BAI Institute launched: new technologies at the service of quality architecture and construction
Foto: ETH Zürich
Modern architecture wanted to be industrial; the architecture of today wants the same. But in a different way. We have overcome the old program of heroic industrialization; we disbelieve in the maximalist purposes of ‘hard’ prefabrication; and we recognize ourselves neither in the cold aesthetic of the module nor in the rigidity of the industrial product conceived in the raw. But hope remains that new technology, filtered through the traditional tools of the architect, engineer or designer, can be useful not only to improve the quality of our buildings and mitigate environmental damage, but to establish better living conditions and to guarantee the future of architecture. The BAI Institute is born out of this conviction.
Inspired by Francisco Mangado and Andrea Deplazes, and funded by the Government of Navarre, the Spanish Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, and the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, the BAI Institute is a National Reference Center for Industrialization, Robotization, and Innovation in Construction and Architecture whose main objective is research in innovative technological systems applied to architecture and engineering, and the training of architects, engineers, and construction professionals through cutting-edge design and construction methods, in an effort to prepare companies and technicians at all levels (from vocational training to postgraduate level) to respond to the demands of contemporary society.
At the BAI Institute, research will be carried out in two complementary and interrelated ways: on one hand, through the development of innovative solutions hand in hand with highly qualified companies in the field; and on the other, through the design of pioneer buildings in the context of its ‘Laboratory for Advanced Projects.’
The training at BAI has a distinctive feature that sets it apart from any similar program: the possibility of working, from day one, in real projects and on the construction of buildings, infrastructures and public spaces. In its first edition, the BAI Program offers its students a demanding and stimulating project: to take part in the design and construction of the headquarters for the BAI Institute in Pamplona. All this in direct contact with the most prestigious companies in the field, the best professors, and in collaboration with ETH Zürich, one of the most important technological universities in the world.
