Smart Materials
Current and Conceptual Applications of Smart Materials in Interior Design by Katherine Bates
The Glasgow School Of Art Forum for Critical Inquiry 2013 - 2014
Year 4 Dissertation Smart Materials Current and Conceptual Applications of Smart Materials in Interior Design
Word count: 9602
Katherine Bates | BA(Hons) Interior Design Tutor: Bruce Peter
Synopsis This dissertation examines the progressive field of smart materials in the context of ‘intelligent’ interior environments. It is a conglomeration of scientific understanding and creative application that draws upon the writings of Michelle Addington, Daniel Schodek and Stefan Collini, alongside a series of documentaries, interviews, theoretical sources and case studies. Chapter 1 explores the definition of smart materials, and how an interior environment might be described as ‘intelligent’. Chapter 2 gives a scientific explanation for the properties of smart materials, with a focus on thermochromic materials, thermo bimetals, piezoelectric materials, organic light emitting diodes and phase changing materials. Chapter 3 explores the applications these smart materials in interior design, the potential possibilities they provide for ‘intelligent’ environments and the concept of blurring the boundaries of the building envelope. Chapter 4 looks at the best ways of integrating smart materials into the field of interior design, whilst addressing the challenges and issues that may inhibit their progress. The dissertation concludes that the key to optimising the application of smart materials in interior design is the merging of understanding between the sciences and the arts, highlighting the importance of independent inquiry and the will to broaden knowledge and understanding.
i
Contents
List of Illustrations
p. iii
Introduction
p. 1
Chapter 1: The origins and culture of smart materials
p. 3
Chapter 2: A scientific approach
p. 13
Chapter 3: The applications of smart materials
p. 26
Chapter 4: The integration of smart materials into the built environment
p. 40
Conclusion
p. 47
Bibliography
p. 49
ii
List of illustrations Figure 1: The Philips Bio-light created with bioluminescent bacteria, 2011. Available at: <http://www.design.philips.com/philips/shared/assets/design_assets/images/probes/ microbial_home/bio_light_hr2_2.jpg> [Accessed 15th February 2014] Figure 2: Radiant colour film. (2014) Available at: <https://www.inventables.com/technologies/radiant-light-film> [Accessed 30th January 2014] Figure 3: Digital representation of a nanotube. (2011) Available at <http://www.tasc-nt.or.jp/en/project/characteristic.html> [Accessed 30th January 2014] Figure 4: Iridescent effect of a male Morpho butterflyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wings. (2013) Available at: <http://materialsinsight.com/composites-news/butterfly-wings-carbon-nanotubesnew-nanobiocomposite-material/> [Accessed October 14th 2013] Figure 5: Digital representation of water droplets on a superhydrophobic surface. (2007) Available at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lotus3.jpg> [Accessed October 14th 2013] Figure 6: Silent Energy by Janis Huelsen, incorporating piezoelectric materials in everyday objects, 2008. Available at <http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/04/15/silent-energy/> [Accessed 30th January 2014] Figure 7: The effect of a light pen on photochromic film. (2006) Available at: <https://www.uni-marburg.de/fb15/ag-hampp/forschung/BR/Galerie/ BRVergroesserungen/BRFolienrolle?language_sync=1> [Accessed 30th January 2014] Figure 8: Magnetorheological fluid. (2013) Available at <http://science-in-a-jar.tumblr.com/post/38340878115/ferrofluid-a-ferrofluid-is-aliquid-that> [Accessed 30th January 2014] Figure 9: A schematic diagram showing the self-cleaning effect of TiO2 coated windows. Leydecker, Sylvia, Nano Materials, (Berlin: Birkhauser Verlag AG 2008) p. 74 Figure 10: Fun Palace by Cedric Price, 1964. (2013) Available at <http://abstraccionnofigurativa.tumblr.com/post/49856201154/fun-palace-cedricprice> [Accessed 30th January 2014] Figure 11: Structure of an atom (Beryllium) by Katherine Bates. (2014) Referenced from: Ouellette, Robert J., Organic Chemistry: A Brief Introduction, (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc. 1998) Figure 12: Different types of molecular bonding by Katherine Bates. (2014) Referenced from: Addington, Michelle, and Daniel Schodek, Smart Materials and New Technologies for Architecture and Design Professions, (Oxford: Architectural Press 2005) p. 32
iii
Figure 13: Schematic diagram of cholesteric liquid crystal interaction with light. Bamfield, Peter, and Michael G. Hutchings, Chromic Phenomena: Technological Applications of Colour Chemistry, 2nd ed., (Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010) Google e-book, p. 481 Figure 14: Schematic diagram of lyotropic liquid crystal interaction with light. Available at: <http://www.thermotropic-polymers.com/content/dam/thermotrope-kunststoffe/ de/documents/Solardim_ECO_Seeboth_EN_2012.pdf> [Accessed 30th January 2014] Figure 15: Leuco dye crystal violet lactone reversibly changing from colourless to blue. Seeboth, Arno and Detlef Lötzsch, Thermochromic and Thermotropic Materials, (Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group 2013) Google e-book, p. 67 Figure 16: Thermo bimetal responding to heat. (2012) Available at: <http://www.creativeapplications.net/environment/lotus-dome-objects/> [Accessed October 20th 2013] Figure 17: The piezoelectric effect. David Soares, ‘Fundamentals of Piezoelectricity’, in Antonio Arnau, ed., Piezoelectric Transducers and Applications, (New York: Springer 2008) Encore e-book, p. 2 Figures 18 and 19: A semiconductor. Gilbert Held, Introduction to Light Emitting Diode Technology and Applications, (Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group 2009) Google e-book, pp. 56 - 57 Figure 20: Schematic diagram showing how phase changing materials can maintain an ideal room temperature. Available at: <http://illumin.usc.edu/printer/2/get-that-34just-right34-feel-incorporating-phasechange-materials-into-textiles/> [Accessed 15th February 2014] Figure 21: Thermochromic paint comprising of cholesteric liquid crystals. Available at: <http://www.hwsands.com/category/110.aspx> [Accessed 17th February 2014] Figures 22 and 23: Leuco dyes used in Jay Watson’s bench Linger A Little Longer, 2011. (2011) Available at <http://www.jaywatsondesign.co.uk/portfolio/furniture/linger-little-longer/> [Accessed 4th February 2014] Figure 24: Lyotropic liquid crystals used in glass systems by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research. Available at <http://www.thermotropic-polymers.com/> [Accessed 30th January 2014] Figures 25 and 26: Lotus Dome by Studio Roosegaarde, 2011 – 2012. Available at: <http://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/lotus/photo/#lotus-dome> Accessed [Accessed October 20th 2013] Figure 27: Bloom by Doris Kim Sung, 2011. (2012) Available at: <http://www.dosu-arch.com/bloom.html> [Accessed October 21st 2013] iv
Figure 28: Bloom by Doris Kim Sung, 2011. (2012) Available at: <http://www.archdaily.com/215280/> [Accessed November 5th 2013] Figure 29: Glass panel shutter system by Doris Kim Sung, 2011. (2012) Available at: <http://www.dosu-arch.com/smartwindow.html> [Accessed 21st October 2013] Figure 30: Design for a collection of scents by Katherine Bates, 2013. Figure 31: Club WATTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s piezoelectric dance floor, 2008. Available at: <http://www.sustainabledanceclub.com/products/sustainable_dance_floor/> [Accessed 13th December 2013] Figure 32: Flexible OLED, white. Available at: < http://www.oled-info.com/lg-chem-developed-new-plastic-based-truly-flexibleoled-lighting-panels-mass-produce-them-2015> [Accessed 30th January 2014] Figure 33: Flexible OLED, yellow. Available at: <http://www.osram.com/osram_com/news-and-knowledge/oled-home/professionalknowledge/index.jsp> [Accessed 30th January 2014] Figure 34: OLED Chandelier by Rogier van der Heide. Available at: <http://doerge.tumblr.com/post/24316831747/philips-oled-chandelier-via> [Accessed 30th January 2014] Figure 35: Schlieren photograph showing the convective boundary around a person. Available at: <http://www.calpoly.edu/~rgordon/vent/ashrasc.html> [Accessed 5th November 2013] Figures 36 and 37: Phototropia by Manuel Kretzer, 2012. (2012) Available at: <http://materiability.com/phototropia/> [Accessed 31st January 2014] Figures 38 and 39: Cellophane HouseTM using SmartWrapTM by Kieran Timberlake Associates, 2008. (2014) Available at: <http://kierantimberlake.com/pages/view/28/smartwrap/parent:3> [Accessed 31st January 2014] Figures 40, 41 and 42: Electroluminescent display production. Available at: <http://materiability.com/electroluminescent-displays-diy/> [Accessed 14th February 2014] Figure 43: Work in progress at Heatherwick Studio. Available at: <http://www.heatherwick.com/haunch-of-venison-spun-chair/> [Accessed 18th February 2014] Figure 44: Work in progress at Heatherwick Studio. Available at: <http://www.heatherwick.com/autumn-intrusion/> [Accessed 18th February 2014]
v
Introduction Progressive research into the development and understanding of smart materials has exciting implications for the future of interior design. Smart materials can be defined, in straightforward terms, as ‘highly engineered materials that respond intelligently to their environments’.1 As is often the case in the fields of science and engineering, nature provides precedent, whether that is in the self-cleaning properties of the lotus leaf or the iridescent colour of butterfly wings. However, it is only in the last few decades that scientists have begun to engineer smart materials and explore their possibilities. Evidence implies that they will have a huge impact on design in the future; it is only a matter of time before they become commonplace in our built environment. This dissertation will be structured so as to cover the key conversations regarding my chosen area of research, with a study of the origins and culture of smart materials, a detailed analysis of the science explaining their many material properties, an exploration of their applications in the built environment and an investigation into how they are integrated into design. The subject embodies my distinct interests in both the arts and sciences; as succinctly expressed by Albert Einstein in his 1931 publication Living Philosophies, ‘the most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science’.2 To begin, I will explore what it means for a material to be classified as ‘smart’, and how these smart materials can be brought together to create ‘intelligent’ environments. The semantics of the words ‘smart’ and ‘intelligent’ are significant, as not only do they imply advanced materiality and design, but also the personification of inanimate objects. By having a clear understanding of these definitions, I can isolate smart materials from other, high performance materials that occasionally capitalise on that marketable word ‘smart’. There are three distinct professions involved in the process of applying smart materials to interior design that are generally perceived to have specific knowledge: the scientist who theorises,
1
Michelle Addington and Daniel Schodek, Smart Materials and New Technologies for Architecture and Design Professions, (Oxford: Architectural Press 2005), p. 1 2 Albert Einstein, cited in Mae Jemison, ‘Teach arts and sciences together’, TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, May 2009 (video file) <http://www.ted.com/talks/mae_jemison_on_teaching_arts_and_sciences_ together.html> [accessed 20th November 2013]
