Abstract v_0.5

The field of responsive architecture has explored many avenues of response such as media screens, light sensitive facades and reactive wall systems, but has not directly addressed the tectonics of our built environment.  These tectonics will face a harsh change in a future where material efficiency, capability, and performance will increase, while the availability of materials will decrease.   This thesis will address issues of response through the exploration of delicate, branching, aggregate structures that inherently embody notions of “Liveliness”

Using Wood for its embedded tensile properties, models will be developed that explore varying “precarious” branching typologies that are conducive to responsive environments.  These investigations will be used to inform digital simulations, and these simulations will then be used to study the material capabilities and possible structure aggregations.  Light, shadow, overlap of materials, and opacity will also be explored for its potential to register a visual liveliness and alter our perception of space.

Using the gained knowledge from the model studies and simulations, a full scale immersive installation will be built that embodies liveliness through its branching tectonics that explore part to whole relationships as well as the use of light and density to affect visual perception.

The goal of the research is to question typical notions of response through the development of a new lively tectonic that blurs the boundary between materiality and space, thus allowing use to design more immersive spaces and open a different dialogue on constructing for response.