neuromorphic architecture ashley biren
issue In an emerging
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wireless era, humans are in constant flux and require unanticipated spaces that can respond to our changing needs dynamically.
position >>>>>>>>>>>
Architecture today is the death of change: architects design buildings as static objects that fail to respond to the users’ needs and desires, while humans favor for an empathetic infrastructure that perceives, adapts, and changes in relation to each person’s idiosyncrasies.
neuromorphic
When buildings are no longer objects but living organisms that can perceive, adapt and change in relation to the inhabitant. As an architect, how do we begin to design these ‘living organisms’? How can a building become a living organism, both static and kinetic in nature, that is designed to enhance our wellbeing and adapt according to our needs and desires?
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project scenario School for Visual Arts
Client: Sketch Project-based initiative working with ‘street-involved’ small groups of youth in visual arts
Need: A dynamic learning environment for young artists.
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building adapts to user
user adapts to building
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Where? Art & Design District on Queen Street
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in Fenn reet gs St t Wes treet S n uee
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position in context Designing for Occupant Needs & Wellbeing Through Environmental Preference The building is comprised of both static and adaptive elements that satisfy the user’s functional needs and overall wellbeing within the education environment Architectural Response - Designing for Students’ Environmental Preference
Strategy#1 - The Empathetic Building The building is designed to be empathetic towards its users with the intention of enhancing their spatial experience and wellbeing through both static and adaptive architectural elements.
Strategy#2 - The Utilitarian Building The building must provide spaces that satisfy the users’ functional needs through both static and ever-changing spaces that are not predefined by a single application.
Strategy#3 - The Neuroplastic Building The building will learn from the inhabitant and evolve accordingly over periods of time; eliciting the user’s stimulus through building variations.
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strategies >> tactics Tactics on a MACRO Level Designing for Wellbeing
Designing for Needs
Strategy #1 The Empathetic Building
Strategy #2 Utilitarian Building
#1 Perceptual
Gradually revealing the building’s entrance way on street level. The ‘peek-a-boo’ effect ensures that the “visual system ‘struggles’ for a solution and does not give up too easily” as the idea of discovering an object is rewarding for the viewer. V.S. Ramachandran & W. Hirstein (1999)
Entice spectators on street level to enter building.
#1
#2 Connection to
The building is orientated towards the park across the street. Building environments that connect people to nature are more supportive of human emotional well-being and cognitive performance. Biologist E.O. Wilson’s - Biophilia (1993)
Ground floor plane is freed to allow for open public space.
#2
#3 The Hearth
The sense of safety and intimacy associated with the hearth may have been a factor in the evolution of intellectual development as well as social bonds. Anthropologist Melvin Konner (2008)
Create a central gathering node for intimate place to congregate.
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#4 Zoned
People prefer to be in places where they have good visual access to the surrounding environment (high prospect), while also feeling protected and safe (high refuge). Geographer Jay Appleton (2008)
Create an environment that enables individual work to take place.
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Tactics Problem Solving & Ambiguity
Nature
Spaces for Prospect & Refuge
Preferred settings have soft, rounded forms and irregular layouts. Suzanne Scott, University of Wisconsin (1992)
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strategies >> tactics Tactics on a MICRO level
Tactics for Strategy #1
Kinesthetic Empathy Movement patterns associated with safety show motion that is “always changing, yet always staying the same.� - Environmental Psychologist Judith Heerwagen (2008) Sensory Variability Variation in form and light creates a stimulus. Contrast in form and light is intrinsically pleasing to the eye. - V.S. Ramachandran & W. Hirstein (1999) Tactic for Strategy #2
Adaptive Floor in Zoned Spaces The building will re-configure itself into multiple uses for individual work, collaborative work, relaxation and socializing. Perspective on Second Floor Level
Perspective on Second Floor Level 00 12
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Ground Floor Level
Second Floor Level
Third Floor Level
Fourth Floor Level
1. Entrance Vestibule 2. Adaptive Floor Zones Typical 3. Hearth 4. Washroom
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Pneumatic Wall Module
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strategy #3 >> tactics The Neuroplastic Building
A The building will learn from the inhabitant and evolve accordingly over periods of time; eliciting the user’s stimulus through building variations.
Individual Zones
Body Temperature Sensing in Adaptive Floor [acknowledge user] [seat temperature sensor]
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[perceive’s need] [skin adapts] [acknowledge user] [seat temperature sensor]
Tactic The building would be comprised of sensing, actuation and control systems that would be able to acknowledge the occupant and change in real-time. External Advice from Dr. James Smith, PEng. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
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[high]
EXPANSION [low]
- BODY TEMP.
+ BODY TEMP.
CONTRACTION [high]
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[occupant result]
+ STIMULUS
- STIMULUS
[perceive’s need] [skin adapts]
EXPANSION
CONTRACTION
[occupant result]
+ STIMULUS
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[high] [acknowledge user] Group Zones [ultrasonic sensor] Ultrasonic Sensing
[perceive’s need] [adapt] [acknowledge user] [ultrasonic sensor] [environment result] [perceive’sresult] need] [occupant [adapt]
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[environment result] [occupant result]
SOUND
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SOUND
SOUND
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SOUND
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+ INTEREST EXPANSION
+ INTEREST CONTRACTION
+ LIGHT
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+ INTEREST
+ INTEREST
Adaptive Floor
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The building will re-configure itself into multiple uses for individual work, collaborative work, relaxation and socializing.
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Section BB
How? 1. Cloud-enabled applications 2. Microcontroller 3. Pneumatic Actuator 3. Elastic Surface
Details & Components
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contraction ++ air pressure
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wall section 1. curtain wall facade (pneumatic module) 2. insulated aluminum panel, steel angle, concrete slab 3. suspended ceiling 4. steel structure
exploded pneumatic module 1. double glazed panes 2. silicone encasement 3. fasteners 4. interior silicone casement 5. pneumatic channels 6. electrostem air valve 7. aluminum frame
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full expansion neutral state
Built spaces with moderate degrees of complexity, and a sense of refuge coupled with high prospect are more preferred than spaces lacking these characteristics. - Suzanne Scott PhD, University of Wisconsin - Journal of Interior Design Education and Research
Perspective Looking North-West
Perspective Looking North-East
Physical Schematic Model Scale 1:200