Featured Image Takeaway Design Strategy:

As buildings get taller and taller, they are unveiling new perspectives. Different vantage points that you create for you occupants make a difference in how they not only perceive their environment, but also in how they function within it. With nanotechnology developments that improve our ability to build upward, you as an architect may need to rethink what it means to create a vertical community (or building culture) for the future. Strategizing about how vertical structures can uplift occupant lifestyle in unique ways is a great place to start thinking about high-rise building design evolution.

To Apply This Strategy, Ask Yourself:

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: treehouse1977 | Flickr

Within architectural design, the notion of “building surface” and “building skin” are increasing in importance and are, thus, becoming elements which you as an architect can leverage to bring greater sensitivity to your built environments.

In fact, research is underway to develop new electric skins that are so pressure sensitive to touch that they are actually rivaling, and surpassing, human skin’s sensitivity to touch. And by using such pressure-sensitive electric skin in architecture, more meaningful ways for occupants to interact are likely to arise, where building installations become increasingly in tune with not only occupants’ needs, but also with the dynamic fluctuations of the environment which surrounds the building. Hence, building skin could serve as a bridge, sensing the touch “frequencies” between both occupants and the surrounding environment.

What Can a Building Do with Skin Data?

As more sensitive skin and installations become part of a larger architectural dynamic system, it brings with it greater ability to sense even the most subtle fluctuations in the environment, like wind, water or debris. And how might a building benefit by increasing its level of sensitivity to pressure in this manner? Well, it would move toward being a dynamic system which reacts to more subtle cues by pulling from a smarter variety of reaction types that relate to specific locations in the building, where a “reaction” might be needed most.

In essence, the building would sense surrounding movements of change, and be able to respond more effectively and efficiently. Of course, syncronisation would be a big part of making such a design successful.

I do think that an innovative building skin, even in the smallest of installations, can bring great value to the way buildings function and serve their occupants — for it can be a breakthrough that brings greater sensitivity to the way buildings and their installations sense.

In the following video, you will see examples of how researchers are developing such pressure sensitive electric skins, with visual examples of how they work.

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© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: fdecomite | Flickr

In a world where buildings today are primarily static, not very responsive and not very well optimized, it will be intriguing to see what algorithm design for architecture can do — particularly when coupled with other fields like nanotechnology, biomimicry and neuroscience.

As an occupant, I know I would want to have a building that can adapt to meet my needs as I need them. And while it does this, I would want it to look as beautiful as ever. As a building owner, I would want a building that could adapt to not only my business needs, but also be able to adapt to the changes that arise during my building’s lifespan.

Instead of reinventing the wheel by designing built forms that make their occupants adapt to them, it is my hope that algorithmic architecture combined nanotechnology, biomimicry and neuroscience can yield buildings that adapt to their occupants.

This new wave of building design can really make buildings more fluid, flexible and adaptively optimized to not only meet today’s rapidly evolving needs, but to also yield built space that is ultimately healthier, happier, less stressful and more resilient.

An algorithmic architecture will be a big part of the architecture field’s ability to open up new channels, unleashing new ways for buildings to flex with their occupants — and best of all, it will be able to do this at varying speeds, with great material variations and with an infinite array of stimuli during just about any stage of a building’s lifecycle.

Stimuli which can impact the many variations and rules applied to an algorithmic architecture and its computer language can range from triggers like environmental cues as well as occupant behavioral cues. It can also be beauty-oriented in its own right. Furthermore, algorithmic architecture doesn’t just have to stop at being goal-oriented.

In the video below you can see the algorithmic sculpting of a simple cube. I watched this little clip a few times and started to get some interesting ideas about what even this simple demonstration can mean for architectural design in the future. Take a look:

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© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: Eduardo Deboni | Flickr

Yes, findings stemming from the worlds of science and technology are painting a new era that we are already beginning.

When cutting-edge paradigm-shifts occur, like new perspectives on nature that make methods like Biomimicry and BioDigital Architecture possible, I still wonder how these, combined with other factors like culture, globalization, personal preferences, lifestyle trends and geographic land characteristics will impact what we, as architectural visionaries, paint for the future.

Well, the future is happening now and as different cultures help to mold, embrace and even reject what design visionaries bring forward, I find it fascinating to uncover how innovative designs emerge into (and from) different regions and respective populations in the world.

What Stories Will Biomimicry Designs Tell?

As architects take on a renewed and forward-looking slant when turning to nature for inspiration, will this “attuned” architecture reflect its contextual surrounding geography and culture? After all, nature found in different parts of the world maintain different forms of life cycle processes and response systems; thus, giving architects a plethora of sources from which to design for more advanced architectural function and beauty.

