Open Columns is a system of nonstructural columns, made from composite urethane elastomers that can be deployed in a variety of patterns to reconfigure the space beneath them. The system is a mutable architecture that responds to its inhabitants by changing its shape based upon the carbon dioxide (CO2) content in the air. That is, inhabitants’ breathing alters the architecture. It is also capable of learning about how to act in its environment based on its passed behavior. The genesis of this research and design comes out of an interest in self-organizing systems, which exhibit phenomena of nonlinearity, instability and adaptability.

Omar Khan (director), Laura Garofalo, Joseph D’Angelo, James Brucz, Nick Bruscia, Brian Clark, Dennis Cook, Raf Godlewski, Ashley Latona, Brian Podleski, Vail Rooney, Mike Wysochanski

Visit the Open Columns website