1
experiments and ultimately develops the material, the engineer who understands how the material performs and the architect or designer who understands what the material is and where it should be used. As discussed in Stefan Collini’s insightful introduction to a recent reprint of C.P. Snow’s 1957 Rede lecture at Cambridge University, titled The Two Cultures, the relationship between the sciences and the humanities has historically been a strained one. However, the two disciplinary areas are continually becoming less and less distinct from one another, which supports the notion that designers should be encouraged to understand the science that explains the properties of smart materials. As expressed by Catarina Mota, a protagonist for experimentation with smart materials, ‘if we are to live in a world of smart materials, we should know and understand them’.3 With this in mind, I will gather an understanding of approaches and debates pertaining to smart materials, as well as finding out about their properties and potential applications within the interior. This dissertation will draw upon the writings of Michelle Addington and Daniel Schodek in their 2005 publication Smart Materials and New Technologies for Architecture and Design Professions, leading to a further investigation of a select few smart materials that offer a broad range of exciting properties applicable to interior design. New technologies are often eased into society to make them easier to accept. I will be exploring the initial integration of smart materials into design, though the stages of high profile showpieces, demonstration projects and novelty products.4 From the current to the conceptual, this will lead to the exploration of the possibilities for future interior design, with a look at surface applied, property-changing smart materials in comparison with energy-changing smart materials that allow us to consider the concept of blurring the boundaries of a building. By having an awareness of the various applications of smart materials, questions will arise as to how they can be integrated into interior design, beyond their current status as predominantly superficial decoration or simple actuators in everyday objects. Challenges such as cost and availability need to be overcome, and designers should be encouraged to experiment with smart materials through improved material cataloguing systems. This will lead my research to explore the emergence of hacker labs and independent exploration, reflecting upon the significant role of broadening and sharing knowledge and understanding.
3
4
Catarina Mota, ‘Play With Smart Materials’, TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, March 2013, (video file) <http://www.ted.com/talks/catarina_mota_play_with_smart_materials.html> [Accessed 18th September 2013] Addington and Schodek, p. 4
2
Chapter 1: The origins and culture of smart materials Before it is possible to recognise fully the potential of smart materials, it is vital to have clear understanding of what exactly classifies a material as having ‘smart’ properties. The generally acknowledged definition is that they are ‘highly engineered materials that respond intelligently to their environments’.5 Whilst this provides an adequate preliminary explanation, a comprehensive understanding requires further investigation into how they respond and why they are described as performing ‘intelligently’. There are many interesting materials that have been specifically engineered to have high performance properties, which are principally composite materials that have enhanced properties due to the integration of two or more materials. Examples range from reinforced fibres to radiant colour film that appears to change colour depending on the angle from which it is viewed.6 There are also many interesting developments in the fields of nanotechnology and biotechnology, such as nanotubes and bio-light. However, it is important to understand that these high performance materials have a ‘fixed response to external stimuli’,7 and so regardless of how exciting their properties might be, they are static. In contrast, smart materials offer the option for change, whether that is an intrinsic property change to the material or an extrinsic change in the surrounding environment.8 Many of the sources I have studied tend to pool together smart materials with other advancements in material technologies. I can interpret this is two ways. Either the author acknowledged the difference between smart and other high performance materials but did not wish to exclude the latter in his or her publication, or alternatively, the author decided not to comprehensively define smart materials but rather referred to all newly engineered and advanced materials as ‘smart’. For the purposes of this dissertation, I will decide upon a concise definition of smart materials, allowing myself to narrow down research and avoid giving false merit to materials arguably undeserving of the classification ‘smart’. In his work Smart Surfaces and their applications in Architecture and Design, Thorsten Klooster concedes that ‘there is no ready
5 6 7 8
Addington and Schodek, p. 1 Ibid., p. 14 Ibid., p. 30 Ibid., p. 80
3
Figure 1: The Philips Bio-light created with bioluminescent bacteria, 2011.
Figure 2: Radiant colour film.
Figure 3: Digital representation of a nanotube.
4
answer to the question of how intelligence of surfaces is defined’,9 resulting in a general study of materials that are engineered on a molecular level. Axel Ritter, author of Smart Materials in Architecture, Interior Architecture and Design, describes smart materials as those that have ‘changeable properties and are able to reversibly change their shape or colour in response to physical and/or chemical influences’.10 Whilst this provides a more accurate description of how smart materials behave, it neglects to mention other material property changes besides colour and shape. The most conclusive definition I have encountered, and the one which I have decided to adhere to in this dissertation, is that given by Michelle Addington and Daniel Schodek in their publication Smart Materials and New Technologies for Architecture and Design Professions. Michelle Addington is a Professor of Sustainable Architecture at Yale School of Architecture11 and Daniel Schodek was a Research Professor of Architectural Technology Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.12 They associate smart materials as having five key characteristics: immediacy, transiency, self-actuation, selectivity and directness.13 In other words, these materials temporarily respond to environmental changes in an opportune manner that is both direct and immediate, and this autonomous response is inherent to the material itself. These characteristics can be applied to one of two types of smart material, either those that can change one of their physical properties in response to a change in the external environment, or those that can transform one form of energy to another.14 This description often conjures up futuristic images from science fiction and of advanced technologies, yet as Addington and Schodek have observed, through the glamorisation of smart materials ‘we often forget the legacy from which these materials sprouted seemingly so recently and suddenly’.15 Piezoelectric smart materials are frequently considered by leaders in the field as offering some of the greatest potential for future development. They have the highly useful ability to produce an electric voltage when subject to a mechanical force, and showcased the first high volume commercial use of smart materials in 1995 through the invention of vibration-
9
Thorsten Klooster, Smart Surfaces and their Application in Architecture and Design, (Berlin: Birkhauser Verlag AG 2009) p. 62 10 Axel Ritter, Smart Materials in Architecture, Interior Architecture and Design, (Basel: Birkhauser 2007) p. 26 11 ‘D. Michelle Addington’, Yale School of Architecture, <http://architecture.yale.edu/faculty/d-mi chelle-addington> [Accessed 17th February 2014] 12 ‘Daniel L. Schodek’, Harvard University, <http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/images/content/5/1/ v2/516155/fac-cv-schodek.pdf> [Accessed 17th February 2014] 13 Addington and Schodek, p. 10 14 Ibid., pp. 81-82 15 Ibid., p. 1
5
reducing skis.16 However, this is a very modern application for a material property discovered by the brothers Pierre and Jacques Curie over a century beforehand in 1880.17 Another such example is litmus paper, familiar to every chemist and commonly used to determine if a solution is either acidic or alkaline. Blue litmus paper will turn red and red litmus paper will turn blue depending on the pH of the solution. Although this technique is ancient,18 litmus paper will ‘change colour when exposed to specific chemical environments’,19 and so can now be defined as a chemochromic smart material. Consider glass as a material for comparison. In the 19th Century, glass was regarded as a new, revolutionary architectural material, epitomised by Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace, built to house the Great Exhibition of 1851.20 However, glass was actually discovered as far back as the Bronze Age,21 showing how a material commonly acknowledged as ‘new’ is not necessarily so. Furthermore, there are a large number of fascinating substances that have not been crafted by human engineering but appear repeatedly in nature. The iridescent blue colour of male Morpho butterfly wings is not due to coloured pigments but reflections in light. The nanometre-sized scales that cover the colourless surface of the wing reflect light in such a way to cause optical interference, resulting in a brilliant iridescent blue colour.22 This iridescent property is directly comparable to photochromic smart materials, which change colour when exposed to light.23 Another popular example is the self-cleaning properties of the lotus leaf. Due to nano-sized ridges covering the surface of the leaf, which themselves have waxy tips, very little water can settle.24 This superhydrophobic surface means that droplets of water form and roll off the leaf, carrying any dirt with it. Engineered superhydrophobics such as Lotusan paint are commonly
16
17 18 19 20
21 22
23 24
Sally McGrane, ‘Maybe an Electric Ski Would Help’, The New York Times, 3rd December 1998, in ‘nytimes.com’, <http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/03/technology/maybe-an-electric-ski-would- help.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm> [Accessed 14th October 2013] David Soares, ‘Fundamentals of Piezoelectricity’, in Antonio Arnau, ed., Piezoelectric Transducers and Applications, (New York: Springer 2008) Encore e-book p. 2 Addington and Schodek, p. 87 Ibid, p. 83 Royal Institute of British Architects, ‘The Crystal Palace’, <http://www.architecture.com/how webuiltbritain/historicalperiods/victorian/leisureandpleasure/thecrystalpalace.aspx#.UwH9z2Rd W6U> [Accessed 17th February 2014] Thomas Schröpfer, Material Design, Informing Architecture by Materiality, (Spain: Birkhauser 2011) p. 12 Okada, Naoki, et al., ‘Rendering Morpho butterflies based on high accuracy nano-optical simulation’, Journal of Optics, Vol. 42 Issue 1 pp. 25-36 (2013) <http://link.springer.com/ article/10.1007/s12596-012-0092-y?no-access=true> [Accessed 13th February 2014] Addington and Schodek, p. 83 Sylvia Leydecker, Nano Materials in Architecture, Interior Architecture and Design, (Berlin: Birkhauser Verlag AG 2008) p. 13
6
Figure 4: Iridescent effect of a male Morpho butterflyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wings.
