Boston Exhibition and Convention Center Wednesday, November 8, 2017, 11 am – 12:30 pm Architecture is typically associated with a sense of permanence, solidity and the perception that it stands still. At the same time, architects and engineers have been intrigued for centuries by more flexibility. They have attempted to mobilize elements, to create responsive facades that react to site conditions, microclimate and the users’ desires. Site conditions such as wind, sun and shadow or movement and the presence of spectators might be processed and visualized in moving parts as a process of kinetic response. Kinetic mechanisms are used in the engineering world to satisfy increasingly complex requirements of sustainability and in the art world to engage with buildings and the city. An interdisciplinary panel representing the fields of architecture, engineering, public art and fabrication will investigate case studies as well as the present and future of kinetic applications in facade design. Explored will be kinetic façade design, such as Logan Airport’s Central Garage West Expansion and insights on select projects by Arrowstreet, EXTECH, Ned Kahn, Asif Khan and soma, among others. The focus will be on projects that involve kinetic mechanisms, explore potential already realized and evolving visions. This panel is sponsored by the Placemaking Network of the Boston Society of Architects/AIA. | Kinetic Facades: Inventive Architecture, Design, Fabrication Presenters Christina Lanzl, Urban Culture Institute & BSA Placemaking Network (moderator) David Bois, Arrowstreet Anne-Catrin Schultz, Wentworth Institute of Technology Kevin Smith, EXTECH Session Objectives • Examine the physical, environmental, social or psychological impacts of kinetic facades in the context of placemaking. • Learn about the design, technology and fabrication of kinetic façades. • Explore the integration of moving elements into architecture, such as features animated by the elements (wind/air, water), software and/or mechanics. • Discuss the potential of kinetic facades for the future of design. |
0 Comments
Published in Wentworth Architecture Review 7, 2017. Download the full essay.
In this essay the co-authors, Christina Lanzl and Anne-Catrin Schultz, investigate an international interdisciplinary group of noted architects, engineers, artists, and scientists in a survey of the present and future of kinetic applications in facade design. Focus is a selection of projects that involve kinetic mechanisms, explore potential already realized and evolving visions. Architecture is typically associated with a sense of permanence, solidity and the perception that it stands still. At the same time, architects and engineers have been intrigued for centuries by more flexibility. They have attempted to mobilize elements, to create responsive facades that react to site conditions, microclimate and the users’ desires. Kinetic architecture relates to the terms of movement, bringing a reactive potential that allows users and visitors alike to interact with the building or part of it. Mapping site conditions such as wind, sun and shadow or movement and the presence of spectators might be processed and visualized in moving parts as a process of kinetic mapping. It is often facades that include the dynamics of this kind of interaction, the simplest version being a blind to keep out the sun or a power circuit to render a transparent wall opaque. Kinetic mechanisms are used in the art world to engage with buildings and the city and in the engineering world to satisfy increasingly complex requirements of sustainability. |
Urban Culture Institute
The Urban Culture Institute Archives
May 2021
Categories
All
|