In looking ahead, I can’t help but envision what Biomimicry and BioDigial Architecture can do for our architectural discipline. On the forefront, I can see that architecture will gain a renewed closeness with nature that it has never consciously had before. I also can see buildings that metaphorically embody a piece of nature (take the simple example of a flower), where an architect studies a particular process or response system from nature and then builds an architecture stemming from this nature inspired “seed”. Thus, a literal flower species can metaphorically plant its “seeds” within an architect’s vision — so then, a bioDigital building becomes a metaphorical flower offspring.

So yes, I do think the emergence of more bioDigital architecture will reflect the very nature which surrounds a building (or at least, the architect). Architectural clues like material, fabrication method and occupant lifestyle preference are already inherent to buildings around the world. Thus, a building is like a time capsule holding within it not just its occupants while it is functional within its own time, but also holding within it an “archeological-type” find that serves as a multi-dimensional “treasure map” telling a story to all those who “read” it long after its occupants are gone.

What story do you think buildings will tell once new technologies and scientific breakthroughs have had a chance to take full effect in architectural advances like Biomimic Design? Will buildings tell a deeper tale about what extinct species and types of nature existed before in a specific region of the world? Furthermore, what story will architecture built using nanotechnology, bioDigital algorithmic design and ubiquitous computing methods?

One thing is for sure, I do think that new biomimcry design methods will implant new layers of information — making the visionary buildings of today, gem-like seeds for tomorrow.

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© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: Photomish Dan | Flickr

As the relation between biomimicry, nanotechnology and new computing software evolves, a key design strategy surfaces — and a key aspect to that design strategy is BioDigital Architecture. In this branch of study and research, designers use different computer processes (algorithmic, for example) to grow architectural living systems. And these “living systems” are derived from, what Dennis Dollens describes as, metaphors of nature.

Designers can learn to understand nature in new terms, asking a different line of questions than usual. To design BioDigital Architecture, one must tap into the qualities of nature that motivate its cycles and response systems. And as you will see in the video below, Dennis Dollens lectures on exactly what that can mean for buildings.

I agree with Dollens that we can design and build better buildings by moving beyond our present-day “piece-meal” approach where separate components come together to yield a “sustainable” building. First, the window systems must coordinate with the roof system, then the roof and window systems must coordinate with the lighting systems. In the end, we wind up with separate system components which are later integrated into what we today call a “building system”.

BioDigital Architecture, on the other hand, will look toward nature for its principles. From those, designers can use computation (and other methods) to innovate systems that become much more than their parts. The totality of this livelier system might be marked by aspects of behavior, interaction and structure — where the layers that make up the system are more cyclical and responsive in nature.

It is my thinking that BioDigital Architecture will optimize the architect’s potential, leveraging our methods, talents and ideas to yield more fluid and inherently dynamic built forms. The following is Dennis Dollens’ short lecture. Please note that below the video is a link so you can take a peak at his publication which describes all of this, and more:

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© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Individual atoms in a 90 nanometer scoop of Nitinol.
Image: jurvetson | Flickr

Why does inspiration strike when thinking about building design in terms of a convergent assembly of elements? Well, here is an explanation about just what a “convergent assembly” means for manufacturing at the molecular level.

Todays manufacturing methods are very crude at the molecular level. [...] One robotic arm assembling molecular parts is going to take a long time to assemble anything large — so we need lots of robotic arms: this is what we mean by massive parallelism. While earlier proposals achieved massive parallelism through self replication, today’s “best guess” is that future molecular manufacturing systems will use some form of convergent assembly. In this process vast numbers of small parts are assembled by vast numbers of small robotic arms into larger parts, those larger parts are assembled by larger robotic arms into still larger parts, and so forth. If the size of the parts doubles at each iteration, we can go from one nanometer parts (a few atoms in size) to one meter parts (almost as big as a person) in only 30 steps.

- zyvex.com, Introduction to the Core Concepts of Molecular Nanotechnology

The Future of Scalability in Architecture

As if to build upward from some sort of DNA structure, building an assembly of parts at smaller scales then fitting that assembly within a larger assembly give should give you “food for thought”.

What if, as an architect, you could design a sort of “DNA seed” from which your buildings would grow, not only as they are built, but also as they age over time? Could your initial design “seed” create a better outcome for your building during it’s use — especially in its later years? Well, this “seed” approach definitely calls for designing a building system with a different design mindset — a sort of “genetic” approach to design execution.

In other words, your notion of “scalability” would directly impact your final product, which would be more of a real-time rule-based system. It would be an architecture that appears to grow. Certainly different from the architecture we see today.

I challenge you to think of your building’s system in a slightly different way. In the future, it will be more than just a system made up of parts that come together at scales that you can easily “see” in one glimpse, but as a system with the power to mold itself into an almost infinite array of possibilities — but where your design vision sets its inherent order. Hence, I am speaking of a more adaptive building system approach.

