Image: sergis blog | Flickr

The Digital Water Pavilion in Zaragoza, Spain dismissed the notion of using glass for the boundaries which mark the “separation” between the interior and the exterior. To make it even more interesting, this pavilion drops a sheet of water around its perimeter in a curtain-like fashion, but when it senses the movement and approach of a body that wishes to enter — it uses sensors to stop releasing water so as to create a portal through which a person can gain entrance into the pavilion. Yes, an early form of fluidity in action.

Carlo Ratti, the Digital Water Pavilion’s architect, uses choreography and “sensing” to bring the notions of entrance, boundary and threshold into new realms — and much of this is achieved by taking advantage of Read more

Image: NASA Goddard Photo and Video | Flickr

Buildings today continue to move from static to fluid design, and this fluidity is expressed by integrating not only new materials with amazing behavioral properties, but also by pulling information patterns from a building’s context. Interestingly, it is this “pulling” of sorts that can bring architectural fluidity toward architectural adaptability.

So, what does it mean for a building to pull? And where might it pull from?

As we can see with the internet, our mass populations are collecting large quantities of information about the world in which we live — with cues about how we live in that world. As an architect, you should look upon such collections as proverbial goldmines, within which you can sift to find nuggets of collective wisdom for you designs.

Extracting information and capitalizing upon it can be easier said than done. A building that pulls information from the internet, a country’s population, a weather pattern or even a neighborhood’s political race, can range from “ingenious” all the way to “controversial”. Suddenly, your designed architecture space can find new ways to engage and interact with its surrounding contexts — and when executed correctly can help those that experience it.

Does an architecture that pulls from the masses merely act as a mirror? An interpreter? Or as the loyal opposition?

It’s all In the Stars

Just like the seemingly infinite array of patterns found in the sky above, you can use your building as an outward demonstration of what is Read more