Figure 5: Digital representation of water droplets on a superhydrophobic surface.
7
categorised as smart materials, yet this is a key example of the misconception of what a smart material actually is. Although this self-cleaning property could indeed be seen as ‘smart’, the material does not experience a change in response to external stimuli and so is limited to a high performance status. Many contenders for the title ‘smart material’ fall easily into the category. Photochromic materials change colour in response to light, piezoelectric materials conduct electricity in response to pressure and magnetorheological materials change viscosity in response to a magnetic field.25 A particularly difficult branch of materials to determine as having either smart properties or not are self-cleaning materials. As acknowledged previously, engineered superhydrophobic surfaces emulating that of the lotus leaf are sometimes regarded as ‘smart’ due to their assembly from nanotechnology, but ultimately they generate no change internally or to the surrounding environment and so do not meet the criteria I have decided upon. There is, however, an example of a self-cleaning material that does meet the criteria. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a naturally occurring compound first discovered in 1908 and used as a white pigment,26 though it was not until 1995 that TiO2 was successfully applied as a self-cleaning ceramic surface.27 It may appear on the macro scale as a white powder, but if applied as a thin, nano-sized film, it appears as transparent, allowing it to be used inconspicuously on the outer surface of glass. The photocatalytic properties of TiO2 mean that, with the stimulus of ultra-violet light, dirt is broken down. TiO2 is also hydrophilic, meaning that water spreads on its surface rather than forming droplets, and so when water impacts the surface the dirt is washed away.28 Ultimately, titanium dioxide is a smart material as it can reversibly change its adhesive properties in response to light.29 Following on from smart materials, ‘intelligent’ environments are comprised of smart devices and systems, which themselves are embedded with smart materials.30 As you might presume a difference in meaning between describing a person as either smart or intelligent, whereby an intelligent person can be assumed to have superior knowledge over a smart person, the same interpretation can be applied to design. Smart materials have seemingly advanced properties,
25 Addington and Schodek, p. 92 26 Leydecker, p. 74 27 Ritter, p. 100 28 Leydecker, p. 74 29 Ritter, p. 100 30 Addington and Schodek, p. 30
8
Figure 7: The effect of a light pen on photochromic film.
Figure 6: Silent Energy by Jannis Huelsen, incorporating piezoelectric materials in everyday objects, 2008.
Figure 8: Magnetorheological fluid.
Figure 9: A schematic diagram showing the self-cleaning effect of TiO2 coated windows.
9
but to bring them together in systems or devices to create autonomously altering interior surroundings could be seen to create ‘intelligent’ environments. To give a more succinct definition, intelligent environments are described by Addington and Schodek as ‘combined intrinsic and cognitively guided response variations of whole environments comprised of smart devices and systems to use conditions and internal or external stimuli’.31 This idea of designing responsive interiors is not a new concept. In a post-war Britain that saw the emergence of information technology in the 1950s and 60s, there was a renewed interest in the reimagining of the built environment.32 One such visionary was Cedric Price, an English Architect renowned for his concepts of a new kind of interactive environment. His project for a Fun Palace in London in 1964 enlisted the help of scientists, sociologists, artists, engineers and politicians with the hope of creating an ‘improvisational architecture which would be capable of learning, anticipating, and adapting to the constantly evolving program’.33 Although the project was not realised, his radical ideas of the time had a great influence on subsequent design. Considering the semantics of the words ‘smart’ and ‘intelligent’, they are fashionable buzzwords for many applications beyond responsive materials and interior environments. There are smart phones, smart cars, smart homes, intelligent cities and many other ‘smart’ and ‘intelligent’ things besides. Researchers at NASA have even started to look at the possibility of ‘genius’ materials that could be able to assemble their molecular structures themselves.34 All cases can be argued for or against depending on the chosen interpretation of the adjective used. However, the use of these words is more often than not commercial jargon, primarily used to market a product. It is partly the reason why smart materials and intelligent environments are so hard to define, as the terms are often misunderstood and misused. Although many smart materials have existed for some time, this field of research only significantly emerged in the 1980’s, primarily initiated through United States government funded defence research that ‘developed precision control of deformable mirrors and other high-
31 32 33 34
Addington and Schodek, p. 30 Stanley Matthews, ‘From Agit-Prop to Free Space: The Architecture of Cedric Price’, Audacity, <http://www.audacity.org/SM-26-11-07-01.htm> [Accessed 3rd January 2014] Ibid. Dr. Tony Phillips, ‘”Genius Materials” on the ISS’, NASA Science News, 27th November 2013, <http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/27nov_genius/> [Accessed 7th January 2014]
10
Figure 10: Fun Palace by Cedric Price, 1964.
11
resolution optics for space-based weapons systems.’35 This is not the first instance when military research has funded developments in the field; during World War Two there was a substantial amount of research dedicated to luminescent crystals, otherwise known as electroluminescent materials.36 From military research, the smart materials industry spread into engineering and construction, and has only recently emerged as a potential product for art and design.
35
Ouellette, Jennifer, ‘How Smart are Smart Materials?’, The Industrial Physicist, Vol. 2 Issue 4 pp. 10- 12 (1996), in ‘Scribd’, <http://www.scribd.com/doc/194502073/p10> [Accessed 14th February 2014] 36 Manuel Kretzer, ‘Electroluminescent Displays’, Materiability Research Network, 15th August 2013 <http://materiability.com/electroluminescent-displays/> [Accessed 11th January 2014]
12
Chapter 2: A scientific approach Ever since the Industrial Revolution and the considerable increase in the choice of materials available, designers have relied greatly upon the knowledge of engineers to implement their designs.37 Modern building technologies are largely the result of science and engineering that fall beyond the knowledge of most designers. However, designers are central to material selection and so it is only logical that they should have a real understanding of the materials that they propose in their designs. The application of engineered materials to interior spaces is generally perceived differently depending on the profession. Michelle Addington and Daniel Schodek argue that the scientist understands why one material is different to another, the engineer understands how a material performs and that the designer decides where a material should be used, but often does not have an inherent understanding, resulting in ‘information, not knowledge’.38 I agree that this is often the case, but this highly generalised summary quite categorically divides individuals by their professions whilst disregarding their potential crossdisciplinary interests. Overall, however, there is unquestionably a divide in knowledge and understanding between the arts and the sciences. This divide is largely due to the specialisation of knowledge, as discussed in Stefan Collini’s introduction to a recent reprint of C.P. Snow’s The Two Cultures. This comprehensive study of Snow’s Rede Lecture in 1957 at Cambridge University gives evidence of the ‘profound mutual suspicion and incomprehension’39 between the two cultures, identified by Snow as ‘the literacy intellectuals’40 and the natural scientists. As Snow observed, these two disciplinary areas historically have been in continuous conflict with one another. For instance, in the 19th Century, science was branded during the Romantic period as ‘a vocational and slightly grubby activity, not altogether suitable for the proper education of a gentleman’.41 During the time of Snow’s lecture, respect for the sciences had undoubtedly increased, but ‘British higher education in the post-war years was still largely associated with prestige, high social status, and the classics’,42 which stemmed from concerns that ‘calculation and measurement generally might be
37 Addington and Schodek, p. 3 38 Ibid., p. 26 39 Stefan Collini, ‘Introduction’, in C. P. Snow, The Two Cultures, (Cambridge: University Press 2009) p. viii 40 C. P. Snow, The Two Cultures, (Cambridge: University Press 2009) p. 4 41 Collini, p. xiii 42 Matthews, ‘From Agit-Prop to Free Space: The Architecture of Cedric Price’
13
displacing cultivation and compassion’.43 Encouragingly, science today is becoming increasingly popular; even the word ‘science’ was given the title ‘Word of the Year 2013’ by Merriam-Webster as it had received the greatest increase of online searches.44 Despite this, there is undoubtedly a lack of understanding between the two fields, and it is important for technological development that the gap is bridged. The responsibility does not rely upon just one field or the other, but a mutual effort should be made to adapt approaches. At one end of the spectrum, it is important that the sciences relate their findings to a wider audience. Reading scientific papers, the technical wording is often hard for a non-scientist to comprehend, and so alienates many readers from gaining a clear understanding. In recent years, however, key figures such as Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins have stepped forward to ‘impart to a non-specialist readership some sense of the significance, if not the detail, of extremely technical research’.45 As J.H. Plumb argued in his 1964 publication Crisis in the Humanities, cited in Collini, it is equally important that the humanities ‘adapt themselves to the needs of a society dominated by science and technology’.46 This position prefaced a large expansion in science and technically orientated education in Britain and overseas, although as argued in a lecture in 2002 given by Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, the next step should be for the arts and sciences to be taught together.47 This supports Collini’s comments on the need for individuals to have the ‘intellectual equivalent of bilingualism’48 with the aim of having the ‘capacity to attend to, learn from and eventually contribute to wider cultural conversations’.49 Encouragingly, it seems increasingly apparent that many contributors to these fields agree with this. As stated by Ginger Krieg Dosier, an assistant professor of Architecture at the American University of Sharjah, ‘the traditional boundaries separating disciplines are constantly receding and reconfiguring’.50 This was further demonstrated by my interview with Dr. Philip Harrison,
