'UNStudio Goes Tech'

Based, appropriately enough, in the Freedom Lab Campus, "a future studies thinktank" in Amsterdam, UNSense is led by Roger Tan and operates as an independent sister company to UNStudio. It aims to enable the built environment to catch up with the "digital revolution [that] is driving change in every part of our lives."

The press release and video below include today's usual buzzwords and proclamations – tech innovation, humanizing architecture, the creation of innovative concepts, etc. – that it can be hard to decipher what exactly UNSense does. Thankfully, their announcement points out the scales at which UNSense will focus (city, building, interior), that it is currently focused on digitally enhanced facades (no doubt arising from UNStudio's own projects), and that it is working on a couple inaugrual "solutions":

• CitySense: "Health, safety, liveability and mobility are complex challenges that require innovative, social and adaptive solutions. We believe that the goal of urban planning should not be to meet efficiency targets, but moreover to positively impact the life of people in the city. To do this we collect data through a sensory digital infrastructure. Based on this data, we design and implement positive, personal experiences for people and continuously improve on them, profoundly changing the way people live and work in our cities."
• Solar Brick: "new Dutch Solar Design PV Modules which combine high performance with a highly esthetic appearance. This enables the application of solar power on a much larger scale; not only as a rooftop coverage, but as a cladding material for the facade or the entire envelope of buildings. Solar Brick enables the transformation of all types of buildings into actual power plants: the start of a truly SMART facade."

Visit UNSense to learn more about UNStudio's new arch tech startup.