Abstract
The paper proposes an agenda for ‘responsive architecture’ to provide commitment and action to address the significant global challenges of the 21st century. Various strands of design research in this domain exist, however their potential application remains limited due to the lack of a coherent way to understand their diverse capabilities. This paper aims to bring together this emerging field of design research by creating a taxonomy and illustrating it with practice-led research focused on prototype material systems. Mapping the properties and capacities of these novel material systems within a taxonomy begins to shape an agenda for responsive architecture and articulate how it can be used to tackle major global challenges. Furthermore, the practice-based research I have carried out establishes how the range of research mapped within the taxonomy can be unified. The work is interdisciplinary and highlights: 1) the important role design research can play across boundaries in order to explore and address complex problems. 2) New abilities for digital modalities by mapping parameters of digital design representation to parameters of stimuli that can guide material scale self-assembly, which generates patterns and structures that can physically tune and adapt their material properties across length-scales, dimensions-scales (2D to 3D) and time-scales. Significantly, this research establishes various design principles and practices that can unify these diverse areas of research to better understand the contribution that the interdisciplinary collaboration, commitment, and action that underpins responsive architecture provides.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design
KEYWORDS
Responsive Architecture, Adaptive, Material Self-Assembly, Taxonomy