43 44 45 46 47
48 49 50
Collini, p. xi ‘Word of the Year 2013’, Merriam-Webster, 3rd December 2013, <http://www.merriam-webster. com/info/2013-word-of-the-year.htm> [Accessed 18th January 2014] Collini, p. lix J.H. Plumb cited in Collini, p. xlii Jemison, Mae, ‘Teach arts and sciences together’, TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, May 2002 (video file) <http://www.ted.com/talks/mae_jemison_on_teaching_arts_and_sciences_together.html> [Accessed 20th November 2013] Collini, p. lvii Ibid., p. lvii Ginger Krieg Dosier, interviewed by William Myers, Bio Design: Nature, Sciences, Creativity, (London: Thames & Hudson Ltd 2012) p. 258
14
a Lecturer in Materials in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Glasgow University, whose research involves the ‘experimental characterisation and numerical modeling’51 of smart materials. He remarked: ‘I consider myself a scientist and a designer, it is important not to classify yourself with one, single title’.52 There are also many practitioners with cross-disciplinary backgrounds, such as Doris Kim Sung, a Professor of Architecture at the University of Southern California with a degree in Biology. In her work she applies principals of science to readdressing the function of building materials, notably through her experimentation with thermo bimetals in adaptable architecture.53 I personally am very familiar with this divide between the arts and sciences. At secondary school my two favourite subjects were Chemistry and Fine Art, and when it came to choosing a career path I found myself torn. A degree in Interior Design provided for me the perfect solution, as it requires both logistical and creative thinking. Consequently, in order to have an in-depth understanding of the applications of smart materials in interior design, I will begin with a study of the science explaining their properties. The intrinsic properties of materials are fundamentally determined by their molecular structures. To begin, it is helpful to have a basic understanding of the composition of an atom. As explained in Robert Oullette’s writings Organic Chemistry: A Brief Introduction, a nucleus, consisting of positively charged protons and neutrally charged neutrons, sits at the centre of the atom and accounts for almost all of its mass. The number of protons in an atom determines the element, for example an atom with four protons must be Beryllium, and an atom with twenty-six protons must be Iron. Negatively charged electrons orbit the nucleus at different energy levels, known as shells, where the electrons in the outermost shell are the least stable. The number of electrons is equal to the number of protons, resulting in a neutrally charged atom.54 Atoms can bond together to form molecules or crystals, where different types of bonds will determine a material’s properties, such as strength, conductivity, reactivity and melting point. There are four main types of molecular bonds, those being covalent, ionic, metallic and Van der Waals forces.55
51 52 53 54 55
‘Dr Philip Harrison’, University of Glasgow, School of Engineering, <http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/ engineering/staff/philipharrison/> [Accessed 15th October 2013] Dr. Philip Harrison, interviewed by Katherine Bates, 21st October 2013 ‘Speakers, Doris Kim Sung: Architect’, TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, <http://www.ted.com/speakers/ doris_kim_sung.html> [Accessed 16th February 2014] Robert J. Ouellette, Organic Chemistry: A Brief Introduction, (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc. 1998) p. 2 Addington and Schodek, p. 22
15
Covalent bonds are formed through the sharing of electrons in the outermost shells between atoms, resulting in either crystalline or molecular structures.56 Covalent bonds are very strong; for example diamond is a crystalline structure of carbon atoms, which explains why diamond is very hard and has a high melting point.57 However, molecular structures have different properties to crystalline structures, as the covalent bonds between atoms within molecules may be strong, but there are weak Van der Waals forces between the molecules, resulting in low melting points.58 These intermolecular forces exist as weak attractions between molecular dipoles, due to the slightly positive and negative ‘ends’ of molecules.59 Ionic bonding occurs when electrons are transferred from one atom to another, creating an imbalanced number of protons and electrons in each atom and so resulting in either a positively or negatively charged ion. These positive and negative ions attract each other and form strong ionic bonds that hold the crystalline compound together.60 Ionic compounds, therefore, have high melting and boiling points and can conduct electricity when the charged particles are free to move in either water or as a liquid.61 Metallic bonds, like covalent bonds, share electrons, with the exception that the electrons are delocalised and free to move around. The strong attraction between the positive nucleus and the negative electrons results in strong metallic compounds with high melting points. They can also conduct electricity due to the negatively charged electrons that are free to move around.62 With this knowledge in mind, it is possible to understand how different smart materials respond to different energy inputs, such as mechanical, thermal, electrical and chemical. An understanding of how a material responds to optical energy requires an additional look at the extrinsic properties of a material, such as reflectivity or transmissivity, which are also ‘defined by the macro-structure and cannot be determined by the composition alone’.63 A smart material’s response to these energy inputs can be categorised in two distinct ways, either by a change in the
56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63
Robert Ouellette, p. 6 Addington and Schodek, p. 34 Ibid., p. 34 Robert Ouellette, p. 36 Ibid., p. 5 Addington and Schodek, p. 34 Ibid., p.34 Ibid., p. 39
16
Electrons Protons Neutrons Figure 11: Structure of an atom (Beryllium).
Covalent bonding - sharing of electrons
Ionic bonding - transfer of electrons
Metallic bonding - electrons freely flow among positive ions
Van der Waals - attractions between fluctuating dipoles of molecules
Figure 12: Different types of molecular bonding.
17
property of the material, known as property-changing smart materials, or by a transformation of energy from one form to another, known as energy-changing smart materials.64 Starting with property-changing smart materials, chromics can change colour when exposed to various stimuli.65 Colour is determined by the wavelength of light absorbed by energy differences between the shells of electrons, where the complimentary colour of the absorbed light is transmitted or reflected.66 For example, if blue light is absorbed then the material will appear orange. There are many different types of chromic smart materials, described by the energy input used to change the property of the material. Thermochromic materials change colour or transparency in response to heat and are one of the most common occurrences of chromic smart materials in the context of art, design and architecture,67 making them the focus of my research of chromic smart materials. When subjected to heat the molecular structure of a thermochromic material changes during either a chemical reaction or a phase change, which in turn induces a reversible change in either the absorptance, reflectance or scattering properties of the material.68 As implied by the number of possible explanations for a change in colour, there are many forms of thermochromic materials, though the three of particular interest to interior design are cholesteric liquid crystals, lyotropic liquid crystals and leuco dyes.69 As Peter Bamfield and Michael G. Hutchings explain in their book Chromic Phenomena: Technological Applications of Colour Chemistry, liquid crystals exist at an intermittent phase of a compound between a liquid and a solid and so exhibit both fluidity and fairly uniform molecular structures. Cholesteric liquid crystals have chiral molecular structures, where a reversible variation in the chiral pitch, affected by a change in temperature, will reflect light at different wavelengths.70 It is this change in wavelength that when seen by the human eye gives the material the optical effect of changing colour, from black through to red, then yellow, green, blue, violet and back to black as the temperature rises.71
64 65 66 67 68 69 70
Addington and Schodek, p. 80 Ibid., p. 83 R. L. M. Allen, Colour Chemistry, (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts 1971) p. 2 Ritter, pp. 80 and 85 Addington and Schodek, pp. 83 and 86 Ritter, pp. 81 - 82 Peter Bamfield and Michael G. Hutchings, Chromic Phenomena: Technological Applications of Colour Chemistry, (Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010) Google e-book, p. 472 71 Ritter, p. 81
18
incident light reflected waveband
360 deg. twist
pitch of LC
Figure 13: Diagram showing how light, and therefore colour, is effected by the chiral pitch of a cholesteric liquid crystal molecule. A change of pitch, affected by heat, would reflect light at a different degree.
off mode (e.g. 25째C)
Sunlight
thermotropic nanocapsules
on mode (e.g. 40째C)
Sunlight
resin layer about 1.5-2 mm
500nm
Figure 14: Lyotropic liquid crystal glass as transparent and translucent.
