Smarter Solutions to Improve Our Architecture

[M II A II R II K]

Three Smart Ideas for Improving Our Urban World


Nov 10th, 2011

By Alex Goldmark



Read More: http://thisbigcity.net/three-smart-i...r-urban-world/

The next breakthrough in architecture may not come from the likes of Frank Gehry, whose designs – from the Guggenheim in Bilbao to the Walt Disney Concert Hall – draw tourists from across the world. It’s more likely to come from a chemist. Why? Because our future buildings will be shaped as much by the materials on offer as by the visionaries whose work we come to hate or love. Scientists are developing new compounds that aren’t just stronger, cheaper or cleaner than their predecessors, but are also smarter. They interact with the world around them, responding and adapting to it. They react to stimuli such as heat or light, stress or moisture – even to pollution.

- The potential benefits are impressive. Some of these so-called ‘smart materials’ reduce a building’s energy consumption by maintaining stable temperatures without the need for air conditioning. Others have resilience built-in, actively mending wear and tear. Still others can change the world around them. From self-repairing bridges to air-filtering paint, here’s a look at the technologies likely to transform the spaces in which we live. The simplest innovations are already on the market. These aren’t the building blocks themselves, but the final layers we put on them. Several companies, including Johnstone’s in the UK and Sto® in the US, are offering external wall paints that clean themselves, thanks to a structure that repels dirt, inspired by the humble lotus plant.

- “Throughout your life”, explains Janine Benyus, Head of the Biomimicry Guild, “your bones form and reform to reinforce lines of stress.” She envisions structures that mimic this by responding to the stress of frequent use. It’s a vision which might soon materialise, thanks to research into innovations in structural concrete led by Carolyn Dry, Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois. “Concrete is brittle”, Dry explains, and so “the usual repairs do not hold.” She has developed an adhesive repair material, which can be embedded in similarly brittle, hollow fibres in the concrete. These crack when they come under strain, releasing the adhesive which penetrates the fissures and sets to form a new bond.

- Black roofs trap heat. White roofs repel it. A difficult choice in an unstable climate, but one that architects may no longer have to make. New roof tiles can modify their surface to be dark or light, responding to the temperature outdoors. Former MIT researcher Robbie Barbero has co-founded Thermeleon to commercialise a coating for roof tiles that changes its properties to keep the building warm or cool, “with no input or thought required from the building owner”, he says. So how does it work? The coating contains a polymer which dissolves in gel when temperatures drop, revealing a black background which absorbs light. The process is reversible, and so as the temperature rises, the polymer separates itself from the gel to form a white mixture that reflects light. Barbero expects a commercial product to be ready next year, and says he has investors lined up.

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