Venice, Italy CNN —
Erupting from fiery volcanoes, lava has historically been an uncontrollable force that destroys buildings and neighborhoods in its wake. But what if that force could instead be redirected and harnessed to create whole cities? An ambitious project from Icelandic firm s.ap arkitektar, presented at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale (running until November 23), proposes just that.
Whereas lava naturally cools on the landscape to become volcanic rock such as basalt, “Lavaforming” — which envisions molten rock as a new form of building material — lays out strategies for cooling it in controlled ways so that it can set into walls, columns and other architectural elements capable of producing new settlements. Along with collaborators, s.ap arkitektar has made a film imagining the year 2150, when such building technology could become a reality, reshaping the world in the process.
Founded by Arnhildur Pálmadóttir and operated with her son Arnar Skarphéðinsson, s.ap arkitektar has been undertaking research and conducting tests to explore how something that is seen primarily as a threat can be transformed into a renewable resource capable of producing sustainable buildings. But just how realistic is the future of lava cities?
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Iceland is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world, situated on a rift between two tectonic plates. Home to around 30 volcano systems, the country on average experiences an eruption every five years. It was during one such occurrence — the 2014 Holuhraun eruption — that Pálmadóttir realized there was a “huge amount of material coming up from the ground,” she explained over video call from the capital Reykjavík. She thought: “wow, we could build a whole city in one week with that.”
The “Lavaforming” project started in earnest a few years later as a “thought experiment,” added Skarphéðinsson. It also aimed to be a critique of the building industry’s reliance on concrete and the carbon emissions resulting from its production. (It is estimated that due to heating lime and clay at high temperatures to create cement, a key ingredient of concrete, the material’s production accounts for approximately 8% of global CO2 emissions, which contribute to global warming and climate degradation.)
The firm s.ap arkitektar, along with collaborators, has made a film presented at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale imagining the year 2150, when such building technology could become a reality. s.ap arkitektar
“We think that lava can compete with concrete, but be more sustainable,” said Pálmadóttir, adding that lava “has all the materialities that concrete has, depending on how it cools down.” If lava cools quickly, explained Pálmadóttir, it turns into a hard, glass-like material — obsidian. If it cools slowly, it is more likely to crystallize, which can work well for creating columns and structural elements. If the lava cools quickly and also gets air in it, meanwhile, a pumice-like, highly insulative material is created.
The carbon emitted by hot lava spewing from a volcano would be released into the atmosphere anyway, she said, no matter how it is cooled and used — so better to make the most of it and avoid additional emissions from concrete production.
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