19
In Iam-Choon Khoo’s publication Liquid Crystals, he explains that lyotropic liquid crystals differ in that they offer a reversible change in the opacity of the material, from transparent to translucent and vice versa, in relation to a change in temperature. Unlike cholesteric liquid crystals, lyotropic liquid crystals experience their phase change through the addition or removal of a solvent such as water. Lyotropic liquid crystal molecules are amphiphilic, which means that one end of the molecule repels water (hydrophobic), whilst the other attracts water (hydrophilic). At low concentrations the solution is transparent, but at higher concentrations and an increased temperature, the molecules within the solution attract one another to form hollow, spherical structures with a hydrophobic centre and a hydrophilic circumference.72 As these molecules increase in size they scatter light and so create a cloudy emulsion, explaining the transformation from a transparent to a translucent solution.73 Where cholesteric liquid crystals can change their light reflective properties and lyotropic liquid crystals can change their light scattering properties, leuco dyes can change their light absorptance properties. Long, conjugated systems (alternating single and double covalent bonds between atoms) that form part of the molecular structure of leuco dyes are able to absorb visible light wavelengths, which accounts for the molecule’s colour.74 By disrupting the conjugated system of the molecule through a temperature-controlled reaction, the molecule’s light absorptance property is nullified and so the material becomes colourless.75 A smart material is not always a single material, but a composition of two or more different materials. As Axel Ritter discusses in his publication Smart Materials for Architecture, Interior Architecture and Design, thermo bimetals consist of two or more layers of different metal alloys.76 Different metals have varying coefficients of thermal expansion, where an increase in temperature will cause the atoms and molecules to increasingly vibrate and so slightly push each other apart.77 The metal alloys alone are not considered as ‘smart’, but when bonded together they create a smart material that changes shape in response to heat. One of the most frequently
72 Iam-Choon Khoo, Liquid Crystals, 2nd ed., (New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons 2007) p. 6 73 Yoon S. Lee, Self-Assembly and Nanotechnology: A Force Balance Approach, (New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons 2008) Google e-book, p. 90 74 Park S. Nobel, Physicochemical and Environmental Plant Physiology, 2nd ed. (California: Academic Press 1999) Google e-book, p. 174 75 Arno Seeboth and Detlef Lötzsch, Thermochromic and Thermotropic Materials, (Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group 2013) Google e-book, p. 68 76 Ritter, p. 53 77 Donald J. Bord and Vern J. Ostdiek, Inquiry into Physics, 6th ed. (Belmont: Thomson Brooks/Cole 2008) Google e-book, p. 179
20
Figure 15: Leuco dye crystal violet lactone reversibly changing from colourless to blue.
Figure 16: Thermo bimetal responding to heat.
21
used component combinations is a layer of iron-nickel alloy, known as Invar, bonded to a layer of iron-nickel-manganese alloy. Invar has a very low thermal expansion coefficient, making it the passive layer, whilst iron-nickel-manganese has a higher thermal expansion coefficient, making it the active layer. This means that when heat is applied, the thermo bimetal bends towards the side with the lower coefficient of thermal expansion, with the iron-nickel-manganese layer on the outside.78 Moving on to energy-changing smart materials, piezoelectric materials are able to produce an electric voltage when deformed by a mechanical force (pressure).79 As David Soares explains in his contributory chapter Fundamentals of Piezoelectricity in Antonio Arnau’s publication Piezoelectric Transducers and Applications, the piezoelectric effect is due to a change in the orientation of dipole charges between asymmetrical molecules or crystal lattices that form piezoelectric materials. As pressure is applied, the balanced dipole attractions are reoriented and the once neutral state of the material becomes polarized. This instantly produces an electric field, and this charge will remain until the pressure is released and the polarised material reverts back to its neutral state.80 The reverse can also happen, whereby an applied voltage causes a deformation and thereby a change in shape of the material.81 A number of smart materials have the ability to emit light. Unlike incandescence, the emission of light from heat, these smart materials are luminescent, which means that they emit light due to the excitement of molecules by various energy inputs.82 For the purposes of this dissertation I will focus my research on the optical phenomena of electroluminescence, the emission of light due to an electric field,83 with a particular interest in the progressive field of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Introduction to Light Emitting Diode Technology and Applications, written by Gilbert Held, explains that light emitting diodes (LEDs) are semiconductors, which are materials that are good conductors through the addition of an impurity. The dopant, an electron donating n-type material, is brought together with an electron accepting p-type material to form a p-n junction. As electrons move from the n-type material to the p-type material of a semiconductor, they move from a higher to a lower orbit and in doing so release energy.
78 79 80 81 82 83
Ritter p53 Addington and Schodek, p. 103 Soares, p. 2 Addington and Schodek, p. 103 Addington and Schodek, p. 97 Ritter, p. 110
22
Figure 17: The piezoelectric effect.
Figures 18 and 19: A semiconductor.
23
This form of energy, measured in photons, produces light. OLEDs also use semiconductor technology, although they differ in that they are based on organic (carbon-containing) materials that when manufactured as thin sheets diffuse light, as oppose to LEDs that produce a condensed light source.84 As discussed by Addington and Schodek, phase changing materials (PCMs) are technically any material that can change state. Given that most known materials can do this, simple consider the melting of ice to water, the notion of PCMs as smart materials is an ambiguous one. Their classification as smart materials is justified by how specific PCMs are used. The process of changing state involves the absorption, storage or release of large amounts of energy through the breaking or forming of attractions between atoms or molecules. Since the temperatures at which this occurs can be predicted, specific materials can be used to absorb or release energy at the required moment.85 Phase changing materials, therefore, are able to change their state in response to a change in temperature and subsequently store this energy in the form of heat or cold (negative heat).86 To summarise, we now have an introductory scientific understanding of the properties of a select few smart materials: thermochromic paints and dyes, thermo bimetals, piezoelectric materials, organic light emitting diodes and phase changing materials. Narrowing down my research to these five types of smart materials proved difficult, simply because there are so many types with exciting and valuable properties. My chosen selection, therefore, was required to exhibit a range of different properties that could represent this abundance of choice. In the next chapter I explore the applications of these materials that have at least one of the following abilities: to change colour, change transparency, change shape, produce electricity, produce light or store energy.
84â&#x20AC;&#x192; 85â&#x20AC;&#x192; 86â&#x20AC;&#x192;
Gilbert Held, Introduction to Light Emitting Diode Technology and Applications, (Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group 2009) Google e-book, pp. 57, 62 and 63 Addington and Schodek, pp. 88 - 89 Ritter, p. 165
24
Figure 20: Schematic diagram showing how phase changing materials can maintain an ideal room temperature.
25
Chapter 3: The applications of smart materials In this chapter, I will explore both current examples and conceptual possibilities for the applications of thermochromic materials, thermo bimetals, piezoelectric materials, organic light emitting diodes and phase changing materials within the interior. During my discussion regarding the industry of smart materials with Dr Philip Harrison, a Lecturer of Materials at the University of Glasgow, he spoke enthusiastically of the many different types of exciting smart materials available, but remarked that ‘the trick is finding an application’87 and that once you’ve found a use, it should be ‘cost effective and better than the existing solution’.88 The advantage of these materials is that they not only have exciting properties, but an option for change. As observed by Sheila Kennedy, a founding Principle of Kennedy & Violich Architecture, smart materials do not just require a designer to question what a material is, but when.89 Thermochromic materials have a variety of different applications, both aesthetic and practical. Cholesteric liquid crystals can be applied as paint onto a number of different surfaces such as wood, metal, glass and fabric,90 and have the ability to display a variety of different colours depending on the temperature. Leuco dyes can change reversibly from transparent to coloured. They can also be mixed with additional ink that has a fixed pigment to show a transition from one colour to another, for example, green ink could be created through the addition of yellow ink to blue leuco dye, which would result in green ink when cool and yellow ink when heated as the blue leuco dye becomes clear.91 The table and bench Linger a Little Longer by Jay Watson, an experienced furniture designer with an interest in exploring materials and technology,92 is an effective example of how thermochromic paint can show the past presence of a person. This appealing idea of leaving an impression of where we have been arguably derives from our human need to confirm our actuality, even if it is at a very basic level such as this. As expressed by Finnish architectural practitioner and theoretician Juhani Pallasmaa in his 2005 work The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture of the Senses Modern, engineered materials often aim for flawless surfaces that do not wear or age; ‘they do not incorporate the dimension of time, or the unavoidable and
87 88 89 90 91 92
Dr. Philip Harrison, interviewed by Katherine Bates, 21st October 2013 Ibid. Sheila Kennedy, ‘Responsive Materials’, in Thomas Schröpfer, Material Design: Informing Architecture by Materiality, (Spain: Birkhauser 2011), p. 120 Ritter, p. 87 Bamfield and Hutchings, p. 57 ‘About’, Jay Watson Design, <http://www.jaywatsondesign.co.uk/about> [Accessed 16th February 2014]
26
Figure 21: Thermochromic paint comprising of cholesteric liquid crystals.
Figures 22 and 23: Leuco dyes used in Jay Watsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bench Linger a little longer, 2011.
Figure 24: Glass system incorporating lyotropic liquid crystals by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research.
