performative architecture as complex geometry in 4d

There are several emergent phenomena that make some designers and artists think about responsive environments which leads to a dynamics design process and prevents architecture to be always static. One of them is certainly the introduction of complex geometries both in design and manufacture process. There is a shift in the design process towards environments that are in fact more than responsive. From the participatory society there seems to appear a growing demand for collaborative strategies in spatial organization.

"Performative architecture", as defined by Kas Oosterhuis is yet at an early stage of developement, but the concept itself brings in enormous possibilities. Those are for the complex geometries constantly evolving in 4d.

Kas Oosterhuis is developing the research on programmable buildings both in professional and academic carrer. ONL studio and Hyperbody Research Group work collaboratively on projects like Muscle NSA. The design was exhibited in Paris at "Non-standard architectures" exhibition at Centre Pompidou.

Muscle NSA is not just a responsive system, but a pro-active one. Kas Oosterhuis describes it as "the prototype for an environment that is slightly out of control", meaning, that the goal of the instalation is to develop a "individual character" of the Muscle. ONL programmed the Muscle in a way that it doesn't neccesearly answers to the changing conditions in the same manner. It is said to have a "will of it's own". The "will" is obtained by the use of E-motive scripts, which analyze not only the input from potential users but also output generated by itself. The script that drives the actual spatial behaviour is therefore informed in real time by two sources, thanks to which it becames a negotiation between the spatial behaviour of the users and predefined behaviours scripted into the Muscle.

The Aegis Hyposurface was designed by deCOi Architects and received the Feidad (Far Eastern International Digital Architectural Design) Award 2001. It is interactive, dynamically reconfigrable 3D screen reacts in real time to surrounding. The Prototype consist out of about 1000 of these metal tiles. They are moved by “telescopic fingers” which reach a speed up to 60 km/h. This project continues to research at MIT’s Media Lab, announce fully kinetic and environmentally responsive architectural surfaces, responding to changes in for example climate.

G12: Akriti Sood, Monika Szawioła, Michał Piasecki