Biotech + Nanotech = Living Structures?

Nokia teamed up with the University of Cambridge to work on a new phone that is so intricate it almost seems alive. Many of its features rely on biotechnology, but at a nano scale where each molecule is carefully controlled including:

- Micro "grass" uses solar energy to recharge
- Fly-like hairs read chemical properties in the environment
- "Nanoflowers" for self-cleaning
- Spider silk for super flexibility and strength

Check out the video which zooms into the phone to show the microscopic images of how these processes work. It is really interesting.

Nokia Morph Video

Perhaps we can use similar technology to make our buildings more alive and adaptable to the changing environment inside and out. It could even become more interactive with people.

~Alice

Denmark

The Middelgrunden offshore wind farm has only 20 wind turbines, yet generates enough energy to power 20,000 Danish households annually. They have some of the biggest wind turbines (102 meters tall) as shown in the photo at the top of a man standing next to one of the blades. It's located about a mile offshore. Although siting wind turbines offshore is a little more costly, it is much more efficient (93%) because the surface of the water is much smoother and there is less turbulence due to less temperature variance. The average wind speed is about 16 MPH.

What you can harvest from a field of steel

Walter de Maria's lightning field offers a precedence of cultivating powerful, yet transient forces found in nature. Similarly, wind turbines capture wind and demonstrate its capacity as an immense resource for energy. The uniform rows form a farm-like landscape. Much like de Maria's lightning field, a wind farm is a visual spectacle of wind turbines planted like crops, harvesting energy.

achieving SECLUSION and PROXIMITY

Hans Square at the Korea University in Seoul gives us an example of in-between space. The glass and steel structure allows the ground level to perform as an outdoor observation gallery without disturbing the activity indoors. The ground becomes the roof of the underground level, creating interesting courtyard spaces in between potentially high traffic areas.
The siting of this building type can translate into a wind scoop within a wind corridor on the quarry.

The Tree Wall: Nature's Opportunities

Leaves taken from the same Sugar Maple tree

One of the important characteristics shaping the wall is how it brings the natural elements of wind and sun into the interior spaces. At first glance, the sun and wind seem to be conflicting because they are not coming from the same direction and they are needed in different quantities depending on the season. The wind, which can be used for ventilation, moves mainly from east to west and is most necessary during the summer, but creates uncomfortably cool spaces in the winter. On the other hand, the sun, which also moves from east to west but from the south, can create uncomfortably hot spaces in the summer but is necessary in the winter. The walls forming the wind corridor needed to be rethought in the relationship with these elements, the seasons and each other. A more flexible wall was needed that could adapt on its own to different weather conditions. Nature could not be considered as a problem, but instead as an opportunity to make the interactions occurring within the outside corridor more compelling.

This new approach to nature led to the idea of using a tree wall to face our brick wall. In the summer the trees will be full of leaves and dense, which will provide a solid enough barrier for the corridor to direct a steady wind. This will then be funneled through the brick wall to ventilate the interior spaces during the hot days. The heavy leaves will also provide shading to prevent the interior spaces from overheating with too much direct sunlight. The trees will then shed their leaves as the weather becomes cooler and leads into winter. This will decrease the wind and ventilation flowing through the corridor and the brick wall, which will prevent the spaces from becoming too cold. The leafless branches will also allow more sun to come in through the brick wall and will bring more warmth and light into the interior spaces.

One of the trees that would fit well within the tree wall is the Sugar Maple that is native to Kelleys Island. It fulfills the basic need of having deciduous leaves, but its leaves can provide a further connection with the brick wall. These leaves are known for changing during the fall into a rainbow of colors between bright green, yellow, orange and dark red. These colors can also appear all at once within a single tree or one section of the tree can begin to change weeks before the rest. The colors of the brick wall, whether it is stained glass or colored brick, can create a visual link to the tree wall during the fall season. This clear visual connection will only occur during a particular time, but it will help make more apparent the transition of the tree wall from summer to winter as it loses density with the falling of its colorful leaves.

This tree wall provides answers to questions concerning how to incorporate the seasons and the elements of sun and wind. By using the natural cycle of the tree wall, we are able to bring forth a more intriguing relationship between the corridor walls. Where the natural cycle of the tree wall is capable of providing much of the necessary increase and decrease of sun and wind according to the season on its own with little maintenance.

~S.A.M

Looking Back (Water)

Orientation about water helped us to shape our program through the usage of:

subterranean spaces along the water;

water as a buffer creating differing experiences for spaces hugging the water;

and water becoming a destination through the uses of views towards water.

These three ways of orienting about water create differing experiences which inform the types of program occuring within them.