27
mentally significant processes of aging’.93 However, this expression of the passing of time is the very appeal of traditional materials such as wood and stone. Thermochromic paint applied to a variety of surfaces offers a possible compromise by allowing a temporary impression of change whilst using a contemporary material finish. Lyotropic liquid crystals can be incorporated within glass systems to create facades that have the ability to reversibly change transparency from clear to opaque, which can be more accurately labelled as being a thermotropic property.94 This could be used in a number of different scenarios, from creating changeable privacy scenarios in an office to heat regulating and sun protection glazing. Products in this area are still under development and do not have a huge market presence, although research carried out at institutions such as in the Chromogenic Polymers department at the Fraunhofer Institute of Applied Polymer Research have successfully engineered laminated glass facades that have these thermotropic properties.95 Thermo bimetals have numerous possibilities for design. Studio Roosegaarde, a team of designers based in the Netherlands and Shanghai who specialise in interactive projects, work with a thermo bimetal they have named smart foil to create responsive, interactive designs. In 2011 2012 they experimented with this material to create Lotus Dome, an installation that responds to movement. A human presence triggers motion sensors, which systematically turn on a light. The heat generated from the light warms the smart foils, which ‘unfold themselves in an organic way; generating transparent voids between private and public’.96 Contemporary architect Doris Kim Sung works with thermo bimetals on a larger scale. Her outdoor installation Bloom, 2011, is constructed from around 14000 pieces, providing shade and ventilation when required. In response to the sun, the panels curl and so provide shading when necessary. Its duel purpose of a ventilation system works whereby hot air rising generates a response in the thermo bimetal and so is allowed to escape.97 Kim Sung is also working on a similar system of small thermo bimetals encased within glass window panels. When cool the windows are transparent, but when hit by
93 94 95 96 97
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture of the Senses, (West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons 2005), p. 32 Ritter, p. 82 ‘Thermotropic Polymers’, Fraunhofer IAP, <http://www.thermotropic-polymers.com/en/termo trope-materialien/solardim.html> [Accessed 30th January 2014] ‘Lotus’, Studio Roosegaarde, <http://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/lotus/info/> [Accessed 11th October 2013] USC University Communications, ‘Thermo-bimetal. Prof. Doris Kim Sung, USC School of Architecture’, Vimeo, January 2012, (online video) <http://vimeo.com/35968896> [Accessed 30th October 2013]
28
bright sunshine the thermo bimetals will curl in such a way that light is blocked from entering the building, similar to a shutter system, thereby preventing heat gain and artificial cooling.98 Although these designs might be considered as extravagant and costly for their purpose, they are essentially demonstration projects showing the creative use of thermo bimetals, and so I believe that they have their role in showing the potential direction of future interior design. I am very intrigued by the possible uses of thermo bimetals, so much so that they inspired one of my studio projects. Echoing my interest in both the arts and sciences, my tailored brief was to design a home for a collection of scents and their corresponding molecular formulas. Scent is a difficult thing to exhibit given its lack of a tactile or visible presence; I required a way to store and display the scent that would evoke interest. Inspired by Studio Roosegaarde’s use of motion sensors and lights, but with the addition of an encased scent behind a thermo bimetal wall, a scent is released only when someone is there to smell it. By having a wall of multiple, uncurling metal barriers, an engaging and interactive environment is created. Moving on to the applications of energy-changing smart materials, piezoelectric materials have already made a number of appearances in interior design, notably as floor tiles that convert mechanical energy into electrical energy as people walk on their surface. In 2008, Döll Architects worked together with Enviu to design Club WATT in Rotterdam, the first nightclub to have a sustainable dance floor.99 The power created as people walk and dance on the floor is used to power the LED lit flooring.100 By contrast, The East Japan Railway Company also used similar tiles to harness the energy from the large number of people walking through the interior of the train station to power the ticket machines and electronic displays.101 Although the concept of electricity generated by exploiting the everyday movements of people is a very exciting concept for a sustainable future, the current reality is that the amount of energy generated is minimal. Through further technological development this could be improved, but as it stands they can only be envisioned as small components amongst many in self-sustaining building. It is my opinion, however, that they are a step in the right direction towards creating sustainable interiors
98
USC University Communications, ‘Thermo-bimetal. Prof. Doris Kim Sung, USC School of Architecture’ 99 ‘FAQ’, Energy Floors, Available at: <http://www.sustainabledanceclub.com/faq/> [Accessed 13th December 2013] 100 ‘Sustainable dance floor’, Energy Floors, <http://www.sustainabledanceclub.com/products/ sustainable_dance_floor/> [Accessed 13th December 2013] 101 Jorge Chapa, ‘Energy-Generating Floors to Power Tokyo Subways’, Inhabitat: Design Will Save the World, <http://inhabitat.com/tokyo-subway-stations-get-piezoelectric-floors/> [Accessed 16th February 2014]
29
Figures 25 and 26: Lotus Dome by Studio Roosegaarde, 2011 - 2012.
30
Figures 27 and 28: Bloom by Doris Kim Sung, 2011.
Figure 29: Glass panel shutter system by Doris Kim Sung, 2011.
31
Figure 30: Design for a collection of scents by Katherine Bates, 2013.
Figure 31: Club WATTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s piezoelectric dance floor, 2008.
32
and demonstrate an innovative use of a scientific discovery made over 130 years ago. Organic light emitting diodes are the latest development in light producing devices. As expressed in 2013 by James Brodrick, the lighting program manager for the U.S. Department of Energy102, although OLEDs are predominantly emerging in the mobile phone, television and computer screens market, they offer great potential for interior lighting. Like LEDs, one of the biggest advantages of OLEDs is that they are much more energy efficient than alternative light emitting products such as thin film transistors or incandescent bulbs. In addition, and unlike LEDs that produce a focused light, OLEDs diffuse light over a large surface area, and can also be transparent, very thin and flexible.103 OLEDs are relatively new to the market and therefore still have a few weak points involving long-term stability of certain colours and moisture vulnerability,104 although current market leaders including LG Chem, Osram and Philips are researching further technological development to resolve these issues. At present, OLEDs have a strong market in mood lighting and decorative designs. OLED panels, either rigid or flexible, not only provide glare-free lighting, but also offer the possibility for luminescent surfaces, straight or curved, as opposed to surfaces lit by a secondary light source.105 Stepping into the realm of ‘intelligent’ environments, we need to think like physicists. The envelope of a building is generally perceived as a boundary between the interior and the exterior; the warmth and the cold; the enclosed and the exposed. It could, therefore, be determined that the physics of the building, in other words the thermodynamics, luminosity and acoustics, are also on the macro-scale, ‘coincident with and defined by the visible artifacts of the building’.106 However, Addington and Schodek argue that in the eyes of physicists, ‘the boundary operates as the fundamental transition zone for mediating the change between two or more state variables’,107 which occurs on a much smaller scale. They ask us to consider the convective boundary around the human body. As shown in Figure 35, this boundary has a ‘non-visible
102 Fritzi Pieper, ‘The Future of LED Innovation: An interview with the DOE’s Jim Brodrick’, Energy Efficiency Matters, 18th October 2012, <http://www.energyefficiencymatters.org/the-future-of-led- innovation-an-interview-with-does-jim-brodrick/#> [Accessed 17th February 2014] 103 James Brodrick, ‘Where Do OLEDs Stand?’, Lighting Design & Application, Vol. 43 Issue 10 pp. 16-18 (2013), in ‘Art & Architecture Complete’, <http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/ pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=64ab8b97-fda5-43e7-9278-d264744eb63f%40session mgr110&hid=118> [Accessed 5th February 2014] 104 Ritter, p. 137 105 Brodrick, ‘Where Do OLEDs Stand?’ 106 Addington and Schodek, p. 53 107 Ibid., p. 52
33
Figures 32: Flexible OLED, white.
Figure 33: Flexible OLED, yellow.
Figure 34: OLED Chandelier by Rogier van der Heide
34
Figure 35: Schlieren photograph showing the convective boundary around a person.
