OL # 40 DYNAMIC SKINS: equisite chimeras

IAM Open Lecture #40
Presenter: Prof. Mesa Brode Olga Lucia and Prof. Fash Nathan Christopher, Roger Williams University (Bristol, Rhode Island)

Thursday, Mai 4th 2023, 14:00
IAM Media Lab. Kronesgasse 5/III

Poster[x]

Transformation or change is oſten resisted in the production of buildings for pragmatic reasons, in opposition to the inherent properties of materials, like their tendency to weather, thermally expand and contract, and potential for movement. Whereas the status quo in building envelopes tends toward the static, immutable, and easy to maintain, the goal of this workshop is to explore the potential of dynamic skin. As systems that change based on specific inputs, dynamic skins fulfill an intended function, yet their ability to transform holds great potential for communicating narrative-based content by revealing and enabling the exchange that occurs at the façade/face of buildings. We will consider their performance as both the numerically quantifiable functional characteristics – such as heat transfer, daylighting, or solar energy harvesting – as well as their social and communicative characteristics.

Professors Olga Mesa and Nathan Fash are Co-Directors of the Architecture Program in the School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation at Roger Williams University. They have collaborated to investigate the performative capabilities of dynamic building skins. Their internationally recognized research encompasses both speculative investigations and grounded prototypes where narrative, poetics of construction, and sustainable practices are integrated into design proposals. They teach undergraduate and graduate level design studios as well as courses in Construction Materials and Technology, Digital Representation and Fabrication. With more than 20 years of experience practicing Architecture, Nathan Fash is a principal of the renowned Cambridge-based firm Supernormal and Olga Mesa is a research associate at the Harvard Material Process and Systems Group (MaP+S) investigating innovative material systems applied to Architecture.