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Architecture That Changes Shape In Response To Heat
An anonymous reader writes "A group of students at Barcelona's Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalunya has created a functioning prototype of architecture that adapts to environmental inputs. "The project, Translated Geometries, tackles the idea by developing a new use for Shape Memory Polymers, a composite material that can deform and return to its original state when activated by cues like heat, humidity and light." The idea is this: create a wall or a roof out of a series of folded triangles. At low temperatures, the roof would be in its folded state, laying mostly flat. When exposed to heat, the creases would flex and expand, unfolding the roof and giving it a much greater surface area, thereby increasing its convective cooling. As it cools, it folds back down into a smaller shape."
And I thought the constant hum of air conditioning units was annoying. I'd hope this wouldn't be as annoying as waiting for a leaky gutter to finally plop out the next drop of water.
Looks like keeping it clean would be a nightmare.
I'd have to see tests proving this stuff would last after a hundred years of temperature changes every hour based on a temperate climate.
How big a factor is roof convection in cooling most buildings? If the air outside is humid and 95F, does convection really play much of a role? Maybe it's a bigger factor in dry areas, but that's where people use evaporative coolers (aka swamp coolers) which require much less energy than refrigerant cycles. OTOH, they do require water, so every bit helps... but turning your roof into a mechanical contraption or covering it with exotic plastics may not be justified by cost/benefit.
So, help me out here. The roof gets hot, so it expands, thereby exposing much more surface to the sunlight. How is this considered a good thing?
And the like. Very 1970s. Welcome. To the machine.
A house is something that has to work for very long times. You don't just put mechanical parts on a house that will have to work for such a long time. It's a house, not a car. And you wouldn't want to live in a house that needs regular maintenance of major parts of its structure, not to mention keeping everything of that sealed etc.
It's one thing to build a toy, it's another to build a house.
Architects need to learn to make houses people want to live in and stop desperately trying to find new, trendy things to add to monstrosities they can't live in.
People like living in Rio. People hate Brasilia. Guess which one ( award-winning ) architects built ?
First issue is will this material be suitable for wind speeds of 100 miles per hour?
I live in a coastal city where wind gusts reach that speed and that is "a bad winter storm".
Did they think to look at the mechanical ventilators used on glass houses? These are driven by the thermal expansion of wax (incompressible fluids can exert a very large force)
For the cost of the proposed surface perhaps they should be looking at optimal spacing of solar panels (solar panels have a higher initial cost but have a long term financial benefit as opposed to the alternative roof material). On a tile roof the installation requires an air gap between the panels and the roof, this gap has cooling benefits however panels are often placed edge-to-edge preventing any hot air trapped from escaping.
http://www.iaac.net/
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
I'd rather use thermochromic paints.
You might be able to find other references, but here is a whole study. http://heatisland2009.lbl.gov/...
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
There are already habitable structures that change shape in response to heat. The igloo.
I have a mini home made of candle wax. By heating it it flows down into the very mold that made it, cools, hardens and regenerates. Have i just done easily what a high tech firm conceptualizes? Have the broken my patents?
Will be pretty much done the first child or even pet cat that gets crushed by the mutating building.
But on the other hand Nork 's Beloved Leader will probably love to use it as an amusing way to execute people.
Don't worry. At 70 degrees Celsius all water from the gutter will just evaporate and your air conditioner will catch fire.
But you'll be too busy being boiled like an egg to care about the noise.
From TFA:
Exposing the SMP to heat above 60 to 70 degrees Celsius causes the material to become flexible enough to undergo geometric deformations. The material then cools into its new rigid form. Apply another round of heat, and it will return to its original memory state.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Think of those plastic pieces in the video, but as separate pieces arranged in a lattice similar to that of fish scales. Each scale would have a hinge on top and heat would cause the scales to push themselves off the wall. Then, when they get hot, they would shade the wall, but when cool could lie flat to create a partially (leaky, I'm sure) insulating air pocket between the building wall and the scale wall.
Seems simpler, and if a few scales fail, then they could be easily tageted for replacement.
I was thinking having expanding shades for windows, or window overhangs. In the summer they would heat up, expand, and block the sun from directly entering the window - helping the inside stay cool. In the winter they wouldn't expand, allowing the sun to enter and keeping the inside warmer. Passive heating and cooling, if you will.
I refuse to sign