Living Architecture Spring 2007 Pratt

I too found the Moderating Skylights project quite interesting. It is comparable to the project done last year at Pratt (I no longer see the link to this on our blog) that dealt with apertures. The Pratt project seems to perform in a more materially integral way, as it uses a solid sheet with perforations. The walls of Jean Nouvel’s Arab World Institute come to mind as an early example of a mechanically responsive system. The animation of Moderating Skylights seems to be very mechanical. My hope is that by using this new technology, we can create this movement in a more organic way. The lack of a motor and mechanical gears will give the ability to move in a more integrated and smooth manner. The ability to transform surfaces and openings in a manner similar to that working of a human body will allow for greater control. The relationship to the user becomes more direct as the materials change form themselves. I am not yet sure of the structural properties of the materials to be used, but the relationship to the forces of the body become an interesting point of departure. Can a wall change into a floor or can stairs react to a specific bodily force? How can we control material to fold in a way to create interactions with the body dependent on an intended used of the space? This might allow for a desk that will fold out from a wall in a specific relation to the size of the user. I am looking forward to testing the properties of the materials in order to determine a new use for them.

# posted by zjoslow : 9:39 PM