Designing for change: The poetic potential of responsive architecture

Abstract

The integration of responsive components in architecture offers the potential to enhance the experience of the building by giving expression to fleeting, changeable aspects of the environment. Responsive buildings enable a physical response to changes in the environment through specific building elements; in rare cases these responsive elements become an integral and poetic element of a culturally significant work of architecture. In this paper I examine two types of responsiveness, one which concerns the changing environment and another the activities and needs of the building's inhabitants. I look at two examples of buildings that illustrate a potential poetic role for architectural components responding to these two types of change, and propose that architects will need to acquire experience with designing for specific rates, scales and types of change before responsive elements will more frequently appear as a poetic and integral part of the building.

Responsive solutions in shaping innovative architectural structures

“…The Fun Palace was something more than a conventional building -a kind of framework and virtual architecture merging art and technology. From about 1964, when the first conceptual drawings of the Fun Palace were created, until 2018, the search for solutions that are beyond the regular understanding of architecture is being continued [18]. Responsive architecture is closely related to the mechanical movement of the structure and the change of the object's properties, because of the influence of external factors.…”

Enhancing Housing Flexibility Through Collaboration

“…Maintenance in such cases depends on each article. A programming repair may be cheap but the exchange of parts could be very specific, difficult, and expensive [27]. The biggest disadvantage of digital systems is energy and connection by Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.…”

Future of Interactive Architecture in Developing Countries: Challenges and Opportunities in Case of Tehran

“…Generally, responsive architectures as part of interactive architecture are those that measure actual environmental conditions (via sensors) to enable buildings to adapt their form, shape, colour or character responsively (via actuators) (Beesley, 2006). Responsive buildings enable a physical response to changes in the environment through specific building elements (Meagher, 2015). In other words, the goal of this architecture is to reduce the negative effects of building construction on the natural environment (Butcher, 2006).…”