LDM at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL) is directed by Jeffrey Huang, a Full Professor at the School of Computer and Communications Sciences, and the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering. His current projects focus on the integration of physical computing (sensors, actuators, RFID, LEDs, etc.) into architecture and cities, the use of advanced computational tools in the design process, and the understanding of design thinking.
The proposed research builds on a project at LDM investigating ‘phototropism’ – the ability of plants to induce changes in their development in order to adapt to their context (NEMBRINI 2006). The main hypothesis is that stimulating the growth of architectural form through the availability of solar energy leads to the generation of form with efficient solar harvesting characteristics (NEMBRINI 2009). In order to do so, a parametric geometric growth process is interfaced with a solar radiosity simulation (Radiance, [CHENG 2006]) to estimate the available solar power on the whole geometry. By automatically modifying its geometry according to the availability of solar power, the architectural design adopts a form that mirrors the solar lighting context. This transformation is then translated in scale prototypes with the help of rapid prototyping tools.
Huang has published and lectured widely on the convergence of physical and virtual architecture, including Future Space: A Blueprint for a New Business Architecture in Harvard Business Review (HUANG 2001), and a forthcoming book (with Muriel Waldvogel) on Architecture as Interface for MIT Press. His design (with Muriel Waldvogel) for the ‘Swisshouse’, a Swiss consulate in Boston, provides a single consistent inhabitable interface that integrates architectural and user interface design thinking, hardware and software design (HUANG and WALDVOGEL 2002, HUANG and WALDVOGEL 2004), allowing unsophisticated users to collaborate and be aware of each other over distance.
Contact
Dr. Jeffrey Huang, Trevor Pratt
Media and Design Laboratory (IC/ENAC)
BC104
EPFL
1015 Lausanne
Suisse
021 693 1341
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