One of the most sought-after characteristics in the built environment is resilience. Increasingly harmful natural disasters, volatile weather patterns, potential…
Stimulus Package
Recent developments in materials science offer tremendous opportunities for invention. This is particularly so with smart materials and nanomaterials that…
Materials Experience
Materiality not only influences the physical attributes of objects and environments, but also shapes experience. In design, each material decision…
Digital Carpet
Digital Carpet responds to individual presence and assists with visitor way finding. Interactive displays, directional signage, and lighting are often…
Synthetic Bark
Synthetic Bark translates the function and form of tree bark into high-performance architectural cladding. Bark provides multiple functions to trees,…
Suspended Flow
The last place one expects water to be is suspended overhead. Conventional ceilings are just that—conventional. Suspended Flow is a…
Visiwall
Visiwall is an OLED cladding system that transforms the communicative potential of the architectural facade. One of the most significant…
Terrafloor
The Terrafloor is a living floor system designed for interior use. First there were green roofs, and then green walls.…
Shimmer House
Reflective materials transform a seaside condominium into a light-harvesting space. A 1960s-era condominium located on the seashore in northwest Florida…
Algae Tube Facade
The Algae Tube Facade regulates solar exposure with living microbes. Algal blooms create deleterious environmental effects for underwater life because…
House Wrap
House Wrap radically transforms existing buildings with minimal materials. According to planning expert Arthur C. Nelson, over half of new…
Tianjin Workshop
Architects, engineers, and materials scientists have been attracted to biomimicry for two primary reasons: for guidance about how to improve…
Pipe Light
Pipe Light transforms used PVC piping and fittings into a light conveyor system. PVC is third most widely consumed plastic…
New Sod House
Sod brick construction of early homesteads is re-imagined as a contemporary wall system. Sod was a typical building material used…
Telepresence Room
The Telepresence Room provides an immersive teleconferencing experience and reduces unnecessary business travel. Business-related travel hit a peak in 2007,…
Sky Bower
The Sky Bower delivers high-impact, non-intrusive foliage to interior spaces. Indoor plants provide many positive benefits for building occupants, including…
Base Wall
Base Wall transforms discarded wall base into a new exterior cladding system. Construction waste remains a significant global problem. According…
Materials as Probes
Architecture is a ‘slow’ weather probe. Our cognition of the relationship between architecture and environment—or between architecture the dynamic milieu…