In B4/23, we take a look into our crystal ball: What changes and innovations will the future bring to construction? Which technologies will prevail and what upheavals do we need to prepare for? We also look ahead to the leading trade fair BAU 2023 and its most important premieres.
Building the future - The Baumeister in April 2023, cover photo: Stephan Bogner, Philipp Schmitt and Jonas Voigt, "Raising Robotic Natives", 2016 © Jonas Voigt
CO2 reduction and digitality at BAU 2023
After four years, BAU, the world’s leading trade fair for the construction industry, is returning to the Munich exhibition center as an in-person event. As with many other trade fairs, the Covid-19 pandemic caused an unplanned forced break. You could almost say that BAU 2023 is no longer taking place in the same world as the previous edition. Two topics in particular, which were still being discussed with a certain lack of commitment in 2019, have now become absolutely decisive: CO2 reduction and digitality.
Responsibility on both sides
The pressure to complete the construction turnaround as quickly as possible has increased massively in the last four years. Last but not least, it is young people who are rightly demanding immediate action – including from the construction industry. Young architects see it as their most important responsibility not to contribute to global warming with their work. They demand the same sense of responsibility from their employers, their clients and the manufacturers whose products they use.
Digitality in construction
The possibilities of digitality were once again impressively demonstrated to us during the pandemic. The lasting consequences of this digital surge are currently the subject of much controversy. How profoundly will artificial intelligence and robotics change the construction industry? Will these tools be able to compensate for the shortage of skilled workers or will they even make a large part of the human workforce redundant? What seemed almost utopian four years ago is already on the cusp of being suitable for everyday use. It would come as no surprise if AI and construction robots are already in daily use in architectural offices and on construction sites by BAU 2025.
Key importance for the construction industry
In this issue, we want to highlight some of the issues and look at some technologies that could play a key role for the entire construction industry. The five key themes of BAU 2023 have served as inspiration. Our large “Solutions” section, for which we have selected important innovations from BAU, may inspire you to take a trip to the world’s leading trade fair in Munich.
The new issue is now available in our store: B4/23 Building the future.
In our March issue, we spoke to young architects. How do they see their future? Which topics are of particular interest to them? Find out in B3 and in the editorial by editor-in-chief Fabian Peters.