SMART BUILDING SKINS
The contemporary idea of the smart facade has only been around for a few short decades, helped along by recent advances in chemical and material science.
An Energy-Producing Algae Facade
It is the result of three years of testing by a group of designers from Splitterwerk Architects and Arup. It's tinted by millions of microscopic algae plants, which are being fed nutrients and oxygen to spur biomass production. Facilitated by direct sunlight, the speedily-growing little cells end up heating the water, and that heat is harvested by the system and stored for use in the building.
A Light-Responsive Facade That "Breathes"
The pair of Abu Dhabi towers are sheathed in a thin skin of glass, although not ideal for the desert climate. So the architects at Aedas designed a special, secondary sun screen that deflects some of the glare without permanently blocking the views.A series of faceted fiberglass rosettes ,based on traditional Islamic mashrabiya , which open and close in response to the temperature of the facade.
A Facade That Eats Smog
The chemical company Alcoa unveiled a remarkable technology that could clean the air around it. The material contained titanium dioxide, which effectively scrubbes the air of toxins by releasing spongy free radicals that could eliminate pollutants. The stuff has made appearances on streets, clothing, and architecture since most recently, on the sun screen of a new Mexico City hospital, the Torre de Especialidades.
A Low-Tech, Operable Skin
Sandblasted glass circles are affixed to a central rod. Based on humidity and temperature inside the building, these rods pivot automatically to facilitate the flow of air through the facade. A simple but clever solution.
A Metal Mesh That Reacts to Heat
This sun shade was made with thermobimetal,a material that's actually a laminate of two different metals, each with its own thermal expansion coefficient. That means that each side reacts differently to sunlight, expanding and contracting at different rates causing tension between the two surfaces, and ultimately, a curling effect. So when the surface gets hot, the thin panels on the shade curl up to allow more air to pass through to the space below and when it cools down, it closes up again.
source
Gizmodo.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://gizmodo.com/5-smart-building-skins-that-breathe-farm-energy-and-g-1254091559 [Accessed 14 Dec. 2015].
The contemporary idea of the smart facade has only been around for a few short decades, helped along by recent advances in chemical and material science.
An Energy-Producing Algae Facade
It is the result of three years of testing by a group of designers from Splitterwerk Architects and Arup. It's tinted by millions of microscopic algae plants, which are being fed nutrients and oxygen to spur biomass production. Facilitated by direct sunlight, the speedily-growing little cells end up heating the water, and that heat is harvested by the system and stored for use in the building.
A Light-Responsive Facade That "Breathes"
The pair of Abu Dhabi towers are sheathed in a thin skin of glass, although not ideal for the desert climate. So the architects at Aedas designed a special, secondary sun screen that deflects some of the glare without permanently blocking the views.A series of faceted fiberglass rosettes ,based on traditional Islamic mashrabiya , which open and close in response to the temperature of the facade.
A Facade That Eats Smog
The chemical company Alcoa unveiled a remarkable technology that could clean the air around it. The material contained titanium dioxide, which effectively scrubbes the air of toxins by releasing spongy free radicals that could eliminate pollutants. The stuff has made appearances on streets, clothing, and architecture since most recently, on the sun screen of a new Mexico City hospital, the Torre de Especialidades.
A Low-Tech, Operable Skin
Sandblasted glass circles are affixed to a central rod. Based on humidity and temperature inside the building, these rods pivot automatically to facilitate the flow of air through the facade. A simple but clever solution.
A Metal Mesh That Reacts to Heat
This sun shade was made with thermobimetal,a material that's actually a laminate of two different metals, each with its own thermal expansion coefficient. That means that each side reacts differently to sunlight, expanding and contracting at different rates causing tension between the two surfaces, and ultimately, a curling effect. So when the surface gets hot, the thin panels on the shade curl up to allow more air to pass through to the space below and when it cools down, it closes up again.
source
Gizmodo.com, (2015). [online] Available at: http://gizmodo.com/5-smart-building-skins-that-breathe-farm-energy-and-g-1254091559 [Accessed 14 Dec. 2015].
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