Diagram of red dot modules and lines of communication.
Image: Ethan Hein | Flickr

I am intrigued by this quote about modular design:

“A downside to modularity (and this depends on the extent of modularity) is that modular systems are not optimized for performance. This is usually due to the cost of putting up interfaces between modules.” (Wikipedia source here)

At first glance, modularity can give you ways to expand, re-locate or even provide for more mass customization opportunities within your work. And in some cases, modules can have such distinct characteristics that they actually serve to “brand” your work — if done well, this can be a good thing.

Yet, there is so much missed opportunity when it comes to the module. Instead of always trying to have modules “lock” into one another, try to provide each module with a proverbial “key” to unlock its neighboring modules in certain ways.

Just like the cells of the body which must communicate chemically to keep the entire system healthy, modules within an architectural design could communicate and thus, change their functions as needed, wherever needed.

Such modular communication allows for an entire “systems” approach to building not only functions, but also behaviors. So why not ask if there are any missed opportunities in your design where modules can communicate?

And just as a side note, sensors and actuators are only one way to get this done.

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© 2008-2009 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

One way to Juxtapose A Door/Corridor cliché
Image: Andy Miah | Flickr

I recently read an article by Seth Godin who describes a very powerful writing technique where an author takes a popular and widely used cliché, points it out in his or her work and then writes about its exact opposite. When done cleverly this can produce a very powerful result whether an author is trying to stir humor, thought, emotion or even trying to change a reader’s belief or behavior.

As architects, we should take a cue from this author’s “gem”.

For example, the way many architects spec doors and corridors in a building design is one type of architectural cliché you’re probably used to seeing. You know — the type of door with “typical” dimensions, hardware, materials and so on.

But what would happen if you pointed this type of cliché out in your design and then immediately juxtaposed it with its complete opposite? What would you create?

If done well, your solution would make for a remarkable occupant experience. Such a juxtaposition would surely redefine what you and your occupant think a “doorway” can do. Also, you would remove those overused clichés that pollute and weaken your designs as they emerge as unnecessary.

Make your occupants re-experience what they take for granted by asking yourself what it is you take for granted. Give both you and your occupant a fresh lens.

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© 2008-2009 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

image: Incase Designs | Flickr

Productivity. Collaboration. Mobility. Globalization. Socialization. Culture.

Such are the buzz-words which describe the more modern workplaces of today. But where is this all going? And why?

One thing is for sure, computers are spreading. They seem to be everywhere. They’re getting smaller, more helpful and their interfaces are getting more intuitive. It’s no wonder that the surrounding environments which inhabit them now often allow for more mobility, productivity and collaboration.

But what about creativity? It’s an important factor — and one that should be addressed head-on.

I think that fostering creativity within office cultures is both fundamental, and too often under-emphasized and overlooked. After all, it is creativity that is the glue for so many office cultures today. Just think Google.

Within Google corporate cultures you can see how having a creative work office design literally feeds the Google work culture — ultimately leading to more innovation, better employee satisfaction, retention and outreach.

Here is a quick look around the Google Chicago office so you can get a glimpse of what I’m talking about (before I go on):

You need to design for Work Places that Move

As you can see from the above video, Google offers quite a comprehensive array of amenities for employees (including other facilities like beach volleyball, video games, pool tables and ping-pong which were not shown). In turn, Google’s employer perspective is quite pleased with the effects of providing this “college-like campus” as creativity fuels their innovative spirit (and subsequent products).

Now, on the other end of the spectrum are situations where employees work “remotely”, from a home office, a hotel, a café or even their car.

So where is this all going — and why?

All in all, incredible and rapid development of computers and other ubiquitous technologies are impacting not only how we work but also where we work. As architects, you should pay particular attention to these trends because as employee lifestyles change — so too will the workplace architecture(s) which surround them (wherever those may be).

Expect the blurring of boundaries as things like Twitter, Google Wave and other streaming communication tools abound. Suddenly, what you know about restaurant design can help you design a better office or what you know about office design can help you design a better café. Perhaps what you know about car design will help you design better office “pods” and visa versa.

Further down the road, we may very well see an employee as wearing their “office”. Yes, I’m sure we’re not too far away from seeing some prototypes for that.

So, it may be time to really ask yourself again:

“What yields productivity, collaboration, mobility, globalization, socialization and culture?”

As the “walls” that typically define an office space blur, how will you design them innovatively — or shall I say, in a way that challenges your occupant (employee) to enjoy their work, stay healthy and do a good job.

