Designing for Constant Change:

An Adaptable Growth Model for Architecture

 

Design of universal components that can tolerate technological, environmental, and circumstantial changes over time is a challenge for an architect. In this paper, I would like to propose a scaled prototype of architectural components that can reconfigure themselves into globally functional configurations based on feedback from locally distributed intelligence embedded inside the component. The project aims at demonstrating a design system that can respond to dynamically changing environment over time without imposing a static blueprint of the structure in a top-down manner from the outset of design processes. The control of the subunits are governed by the logic of a distributed system simulated by the use of multiple microcontrollers, and appropriate geometrical configurations will be computationally derived based on physical-environmental criteria such as solar radiation from various sensors and social-programmatic issues.

 

 

Related Publications:

 

(Journal Paper) Designing for Constant Change: An Adaptable Growth Model for Architecture

Narahara, T., International Journal of Architectural Computing (IJAC), issue 01, volume 08 (2010), pp. 30-40.