35
and transient shape, contiguous with the material object, but contingent on the surrounding environment’.108 By approaching design with this perspective in mind, we can start imagining interior environments that selectively respond to the needs of the occupant via his or her immediate surroundings, rather than those that are static and homogeneous. These ‘intelligent’ environments are, like smart materials, not simple to define; motion sensor lights and thermostats are automatically responsive to the user’s needs, but most people do not associate them as ‘intelligent’ devices. Rather, as Addington and Schodek argue, the aspirations of intelligent environments ‘must operate in multiple contexts and simultaneously interact with the transient behaviors and desires of humans’.109 Bradley Quinn, British writer, critic110 and author of Design Futures, 2011, believes that in years to come, ‘individuals will tend to use their living space to determine the type of life they lead’111 and that this integration of technology will help to shape our very movements. A symbiosis between habitat and inhabitant will develop as ‘designs equipped with technological interfaces gain the ability to follow their user’s actions and sense changes in their surroundings’,112 resulting in ‘intelligent’ living environments. These futuristic concepts are reminiscent of those frequently approached in science fiction novels and films. One only has to refer to Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film classic 2001: A Space Odyssey and its core message that humans are becoming ever more reliant on their tools to see this. Although, of course, the film goes much further and shows a world where our very tools decide they no longer need to rely on us.113 I am not suggesting that this may happen, but through the very discussion of ‘smart’ materials and ’intelligent’ environments, we are already implying the development of autonomous design and perhaps one-day, truly artificial intelligence. Regarding the ever-growing interest in adaptive environments, smart materials are only a contributing factor amongst a number of different branches of research, and ones that often overlap one another. Such technologies and materials include research in nanotechnology, biotechnology, sensors, actuators and robotics, all of which are actively being explored. ‘Intelligent’ interiors still appear to be in their early, conceptual stages of development, although there are a number of projects involving smart materials that delve into this arena and attempt
108 Addington and Schodek., p. 53 109 Ibid., p. 203 110 ‘Profile, Bradley Quinn’, The Royal Collage of Art, <http://inspiringmatter.org/speakers/brad ley-quinn/> [Accessed 17th February 2014] 111 Bradley Quinn, Design Futures, (London: Merrell Publishers Limited 2011), p. 36 112 Ibid., p. 138 113 2001: A Space Odyssey, dir. by Stanley Kubrick, (MGM 1968)
36
to at least visualise how the future interior might function. One such project is Phototropia by Manuel Kretzer, founder of the smart materials research network Materiability.114 Created in 2012, it is an artistic installation that is both self-sustaining and responsive to a human presence, born from a ‘naïve curiosity’115 for smart materials such as electro-active polymers and electroluminescent displays. Although it has no direct application to interior design, I believe it successfully demonstrates how smart materials could inspire participative design. The project that I believe has most succeeded in pushing the boundaries of the building envelope and achieving an intelligent environment through the integration of smart materials is the Cellophane HouseTM by American architects Kieran Timberlake Associates. It is constructed using their product SmartWrapTM, a hotbed of smart materials brought together to form a composite described as a ‘mass customizable, energy-generating, lightweight and sustainable envelope’.116 OLEDs cover the interior and exterior walls to provide lighting and information displays, which are powered by organic solar cells that convert solar energy into electricity.117 PCMs store heat to maintain a desirable room temperature, whilst aerogel, a very lightweight and exceptionally good insulator that is able to transmit light,118 provides thermal insulation.119 All of these components are smart materials. In addition, an exciting material born from developments in nanotechnology is used. Nanotubes, which are one hundred times stronger and six times lighter than steel, gives SmartWrapTM its strength.120 Ultimately, this innovative material offers a glimpse into potential building techniques of the future, as it incorporates the ‘segregated functions of a conventional wall into a multi-layer skin of just a few millimeters in thickness.’121
114 ‘About’, Materiability Research Network, <http://materiability.com/about/> [Accessed 16th January 2014] 115 Manuel Kretzer, ‘Phototropia’, Materiability Research Network, 15th June 2012 <http:// materiability.com/phototropia/> [Accessed 16th January 2014] 116 ‘SmartWrapTM’, Kieran Timberlake Associates, <http://www.kierantimberlake.com/pages/view/28/ smartwrap/parent:3> [Accessed 12th January 2014] 117 Ritter, p. 140 118 Addington and Schodek, p. 7 119 Ritter, p. 140 120 ‘Smart WrapTM – Exhibit Proposal’, Kieran Timberlake Associates, <http://web.mit.edu/lira/www/ qualExam/biblio/smartwrap.pdf> [Accessed 12th January 2014] 121 ‘SmartWrapTM’, Kieran Timberlake Associates
37
Figures 36 and 37: Phototropia by Manuel Kretzer, 2012.
38
Figures 38 and 39: Cellophane HouseTM using SmartWrapTM by Kieran Timberlake Associates, 2008.
39
Chapter 4: The integration of smart materials into the built environment Currently, smart materials are mostly used in novelty products, superficial decoration and simple actuators in everyday objects, as ‘even when a new technology has opened the door to unprecedented possibilities, architects and designers often try to make it fit within their normative use.’122 Thermochromic mugs change colour when filled with a hot drink, mood rings containing cholesteric liquid crystals claim to relate changes in body temperature to emotions, OLEDs are used in luminescent wallpaper and thermo bimetals are actuators in thermostats.123 This is common practice for the integration of any new technology into the mass market, though smart materials could offer much more for interior design. Addington and Schodek emphasize that to achieve this, designers must see the potential of smart materials as more than just provocative materials.124 By having a basic understanding of the science that explains the properties of smart materials, designers allow themselves to have a greater awareness of the different ways these materials can be applied, as well as the disadvantages they may have. For the designer whose only perspective of thermochromic materials is a paint that can change colour, they limit themselves to designing literal demonstrations of the material’s colour changing ability, and so miss the material’s potential as instrument for change. Scenarios could include, though are by no means limited to, showing the past presence of a person, changing the ambiance of lighting levels or creating sustainable temperature regulating systems.125 Designers would also be equipped with practical knowledge, such as that thermochromic paint degrades in the presence of UV light and so is not best suited to outdoor use.126 One way of encouraging designers to think more creatively about the applications of smart materials is to readdress how they are classified. Liat Margolis, Material Research Director at Material ConneXion, argues that classification of materials is traditionally done depending on a materials preconceived application that adheres to established codes and requirements,
122 123 124 125
126
Addington and Schodek, p. 218 Ritter, p. 53 Addington and Schodek, p. 203 Michelle Addington, ‘For Smart Materials, Change is Good’, Architectural Record, Vol. 195 Issue 9 pp. 160-162 (2007), in ‘Art & Architecture Complete’, <http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/de tail?sid=7feebf22-9a3d-4990-b9dc-dc4418c4a3a2%40sessionmgr4005&vid=5&hid=4212&bdata =JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=vth&AN=26795061> [Accessed 5th February 2014] Addington and Schodek, p. 87
40
by systems such as the Construction Specification Institute.127 However, there are so many smart materials available that could offer beneficial material solutions, a classification system that allows for their flexible properties is needed, so as to improve upon the conventional ‘classificatory pigeonholes’128 predominantly in use. Material ConneXion is a prime example of this improved method, as it allows users to search for materials based on a range of properties, such as flexibility, translucence, fire resistance, biodegradability and many more. This transcends standard perceptions of material applications and encourages a dialogue between designers, scientists and manufacturers to produce innovative solutions.129 This surge in advanced, scientific materials could, understandably, give the impression that craftsmanship and hands-on experimenting with materials is an old-fashioned concept. In many ways it is, due to the mass production and consumerism of technology most of us do not understand, ‘we have a system in which few produce for the many’.130 However, the need for playing with materials has not lessened, it is simply the material palette that is changing and expanding. As design critic Victor Papanek argued in his 1972 publication Design For The Real World, ‘playing with bandsaws or electric drills makes no sense for students today’;131 rather ‘it is other tools at the leading edge of technology that can provide this learning function’.132 Although this statement was made over 40 years ago, I believe this arguement is just as relevent today, if not more so. I disagree that learning traditional craft is irrelevant; there is a great appreciation and respect for the artistry of raw materials. One only has to look at the work of designers such as the contemporary British designer Thomas Heatherwick to see this. When considering the common approach towards the design and user experience of buildings, Heatherwick finds it surprising that ‘the designers of these objects were so far removed from the craftsmanship of making them’.133 Instead, Heatherwick successfully applies ‘a dedication to artistic thinking and the latent potential of materials and craftsmanship’134 in his combined
127 128 129 130
131 132 133 134
Liat Margolis, ‘Encoding: Digital & Analogue Taxonavigation’, in Thomas Schröpfer, Material Design, Informing Architecture by Materiality, (Spain: Birkhauser 2011) p. 154 Ibid., p. 148 Ibid., p. 163 Catarina Mota, cited in Christina Sherwood, ‘Q&A: Catarina Mota, co-founder, openMaterials.org’, Smart Planet, 5th May 2013, <http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/pure-genius/ qa-catarina-mota-co-founder-openmaterialsorg/> [accessed 14th January 2014] Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World, (London: Thames and Hudson 1972), p. 286 Ibid., p. 286 Thomas Heatherwick and Maisie Rowe, Making, rev. ed., (London: Thames & Hudson Ltd 2013) p. 10 ‘About’, Heatherwick Studio, <http://www.heatherwick.com/about/> [Accessed 4th November 2013]
41
studio and workshop, resulting in interior projects that are both contemporary and advocatory of traditional craftsmanship. Furthermore, by observing the different processes involved when working with smart materials, we can see that the methods are undoubtedly a craft. As we can see in Figures 40, 41 and 42, the processes undergone when creating the luminescent displays for Manuel Kretzer’s project Phototropia demonstrate a variety of skills and techniques, from screen printing to electronics. Overall, whilst I might disagree with Papanek that traditional craft is no longer relevant to design, I believe he is right in saying that skills in technological craft are the future. Many designers have pursued their interest in experimenting with smart materials, and there are a variety of ways of achieving this, from enrolling at institutions such as MITlab to the more informal setup of an individual’s home. A key protagonist who encourages us to experiment with smart materials is Catarina Mota. She has a Masters degree in the Interactive Telecommunications Program from New York University and is the founder of the online platform openMaterials, a research group that investigates a broad range of material processes and applications.135 Another such platform is Materiability, which is more specifically orientated towards experimenting with smart materials in architecture and design.136 Groups such these are not secretive or possessive over their research, but rather the opposite. Their transparent approach to sharing knowledge makes them perfect resources for experimenters, otherwise known as ‘hackers’,137 to satisfy their curiosity by discovering different techniques for working with smart materials, sharing their findings online and connecting to others from an array of backgrounds with a mutual interest in innovative design. By researching the potential possibilities created when people from different educatory backgrounds collaborate together, I was inspired to attend Startup Weekend Glasgow 2013, a weekend event where ‘hardware and software hackers, designers and industry experts’138 met and divided into groups, with the aim of creating a viable business model within the theme of sustainability. Although not directly related to the field of smart materials, the event was a great opportunity to meet people from different professions but with a shared interest in
135 Mota, cited in Sherwood, ‘Q&A: Catarina Mota, co-founder, openMaterials.org’ 136 ‘About’, Materiability Research Network, <http://materiability.com/about/> [Accessed 16th January 2014] 137 Mota, cited in Sherwood, ‘Q&A: Catarina Mota, co-founder, openMaterials.org’ 138 ‘Startup Weekend Glasgow’, Startup Weekend, <http://glasgow.startupweekend.org/> [accessed 30th October 2013]
42
Figures 40, 41 and 42: Electroluminescent display production.
