efforts on sustainability.
35
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 “In thinking about nanotechnology
today, what’s most important is
understanding where it leads, what
nanotechnology will look like after
we reach the assembler breakthrough”
(R. Feynmann, 1945)