Factors affecting the design and development of responsive facades: a historical evolution

ABSTRACT

A responsive facade system is considered a major component of high-performance building envelope that is capable of responding to environmental stimuli and aims to improve occupants’ comforts and energy consumption. While building design-related research have addressed the technical and design aspects of responsive facades, very limited historical studies have been conducted on the evolution of such systems. This paper investigates and classifies in a chronological manner the historical factors involved in the evolution of design and development of responsive facade systems. The influential factors are classified into a set of sociocultural, technological, political, environmental and economic factors originating from revolutionary changes in art, technology and building construction since late nineteenth century. The historical timeline presented is intended to serve as a helpful resource for researchers and educators in research and teaching activities. The formulated timeline can be utilized to track the pattern of current developments and predict what might be expected in the future. While the focus of the paper is on individual architecture, the trend of the recent facade developments as presented in the timeline suggests that responsive facades will be possibly implemented for urban-scaled development of smart neighborhoods and/or cities in the future.

KEYWORDS:

• Facade
• responsive architectures
• historical evolution of facades
• facade technology
• smart building

Notes on contributors

Negar H. Matin is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Technology at Eastern Michigan University (EMU), Ypsilanti, Michigan. She has been a doctoral fellow working on responsive facade systems since 2015. Her research interests are in interdisciplinary areas of cultural identities, architectural technology, building envelopes, responsive autonomous intelligent facade systems and smart materials. During her PhD, she has published six journal and conference papers in high-ranking architectural research journal and conference proceedings. Ms. Matin has over 5 years of experience of teaching in architecture and interior design field at Azad Islamic University and Eastern Michigan University. She has been LEED Green Associate since 2016.

Ali Eydgahi started his career in higher education as a faculty member at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1985. Since then, he has been with the State University of New York, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Eastern Michigan University. During 2006-2010, he was Chair of the Department of Engineering and Aviation Sciences, Founder and Director of the Center for 3-D Visualization and Virtual Reality Applications, and Technical Director of the NASA funded MIST Space Vehicle Mission Planning Laboratory at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. In 2010, he joined Eastern Michigan University as an Associate Dean in the College of Technology and currently is a Professor in the School of Engineering Technology. He has an extensive experience in curriculum and laboratory design and development. Dr. Eydgahi has served as a member of the Board of Directors for Tau Alpha Pi, as a member of Advisory and Editorial boards for many International Journals in Engineering and Technology, as a member of review panel for NASA and Department of Education, as a regional and chapter chairman of IEEE, SME, and ASEE, and as a session chair and as a member of scientific and international committees for many international conferences.