7.2_CONCLUSION

Towards a Lively Architecture explores response through tectonic assembly and material behavior. By focusing on the natural behaviors of a material and designing for those behaviors, we can begin to understand new forms of assembly that can change how we think about space. This increased sensitivity to the behaviors of materials can result in an architecture that is in turn sensitive to its surroundings.

In this thesis, the word “Lively” has been explored in many ways, but has ultimately come to mean the ability for a structure to amplify surrounding forces. By building for a material and designing a system that enhances its natural behaviors, an architecture that reveals the hidden forces in our spaces emerges. A passing wind or the slight touch of an inhabitant is now amplified causing the structure to breathe and reverberate. These subtle forces suddenly come to life and become visible in light, shadow, and rippling surfaces. The once static comes to life, and a dialogue is opened between the inhabitant, the architecture, and the environment. By designing towards a “Lively” tectonic, our perceptions of space can be dramatically altered. By revealing the hidden forces at play in our spaces, the architecture does not only create space but enhances it and calls attention to the beauty that already exists.