Odds are, creativity will still be a major design factor.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2009 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

image: Manky Maxblack | Flikcr

What can flexibility do for you?

Let’s exaggerate for a moment and see if we can make what is flexible, even more flexible. The goal is to get you to push some design boundaries and of course, to use the idea of “flexible design” to get your architecture to that “cutting-edge”.

Of course, there is a find line between extreme flexibility and that ultimate point where something just breaks. But for now, let’s take a look at the following list which I’ve put together to get you thinking about how you can take full advantage of flexibility for your future designs.

The aim here is to design architecture that is both technologically, scientifically and aesthetically advanced, but to do this in a most humane and occupant-centered manner.

To get started, try asking yourself the following four questions and see if you can “strip away” what you take for granted to bring an innovative edge to your work:

1. How might my designs change if I could reinvent any building material with whatever properties I specify?
   
   

   Nanotechnology will bring a new type of flexibility into the forefront of architecture. As we speak, materials are getting smarter from the bottom up (at the nano scale).

   What you generally think a material can do today, will likely change into tomorrow. Glass will span wider distances, concrete will self repair and other materials will be stronger than steel (and weigh less). Nanotechnology can change what you think you know about material behavior.

2. If my building’s surfaces (regardless of thickness) could sense and actuate, what would I have them do for my building occupants? Both for the entire group and for its individuals?
   
   

   Buildings skins are already gaining ability to breathe and to sense and interact with their exterior and interior environments simultaneously. Skins are becoming smarter, not just because of the materials being used to make them, but also because of the strategies being used to optimize the notion of “surface”. Can you make your building skins “breathe”?

3. What varying internal or external conditions do I want to keep “constant” for certain individual occupants? Or for a whole group of occupants? How?
   
   

   Believe it or not, asking yourself how you would go about keeping something constant, immediately exposed all of the “variations” you would have to account for. Suddenly it becomes clear, for instance, that to keep temperature constant you need to account for location, season, personal preference and time of day. What better way to get you thinking of how you can “play” upon the notion of “flexibility”.

4. How might I take what I find to be a beautiful experience or thing and present it in totally new form for my occupants to enjoy? How can I manipulate it to make it something new?
   
   

   Pushing your design instincts to intuitive extremes can often have great results. Capitalize on architecture’s ability to surprise, inspire, calm and bring spirit to your occupants. Being creative means knowing the right time to push the boundaries — and finding moments that lend themselves to greater flexibility.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2009 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

image: phoosh | Flickr

As new emerging technologies surface, the idea of “transition” will take on entirely new form. Not only will “transition” continue to exist between building materials (like you see in buildings today), but “transition” will also be present within a material’s properties — changing the very nature of how a particular material behaves at any given time.

For instance, smart materials will be able to change in real time as certain variables like temperature, light or stress trigger them. Similarly, new sensing technologies will come together to yield smart environments where ubiquitous computing is tuned to give occupants a more personalized experience.

Furthermore, as nanotechnology and biomimetic systems rise into the forefront, you as an architect will need to consistently rethink how building materials typically function — by building for them from the bottom up.

The “rules” behind designing for material behavior are changing and new smart material systems will give you a new kind of flexibility which you can optimize by taking both function and form to entirely new levels.

A key to doing this is to rethink your notion of design “transition”.

A Systems Approach to Designing with Building Materials

The biomimicry expert, Janine Benyus, says it best as she states that “The material is the system“. You see, it is within materials that we as designers can unleash new forms and functions to optimize our buildings — making them more sustainable, healthy, meaningful and beautiful.

By thinking of building materials down to the nano- scale, your design decisions as an architect will involve more of a “systems” way of thinking as opposed to the, as I have heard Janine Benyus call it, more typical “layered” approach to solving design problems.

Use “transition” as a way to unlock problems within an existing design system and as a way to capture inspiration from external forces that will trigger and react to your built environment. Think of how your occupant will experience your space, in all of its dimensions, and then ask yourself to rethink “transition” as you design.

To get you started, here are three questions to ask yourself:

1. If materials within your building’s design could “move” in real-time, how would you want them to move and why? Think aesthetics, function, efficiency, sustainability and human comfort. (As if your materials could gain “super-powers”, think beyond what materials today can do.)
2. What would be the resulting effect of such transient material “movements”? What new forms and functions would they allow? How could they help or hurt your occupant’s experience or the surrounding natural environment?
3. Is there a way to incorporate new transient materials to not only strengthen your building’s weak spots (design challenges) — but to ultimately strengthen the building as a whole (design opportunities)? What would your materials need to be able to “move” in the way you want? Think self-actuating, kinetics, weathering, interactivity, adaptation and so on.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2009 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: lissalou66 | Flickr

Can Desire Influence What You and Your Occupant See?

