“Adaptation is the evolutionary
process whereby a population becomes better suited to its habitat. This
process takes place over many generations, and is one of the basic
phenomena of biology.”
– On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin
Our lives are surrounded by constantly
changing forces of nature and environment. Everything is in a constant
state of flux, with varying degrees of dynamism. Our lives too, are
always in motion. The spaces we inhabit are constantly changing as well,
although the change is slow and occurs through non-physical conditions.
The physical state of the inhabitable spaces are more or less constant
and not in motion.
A traditional building skin provides
stability, regulates air pressure (fenestration) and protects the
interiors from direct environmental factors (sunlight, rain and wind).
Building skins are a vital component to resolve the issues of responsive
architecture as they are a medium through which intelligence can be
imparted to the building system to respond to an environmental stimulus.
Thus key characteristic of an effective intelligent building skin is
its ability to modify energy flows through the building envelope by
regulation, enhancement, attenuation, rejection or entrapment.
The term ‘adaptation’ is commonly used
in architecture in relation to the changing morphologies of the
architectural artifact. These changing morphologies have been a result
of timely changes and evolution of architecture as a social entity,
technological product and as a practice. Through years of architectural
evolution, changes have occurred in notions of how buildings are
conceived and built. The architectural morphologies adapt to the time,
in which they are conceived and realized. These adaptive morphologies
are a resultant of changing times, social form, economic support, user
needs and environmental effects. The environmental changes that occur in
a given time, such as a day, can be a constant force of changes that
need to occur in an architectural object, leading to local adaptations.
The global climatic change, occurring over a course of time, creates
forces for architectural object to change over the years, in order to
survive and sustain itself. Adaptation in architecture is a long-term
process that occurs with time and generations, where improvements in the
technology, economic support as well as human thought-process,
contribute to the adaptive response.
Adaptation occurs through generations,
with constant improvements, feedback evaluations, and survival of the
fittest, based on certain fitness criteria. Many projects dealing with
adaptive architecture can be sub-categorized adaptation as interactive,
dynamic, kinetic or responsive architecture.
Relationship of Adaptive Architecture
to Responsive, Dynamic and Kinetic Architecture. (rat[LAB] project
adaptive[skins] carried out at AA London-Em.Tech, www.adaptiveskins.com)
An intelligent pre-programmed mechanism
of response and feedback needs to be embedded in architecture, with a
real-time response and improvisation, for it to be termed ‘adaptive’. It
is a complex phenomenon with a multi-layered non-linear process.
Buildings do not merely provide shade
and protection from the external environment but have a multitude of
functions to perform and a range of conditions to adapt and respond to.
Architecture has transformed from being functional to intelligent, with
changing requirements of time. Social environment is a constantly
changing parameter and architecture needs to modulate and change with it
too. Since its very origin, architecture has been evolving and
developing to serve the needs of the cities and its people. In today’s
complex lives however, with the fluctuating parameters and conditions of
the cities and changing environments, architecture needs to serve to a
multitude of functions through its life cycle. Thus it is necessary that
architecture responds to all the fluctuating parameters and serves the
purpose of its existence.
Responsiveness can be observed at various scales and in various elements of the whole system, within architectural realm.
The works of Diller &Scofidio
(Blur), dECOi (Aegis Hypo-Surface), and NOX (the Freshwater Pavilion,
NL); are all classifiable as types of responsive architecture (Diller
&Scofidio 2002; Liu 2002; Lootsma and Spuybroek 1997). Each of these
works monitor fluctuations within the environment and alter their form
in response to these changes. The Blur project by Diller &Scofidio
relies upon the responsive characteristics of a cloud to change its form
while blowing in the wind. In the work of dECOi, responsiveness is
enabled by a programmable facade, and a programmable audio–visual
interior in the work of NOX. All of these works depend upon the
abilities of computers to continuously calculate and join programmable
digital models to the real world and the events that shape it.
Building envelope of Blur
Building, Diller &Scofidio, Media Pavilion: Swiss Expo, 2002 (Left) |
Façade of Hypo surface, deCOi, 2001(Center) | Internal spaces of
Freshwater Pavilion, NOX, 2001 (Right)
Adaptation as a process has been
conceived in various disciplines with similar approach and goals. This
definition offers a direct translation into architectural
conceptualization. We can consider the building to be a system which
adapts its behaviour to information acquired about its users.
Information external to the building (system) could also be integrated
into the process, for example weather data, energy prices, demands of
neighbouring buildings, etc. Adaptive Architecture thus has the
capability to respond to a number of parameters with time. Time is an
integral factor driving adaptation in architecture. Thus adaptive
architecture can be said to be Responsive Architecture evolving with
time.
Responsive building
skin designed for MACBA, Barcelona, by rat[LAB] – Sushant Verma &
Pradeep Devadass in research adaptive[skins] carried out at AA
London-Em.Tech. www.adaptiveskins.com )
Source: http://www.arch2o.com/responsive-to-adaptive-the-shifting-trends-in-architecture/
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