Bio-inspired Design / Parametric Design / Architecture

Location: Campus of IZTECH, Izmir, TURKEY 38.318446, 26.638349

Unit Size: 20*20cm
Panel Size: 1*1m
Type: Responsive Façade

Personal Contribution

Architectural Design, Visualization, Modelling, Preliminary Sketches

Partner(s)

Bahadir Altin (Architecture) - Architectural Design, Modelling, Visualization, Preliminary Sketches
Hatice Damla Dag (Molecular Biology & Genetics) - Research, Documentation, Inspiration of the Source

Instructors

Virgina Thompson Couch (Architecture) virginiacouch@iyte.edu.tr
Anne Frary (Molecular Biology & Genetics) annefrary@iyte.edu.tr

Skin Bionomics | Bio-inspired

Façade Design

Skin Bionomics is a kinetic and self responsive facade design, inspired by the blooming mechanism of the morning glory flower. This project was designed to block the excessive sunlight in a physics building, where light sensitivity played a crucial role in the lab works. Thin sheets of plywood shrink and expand naturally with the moisture, following the abstracted twisting behavior of the flower.

Project Location & Main Goals to Achieve

Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH), located at the countryside of Izmir, Turkey, is a campus that is vulnerable to the harsh weather conditions due to its elevated and uninterrupted location. Physics Department of IZTECH, B block is vulnerable to extreme heat throughout the year due to its exposed west façade. This condition effects the quality of the interior space, therefore exterior façade is necessary.

Description of the Source Organism

In order to achieve a self responsive façade design, the Morning Glory Flower was inspected due to its environmentally adapting abilities. The mechanism of the petals of the morning glory flower allows it to bloom in the right conditions of humidity and heat. Overlapping, Space-saving structure of the source was the inspiration of the potential form.

In order to create space saving structure at the minimum level with twisting planes, origami was used as a technique to test out the possible design ideas. In the end, the geometry of the design was established.

The structure of the form was tested with a paper hand-made model

The finalization of the unit ended with the selection of the material. Plywood was chosen for its humidity and heat responsive abilities. The final panel to be used on the façade was established from the designed units as 1*1m. The quality of the interior daylight is transformed accordingly

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