This interesting experiment might just give you, as an architect, some understanding of how you and your occupants perceive “distance” — and why this aspect of spatial reasoning might vary from person to person; thus, influencing how people perceive your built work:

Here is a Sneak Peak at What the Experiment Revealed

In an interesting experiment, researchers engaged in a series of investigations to see if they could tell whether desire has a consequential effect over a person’s ability to perceive distance. In one of a series of experiments, the researchers put a coupon on the floor and asked participants to throw a beanbag that should land on top of the coupon on the floor in front of them.

Prior to throwing their beanbag, half of the participants were told that the voucher was worth $25, while the other half of the participants were told that it was worthless. Amazingly, the half of the participants that believed the coupon was worth $25 didn’t throw their beanbag far enough. Their throws always came up short.

The resulting explanation for this, as the researchers explained, is that the participants who thought the coupon was valuable actually believed that it was closer to them than it actually was. (The participants who thought the coupon was worthless estimated that it was further away.)

To see the original article, click [here].

Is Distance in the Eye of the Beholder?

As you design a building, you are constantly thinking in terms of distance. It factors into a multitude of the design decisions you make everyday. And once your design is built, your occupants must also think in terms of distance as they travel around and through your building, from feature to feature, from space to space and from experience to experience.

So, how do you incorporate distance as you design? And how do you make sure that what you envisioned when designing, translates well for your occupants once your building is constructed? Also, are your occupant’s reactions what you expected, imagined and hoped for?

Furthermore, when designing, do you primarily think of certain key vantage points and perspectives? Or do you envision a circulation path that your occupants will likely travel through as they experience your design? If you are like most architects, you think along these terms — all of which incorporate distance.

So How Can This Help Your Architecture?

It is nice to know that as a designer there are ways to play with the illusion of space.

In addition to designing for things like texture, light and materiality — you should also incorporate “perceived value”. What do your occupants (and clients) perceive as valuable? And how will you address those things in your building design?

Then, it might help to ask this seemingly unrelated question — “How does perceived value impact distance in my design? — Thus, helping me to fine tune my building design features toward occupant experience and interactivity”.

Who knew that your architect’s scale would have such a subjective dimension to it?

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2009 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

image: johndisalvo | Flickr

Sustainable Systems Working Together as a Whole

Light, water, temperature, air quality and renewable resources typically come to mind when talking about sustainable design, and to see these innovative green building issues tackled in one building project is wonderful.

In this article I am calling particular attention to the LEED Platinum rated Genzyme Center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Within this building project designed by Behnisch, Behnisch & Partner, sustainable systems work to create not only an energy-efficient environment, but also a healthier workplace for the approximate 900 employees who work there.

As you will see in the online virtual tour (at the end of this article), key building features include heliostats, an intricate prismatic chandelier and reflective ceiling panels that all contribute to providing interior spaces with abundant natural light. In addition, converging building systems serve to control airflow, prismatic louvers, operable windows, water sensors, automated perforated blinds and a loggia.

All in all, the Genzyme Center serves as a leading example of how you, as an architect, can integrate many sustainable building systems to work together within one building.

Harness Control to Yield Comfort

Giving individual employees control over things like lighting and temperature within their office spaces really helps to improve not only their individual environment, but ultimately the overall Genzyme corporate culture as well.

Control of one’s own comfort is critical in office building designs that intend to foster creativity, productivity and collaboration. Also, incorporating variety by fusing systems that can change and adjust over time to variables like outside weather, group gatherings or even daily lunch preferences can go a long way to boosting moral and productivity.

To see a virtual tour of The Genzyme Center you can visit the following link. Once there, you will have access to a series of short videos that show exactly how this building’s systems work.

This is a definite must see.

To take your virtual tour click [here].

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2009 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Light has many faces, and many forms. As an architect, you can “paint” with light, “sculpt” with light and guide your occupant to “touch” it.

The following slideshow takes a look at how light can “set off” built form, and how built form can “set off” light. When the two fuse poetically, they can showcase your materials, an experiential path or even “warm” an otherwise “cold” space.

So, the real question becomes…

WHY Do You Inject Light into Your Building Designs?

