Contemporary challenges of science and technology – selected reflections

Modern challenges of science and technology should not be considered in isolation from the past and changes that have taken place over the centuries. They have occurred in different ways in various periods of human history and in various spheres of human activity, including technology. The changes also concern construction and construction materials. All changes have been stimulated by, inter alia, science and they, in turn, have determined and stimulated the development of science. The soaring growth in science and technological development result in a rising social awareness of increasing and new issues both technological and social that must be addressed. At the present stage of civilisation evelopment, they cannot be solved separately. The environmental and energy impacts must also be included. Special attention was focused on construction materials and products, as well as technological aspects including the application of 3D printing technology in construction. They all belong to the development of civilisation in a broad sense. In construction, there is room for traditional materials and technologies and their new versions with the primacy, however, of new generation materials. The need to apply the achievements in disciplines other than construction has been emphasised.