Hybrid Futures
Trasforming facades into multi-faceted opportunities
Hybrid Media Enviromental Facades
Despite the theoretical advantages of kinetic shading systems, the capital and operating costs have precluded uptake. The proposition explored in this project is that if a responsive sun-shading system has a high granularity of panels and a control system that allows individual movement of each panel, then the façade can also be conceived as a low-resolution media screen. In daylight conditions, panels can be designed to provide a graduation of shadow, while in overcast or night conditions, embedded lighting can accentuate the individual ‘panel-pixels’. Underpinning this hybrid approach are data input and control systems that use machine learning and optimization techniques. A working scale prototype and full-size ‘pixels’ have been fabricated.
The hybrid façade project is an example of transdisciplinary co-design, AI, engineering and interface design collaboration, where the sum is greater than the parts. The project simultaneously addresses sustainability, human comfort and social engagement. Moreover, hybrid facades enable a new architectural aesthetic, which builds from the kinetic arts to articulate a new form of composition – patterns of movement that can morph to and from subtle ripples, amorphous swells and complex field conditions.