© 2008-2009 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: thisisbossi | Flickr

Right-handers Influence Group Behavior Simply By Choosing a Seat

When designing audience seating within theaters or auditoriums, have you ever given specific thought to which seats will be used the most, and by whom? At first, it may seem strange to ponder such details when most of what you will need to do involves selecting the style of seats, specifying how many total seats you will need, designating which ones will be accessible, planning how they will meet egress requirements and making sure each seat position provides a clear view to the stage.

But, should everything be treated so generally? What about the differences in behavior exhibited by each person in the audience? Perhaps not everyone watches a performance in the same way.

Well, a researcher from Japan named Matia Okubo, published a psychology article describing and proving that right-handed persons, interested in paying attention to a film, will actually choose seats to the right side of the theater.

What do you think? Will such a seemingly miniscule characteristic make you think differently about how you design audience seating?

Individuals Make Up a Population, Design for Them.

There are almost innumerable times, as an architect, that you will need to make “small” decisions that affect a the entire collective group of your occupants at once. (Namely, I’m thinking of theater or auditorium seating arrangements, and school classroom student seating arrangements here.)

So, is it often that you think of your occupants in a “lump some” — rather than as individuals who happen to make up a collective?

Yes, negotiating that balance between a “population” and an “individual” can be a delicate thing to do. For instance, just like in the above theater example, school classroom design must also tailor to the needs of an individual student, as well as to the collective needs of the class.

As an architect, you must find a way to do both, and do each one well.

It is important to realize that just as there are differences between the right-handed and left-handed people in the world, there are also many other variations that will make up your building occupant population.

As you design, remember that there are age differences, gender differences, learning differences, personal “preference” differences, physical differences and accessibility differences that may all need to be addressed in your design.

Be a Detective, Find Small Clues That Add Up

Much of the richness of architectural design indeed comes from the variety of the people that will make up your future building occupants. Designing for them is not only what can make your architecture more dynamic, but also more interesting and meaningful.

Knowing more about what makes each of your occupants “tick”, as individuals, will help you to become a better architect for your building occupant groups, as a whole. Don’t take even your simplest design decisions for granted — for they have a cumulative and direct effect.

So, the next time you design a school classroom, make sure you understand what will be taught there, how it will be taught and what types of students will occupy that classroom. Different student learning styles, for instance, are just one of many accommodations for which you must be a forward-thinking architect.

I encourage you to be like a detective. Ask leading questions. Ask the right questions. And get to the bottom of what makes your occupants not only function, but also “prosper”, within an environment.

Then, make creative connections — using your design ingenuity to make each person within a large group of your building’s occupants feel that the building was (almost) built specifically for them.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

(1) Right-handers Sit to the Right of the Movie Screen to Optimize Neural Processing of Film. Research Digest Blog. December 20, 2009.

© 2008-2009 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: rootoftwo | Flickr

Image: rootoftwo | Flickr

Adaptive Design:

The Dialogue Between Building and Occupant

Adaptive architecture will embody behaviors that respond to human and environmental interactions. It is with this transience that architectural space will more fully interact — or “converse” with its occupants, in grand part due to converging architectural technology.

With adaptive design, architecture will take on “motion” in new ways. A new type of “dialogue” between a building and its user will ask new things of its occupants, while feeding back dynamic and real-time sensorial stimuli.

Instead of having somewhat truncated conversations as you can experience with present-day interactive installations, the adaptive architecture of tomorrow will be able to engage in a dialogue where “feedback from the environment” takes on new meanings.

Today’s Sneak-Peeks

In their book entitled Interactive Architecture (my affiliate link), Miles Kemp and Michael Fox explore just how these adaptive environments could be designed and assembled.

Clearly showing how it will be possible to “construct” adaptive design spaces, they explain how “miniature robots, new material compositions, molecular geometries, robotic prototyping, atypical geometries and shape shifting-architectures” will have a profound effect on future built works.

In fact, to see the slideshow of these projects in action, Click here.

3 Simple Mindset Shifts for You To Think About

1. Your Design Process — Think about how the possibilities of adaptive architecture would impact the way you design. Just imagine how that would change your programming stages alone.
2. Convergence –Think about how you would use the convergence of breakthroughs from disciplines like nanotechnology, neuroscience, and biomimicry to improve the lifestyles of your occupants in almost limitless new ways.
3. Sensemaking –Architecture which adapts could be coded with simple rules; thus, embedding within it an underlying thumbprint, predisposing its behavior.

   As an architect, you will need to have your built works “make sense” of a lot of incoming information (coming from your occupants and the environment).

   Your job as Sensemaker is only just beginning.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2009 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman