The current trends with regarding facades are a phenomenon which deserves this separate chapter. For this reason, today we will discuss
different dynamic facades as follows.To get more news about
facades architecture, you can visit mesh-fabrics official website.
We could say that in the last few years, an additional function has been added to the well-known aesthetic, waterproof and insulating
(thermal and acoustic) facades’ functions, that is the minimization of
energy consumption. This is not exactly a new function, but rather an
extension of the previous. Either through passive shading and
ventilation, or through complex dynamic systems, the need to control a
building’s interior environment in order to reduce our reliance on air
conditioning, heating systems or artificial lightning, has led to the
development of the buildings’ exteriors, made possible by technology.
The Homeostatic Building Facade devised by Decker Yedon is an experimental prototype, which reacts to the temperature provided to the
facade. The material of which it is composed functions as an artificial
muscle, modifying its own shape to prevent solar heat gain. Besides, it
is low consumption and localized control
Based on Santiago Calatrava’s garage door design of 1985, it offers
users the possibility of a total environment control thanks to a mobile
app available for Android and iPhone. Usually, it folds or unfolds a
series of sunshades depending on the time of day. However, through
sensors, it could react to the presence of people in the room or the
proximity of clouds.
Undoubtedly, a perfect example of a dynamic facade that is already into practice is the Al Bahar Towers by AEDAS studio. Inspired by the
mashrabiya, a traditional Islamic shading element, and by origami
shapes, the geometrical elements not only protect automatically from
solar heat gain, but they also offer a unique visual impact. And
additionally, it also uses renewable energy from photovoltaic panels.
Finally, if on the previous examples of dynamic facades they worked as living organisms, the next one it is, in fact, a living organism. The
BIQ House project, created by Arup, has a facade made of algae, whose
bio-reactors allows them to grow faster under the sunlight to increase
internal shading. Besides, those bio-reactors produce biomass and solar
energy, with the result that the building can be powered with its own
energy.
