All articles by Chris Wise

  • Chris Wise
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    Wet behind the ears

    2014-02-19T07:00:00Z

    It turns out that the problem of flood protection, which has flummoxed generations of politicians, can be solved in an afternoon by some engineering undergraduates. But will the government listen?

  • Chris Wise
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    A riff on the luxury of time

    2013-10-04T11:07:00Z

    The Royal Designers Summer School inspires Chris Wise to reflect on the civilising quality of time and buy a flamenco guitar

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    Designer's putty

    2013-07-26T00:00:00Z

    Interactive design tools offer architects and engineers accurate, fast control of the materials they work with and allow their clients to see the building responding before their eyes

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    A moving experience

    2013-05-17T00:00:00Z

    Why wasn’t construction at the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Global Grand Challenges Summit?

  • Chris Wise
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    Sustainability is for sharing

    2013-02-20T10:34:00Z

    Establishing a new educational model for sustainable building design could be a smart idea, but only if the whole industry works on it together, says Chris Wise

  • Chris Wise
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    Recycling materials: The great recovery

    2012-08-10T00:00:00Z

    Some of the core materials construction uses have become scarce - eventually everything we use will be. We have to stop jettisoning materials and design so they can all be recycled

  • Chris Wise
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    Nissan's supercar: Time to test-drive some buildings

    2012-06-08T00:00:00Z

    Nissan’s new supercar, the Delta Wing, will be subject to public scrutiny and objective testing at Le Mans. Why don’t we have more ‘test-drives’ for buildings?

  • Chris Wise
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    UK education standards: Move over Mr Gove

    2012-04-13T00:00:00Z

    With the UK falling down the world rankings at an alarming rate, we can’t leave the education of our recruits to the government - it’s time for our industry to step in

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    Urban design for developing countries: The art of mastery

    2012-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Urban designs for developing countries demand the perspective and foresight of one of today’s great minds - not the clumsy first attempt of a novice

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    We need small engineering companies

    2011-12-09T00:00:00Z

    Small engineering companies have been pushed to the edge of extinction by the conforming imperatives of big business. But we need their talent and guts for our own survival

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    Architectual competitions: Judgement day

    2011-10-28T00:00:00Z

    Those judging architectural competitions need to be wise, ethical and very well informed. That’s why the tittle-tattle of public opinion should be ignored

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    Infrastructure: A thing of beauty?

    2011-08-05T00:00:00Z

    Infrastructure can be seen everywhere so it’s a shame it’s often so ugly. Let’s hope for some inspired entries in the energy department’s competition to update the UK’s pylons

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    CAD images: Where have all the humans gone?

    2011-05-13T00:00:00Z

    There’s nothing so seductive as a CAD image of your dream project, computer-generated visualisations of how we want the world to be. Trouble is, they’re divorced from reality

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    Understanding nature

    2011-03-25T00:00:00Z

    The Japanese earthquake and tsunami have reminded us that the environment is core to contemporary architecture. The pity is, we needed reminding

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    A fine romance: Cabe and the Design Council

    2011-02-25T00:00:00Z

    Some may grumble about the match but bringing Cabe and the Design Council together might be the best thing to have happened to design for 60 years

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    Low-carbon: A trillion miles begins with a single step

    2011-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Paul Morrell’s ideas for getting construction to help deliver a low carbon future are light on design, says Chris Wise. Odd, because in fact we can design out much of our carbon footprint

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    Academia isn’t up to the job

    2010-11-26T00:00:00Z

    University research consistently fails to address the practical realities of construction. What we need is industry people in academic posts controlling the purse strings

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    What the pooping man told us

    2010-10-01T00:00:00Z

    Engineers’ wizardry is beyond question, but they still suffer from a cultural cringe when it comes to the question of creativity. Luckily, Chris Wise met someone who explained the whole thing

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    Take it to the bridge: Where engineering meets music

    2010-07-09T00:00:00Z

    If only our ears were as big as parachutes, we’d be able to hear the built environment, says Chris Wise, and then we’d discover that a building can be every bit as musical as a violin

  • Chris Wise
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    What if everything we did was wrong?

    2010-06-04T00:00:00Z

    For example, we use much more material than we need to keep a building up, and we follow codes that make absurd demands on design. Fortunately, there’s a simple remedy