But still, today we typically build a “what you see, is what you get” architecture. Instead, I see that we are at the advent of having more “genetic” building systems.

Building and assembling at the molecular level certainly brings with it some challenges, especially as the iterative process of scaling the manufacturing process upward needs to be resolved. Similarly, architects must work to design their building system from extreme detail to the scale that encompasses global and cultural concerns.

Nevertheless, your building sits upon your design ideas as it reacts to its own surrounding environment. Your design vision and execution becomes your building’s fingerprint from which it adapts, behaves and stands strong.

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© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Visualization of a hand in motion during a conversation
Image: jeanbaptisteparis | Flickr

Motion sensors are already all around us, they exist in certain appliances, mobile phones and even within your car — but what if nanotechnology and the miniaturization of these sensors down to the nano scale could have profound impact on the buildings in which we live?

With nanotechnology, development is in the works to make sensors 100 times more sensitive than sensors we have today. Here is a quote explaining this remarkable feat:

“Able to “feel” and sense the movement of individual atoms, the researchers’ new MEMS sensing device uses small carbon tubes, nano in size — about one-billionth of a meter long. Creating these tiny tubes using a process involving methane gas and a furnace, Prof. Hanein has developed a method whereby they arrange themselves on a surface of a silicon chip to accurately sense tiny movements and changes in gravity.”

- from phsorg.com, A More Sensitive Senor Using Nano-sized Carbon Tubes

The question now becomes, how can you as an architect make use of such significant advances in order to improve and uplift the lives of your occupant? And yes, I do believe that uplifting the lives of your occupants should be a primary focus for your work as an architect. Nevertheless, it is time to think outside of the box.

Where Would You Embed a Nano Motion Sensor?

Since MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) will be not only more sensitive, but also a lot smaller, your designs can make use of their ability to sense very slight motion. For instance, with architectural kinetic installations, perhaps your components which are in motion could respond to an array of different triggers — like the way someone walks up the stairs, into a room, or even the way someone sits and repositions themselves in a chair. Thus, an entire architectural space could respond to such slight human behaviors.

Very slight motion could revolutionize architecture, as its elements would be able to react more sensitively to a multitude of variables like wind, earth activity, water, fire, weathering and more subtle occupant behaviors. With nano sized motion sensors an architectural design could go from a more reactive state to an almost predictive state; where when time is of the essence, buildings could be safer. Hospitals, for instance, could treat their patients more effectively.

But that’s not all.

Perhaps offices could be better ergonomically designed as slight movements in the way an employee works at their desk or talks on the phone could prompt certain office components and new materials to foster a happier, healthier, more effective and productive working lifestyle. Similarly, nano motion sensors could detect the activity on a teacher’s and/or student’s desk to then actuate certain designed elements within a classroom to facilitate better teaching and learning.

I challenge you, as an architect, to think beyond the scope of where technology is today — to take into account even the slightest variations of your occupant’s behaviors, because it is in those details that you will often be able to more truly optimize your design vision.

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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.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

So often, as a designer, you must think about how your design vision will impact your occupants — planning for a not-to-distant future where your vision will be realized and used. For this, you may rely heavily on your own experience of what you think works and what does not, and you may probe into your occupant’s life to understand their likes, dislikes and so on.

Still, there is so much left to simply “hoping” you made the right design decisions for your occupant; and it is time that will tell the success or failure of your built work. Yet, there are new and arising fields that can and will help your architectural design process, as you strive to make informed and talented decisions with your building designs — helping you to stand apart from the rest.

These fields include neuroscience, biomimicry and nanotechnology.

Image: Manky Maxblack | Flickr

Sharpen Your Innovative Edge

Eventually, new findings in neuroscience will meet head on with other rising fields like nanotechnology and biomimicry, and this meeting will certainly yield some new techniques for you, as an architect, to greatly expand upon (and in some cases completely revamp) what goes into your building design stages.

As it is, architects already must “predict” the future to some extent, but the best way to increase your probability of creating a successful design that works well is to learn more about those for whom you design. I know this sounds obvious, but on many levels architects can fall short of truly doing this — and then their designs suffer greatly.

So, get to know those that will experience your building, study how their communities and cultures work and what drives their collective and individual thoughts, behaviors, emotions and spirit. To connect with occupants on all of these levels and to best position yourself to use the breakthroughs that both biomimicry and nanotechnology bring, a solid and direct place to lay a foundation for understanding is with neuroscience.

Neuroscience will be evermore important for architects to grasp as new nano scales, material behaviors and nature-inspired systems integrate themselves into our built environments. With such new behavioral qualities, wouldn’t you want to understand how your “designed behaviors” will impact those “human behaviors” that experience your buildings?

I challenge you to get to know your occupants on a whole new level.

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.

© 2008-2011 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.

© 2008-2011 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.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman