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Frontiers of Engineering Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering from the 2017 Symposium (2018) / Chapter Skim
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Applications of Insights from Biology and Mathematics to the Design of Material Structures - Jenny E. Sabin
Pages 105-110

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From page 105...
... have engaged in work at the forefront of a new direction for 21st century architectural research practice -- one that investigates the intersections of architecture and science, and applies insights and theories from biology and computation to the design of material structures that are adaptive, interactive, and resilient.1 This paper describes multidirectional and multidisciplinary investigations shaping the future trajectories of these material innovations and technologies for architecture. The work aims to advance materials research and digital fabrication across disciplines to effect pragmatic change in the economical, ecological, and cultural production of contemporary architecture.
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From page 106...
... Repurposing the textile as an important architectural element, the BIOMS multifunctional membrane features an integrative sensor and actuator system that not only is designed to answer to many functions through what Gutierrez calls the "synergistic optimization of heat, light, and humidity transfer" but also is a closed loop system.4 It therefore does not require energy input through mechanical actuators, sensors, and a mainframe. And through select research projects at the Institute for Computational Design and Construction at the University of Stuttgart, Achim Menges argues that technological innovation across multiple disciplines suggests that design computation is no longer limited to the binary world of the digital, but is now interfacing with 3   As discussed at the Matter Design Computation Symposium: The Art of Building from Nano to Macro, Cornell AAP Preston Thomas Memorial Lecture Series, March 10–11, 2017.
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From page 107...
... Seminal points of reference for the work include matrix biology, materials science, bioengineering, and mathematics through the filter of crafts-based media such as textiles and ceramics, with advanced digital fabrication protocols including robotic fabrication and 3D printing. Our collaborative work looks to nature, specifically cellular biology, for an analogous deep organicity of interrelated parts, material components, and building ecology.
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From page 108...
... We use the visualization of complex datasets, digital fabrication, and the production of experimental material systems for prototype speculations of adaptive building skins, designated eSkin, at the macrobuilding scale (Figure 1)
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From page 109...
... At each intersection between the color cells, a sensor based on shifts in light intensity levels actuates voltage change between the adjacent color cells. Thus when a finger, hand, or figure passes by a sensor, a detected shift in light intensity triggers a small voltage shift across the ITO component, reorganizing the distribution of particles in the solution, ultimately affecting the reflected appearance of color from the nanoparticle solution (Sabin et al.
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From page 110...
... CONCLUSION Through the eSkin project, insights into how cells can modify their immediate extracellular microenvironment are investigated and applied to the design and engineering of highly aesthetic passive materials, sensors, and imagers that will be integrated in responsive building skins. Such skins will enable buildings to adapt to external changes in temperature and internal solar heat gains to better regulate energy consumption and loss.
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Key Terms

  • building skins
  • digital fabrication
  • eskin project
  • built environment
  • building materials

  • van der
  • organic medium
  • nanoparticle solution
  • transdisciplinary research
  • tin oxide

  • color cells
  • shu yang
  • megatall buildings
  • light intensity
  • solar heat

  • indium tin
  • der spiegel
  • design research
  • energy minimization
  • prototypical building

  • building ecology
  • building design
  • building skin
  • future building
  • existing building

  • building energy
  • enhance building
  • responsive building
  • megatall building
  • green building


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