43
Figures 43 and 44: Work in progress at Heatherwick Studio
44
technology, sustainability and innovation. I was in a team consisting of structural engineers, computer programmers, a physicist and an architect, and this assortment of people made for a productive team with a broad range of skills. My main role was working on brand identity and website design, and then working with a computer programmer who coded my designs into a functioning prototype. After an intense weekend we presented to a panel of judges, and our efforts were rewarded with the prize for the startup with the Best Positive Local Impact. It was undoubtedly an invaluable experience for me that affirmed the benefits of cooperation between people of different professions, though the delegation of tasks clearly pigeonholed participants by their individual expertise and did not entirely allow for personal development of different skills. One of the key issues for the development of smart materials from more than a niche market is cost. Refering back to comments made by lighting project manager James Brodrick, the organic light emitting diode industry, for instance, could offer a future of sustainable lighting, but not only do they rely on continued technical advancements to resolve some of their performance issues, they need to significantly reduce manufacturing costs and find a keen investor to take on these challenging risks.139 The alternative is that OLEDs never go beyond the niche lighting market at which it currently stands, or if this proves unsustainable, the market could be completely abandoned.140 LEDs faced similar challenges when they first emerged on the market, and it has been argued that ambient lighting was invented to find a use for these dim-light emitting LEDs. As Addington claims, LEDs have since gone on to be the smart material that has achieved the most prevalent impression in the field of interior design, helped by their designation as an environmentally friendly technology. It is this challenge of finding a credible reason for development and investment, and ultimately supply and demand, that all new technology must encounter when trying to go beyond the existence of showpieces, demonstration projects and novelty products and progress into the mass market.141 The result of this encouraged exploration of the potential of smart materials could lead to a new way of thinking about material selection in interior design, and perhaps even a redefinition of the boundaries of an interior environment. Many designers would most likely be supporters of futuristic, ‘intelligent’ environments such as the Cellophane HouseTM. Karim Rashid, a designer
139 140 141
Brodrick, ‘Where Do OLEDs Stand?’ ‘Rethinking OLED lighting’s future’, Nano Markets, March 2013, <http://nanomarkets.net/ articles/article/rethinking_oled_lightings_future> [Accessed 2nd January 2014] Addington, ‘For Smart Materials, Change is Good’
45
renowned for his interiors that ‘reflect the digital age’,142 argues that people need to ‘release themselves from nostalgia, antiquated traditions, old rituals and meaningless kitsch’.143 Someone who might disagree is Juhani Pallasmaa, a Finnish architectural practitioner, theoretician and author of Eyes of the Skin, written in 2005. With regards to large transparent walls, such as those seen in the Cellophane HouseTM, where light is constant and there are few mysterious shadows, he argues that having ‘lost its ontological meaning, the window has turned into a mere absence of a wall.’144 When describing our relationship with the sensation of touch, Pallasmaa considers:
Our skin traces temperature spaces with unerring precision; the cool and invigorating shadow under a tree, or the caressing sphere of warmth in a spot of sun, turn into expressions of space and place.145
If interior environments were to respond to the occupant directly, such as a consistently ideal temperature, would we miss out on encounters and interactions such as those he is describing? As further expressed by Kent C. Bloomer and Charles W. Moore in their 1977 publication Body, Memory and Architecture, building environments are in danger of just focusing on the quantitative and practical elements of design, forgetting the ‘transactions between body, imagination and environment’.146
142 143 144 145 146
Jennifer Hudson, Interior Architecture Now (London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd 2007) p. 258 Quinn, p70 Pallasmaa, p. 47 Ibid., p. 58 Kent C. Bloomer and Charles W. Moore, Body, Memory and Architecture, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press 1977) p. 105
46
Conclusion Throughout my research, I continually came across exciting new materials and technologies that could be applied to interior design, but upon further investigation, I realised they were not in fact ‘smart’ materials. Even after a thorough investigation into how a smart material is defined, I still needed to accurately analyse how the material functioned in order to understand if it was indeed ‘smart’ as oppose to high performance. After an in-depth exploration of the science explaining the properties of smart materials, I realised that although many of the effects they exhibit are fascinating to see and experience, they are often incidental to a relatively simple chemical reaction or property change that can be rationally explained. This perspective has helped me to see beyond a smart material’s unusual and ‘magical’ properties. The more familiar we as designers are of the exciting properties of smart materials, and the less we are distracted by just their provocative properties, the more actively they can be integrated into design. There are a large number of smart materials that are emerging into the interior design market, although some have more potential to stay than others. Surface applied, property-changing smart materials offer both sensory and practical applications, such as thermochromic materials that can show the past presence of a person and provide temperature safety indications, or thermo bimetals that can provide intuitive shading and be used as a representation for movement. Although new and interesting to designers now, many of these materials and their properties may lose their intrigue and be replaced by the next development in material engineering. There are many instances of innovative and intelligent uses of smart materials, but they could be seen by some to be superfluous and unnecessary for their purpose. Consider, for instance, glass that can change from clear to opaque, which could be used to provide responsive shading, glare control, solar heat regulation or controllable alterations of privacy. It is undoubtedly an impressive showcase of engineering, but there is the possible, albeit cumbersome, alternative of using a ‘globe thermometer in a feedback loop sending signals to a motor that through mechanical linkages repositions louvers on the surface of the glazing’.147 Or to give a more economical solution, a blind. However, the appealing nature of smart materials is that they are self actuating, whereby their properties are inherent to the material itself and not reliant on a complex system. They point to a future where the building envelope is a sophisticated, single component that caters to all practical needs of an interior environment, such as the Cellophane
147
Addington and Schodek, p9
47
HouseTM project that embodies a strong structure, temperature control, lighting control and information display. Those smart materials that have the potential to have a more significant impact on interior design are energy-changing materials, such as piezoelectric materials, organic light emitting diodes and phase changing materials. They not only offer a possible future direction for sustainability, but could also redefine our understanding of the boundary of a building beyond the walls and facades that we are familiar with today. Responsive interiors are still a figure of the visionaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imagination, as although there are a few experimental projects with smart materials, systems and devices that create responsive installations, the majority have no real function other than to simply showcase what these materials can do. No doubt designers, scientists and engineers will continue to experiment with and invent new applications for smart materials; we can only speculate as to the importance of these materials on the future of interior design. If we are to discover the full potential of these materials and determine their worth as lasting resources, or not, as the case may be, the optimisation of the application of smart materials in interior design must be encouraged through a merging of understanding between the sciences and the arts. We need to encourage further experimentation and development, with an emphasis on collaboration between different disciplines, opportunities for independent inquiry and the will to broaden our knowledge and understanding.
48
Bibliography Books Addington, Michelle, and Daniel Schodek, Smart Materials and New Technologies for Architecture and Design Professions, (Oxford: Architectural Press 2005) Allen, R. L. M., Colour Chemistry, (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts 1971) Collini, Stefan, ‘Introduction’, in C. P. Snow, The Two Cultures, (Cambridge: University Press 2009) Heatherwick, Thomas, and Maisie Rowe, Making, rev. ed., (London: Thames & Hudson Ltd 2013) Hudson, Jennifer, Interior Architecture Now, (London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd 2007) Kennedy, Sheila, ‘Responsive Materials’, in Thomas Schröpfer, Material Design: Informing Architecture by Materiality, (Spain: Birkhauser 2011) Khoo, Iam-Choon, Liquid Crystals, 2nd ed. (New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons 2007) Klooster, Thorsten, Smart Surfaces and their Application in Architecture and Design, (Berlin: Birkhauser Verlag AG 2009) Leydecker, Sylvia, Nano Materials in Architecture, Interior Architecture and Design, (Berlin: Birkhauser Verlag AG 2008) Margolis, Liat, ‘Encoding: Digital & Analogue Taxonavigation’, in Thomas Schröpfer, Material Design, Informing Architecture by Materiality, (Spain: Birkhauser 2011) Myers, William, Bio Design: Nature, Sciences, Creativity, (London: Thames & Hudson Ltd 2012) Ouellette, Robert J., Organic Chemistry: A Brief Introduction, (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc. 1998) Pallasmaa, Juhani, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture of the Senses, (West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons 2005) Papanek, Victor, Design for the Real World, (London: Thames and Hudson 1972) Quinn, Bradley, Design Futures, (London: Merrell Publishers Limited 2011) Ritter, Axel, Smart Materials in Architecture, Interior Architecture and Design, (Basel: Birkhauser 2007) Schröpfer, Thomas, Material Design: Informing Architecture by Materiality, (Spain: Birkhauser 2011) 49
Snow, C. P., The Two Cultures, (Cambridge: University Press 2009) Zec, Peter, Interzum Award: Intelligent Material & Design 2005, (Essen: Red Dot Edition 2005)
Electronic resources Bord, Donald J. and Vern J. Ostdiek, Inquiry into Physics, 6th ed., (Belmont: Thomson Brooks/ Cole 2008) Google e-book Bamfield, Peter, and Michael G. Hutchings, Chromic Phenomena: Technological Applications of Colour Chemistry, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010) Google e-book Held, Gilbert, Introduction to Light Emitting Diode Technology and Applications, (Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group 2009) Google e-book Lee, Yoon S., Self-Assembly and Nanotechnology: A Force Balance Approach, (New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons 2008) Google e-book Nobel, Park S., Physicochemical and Environmental Plant Physiology, 2nd ed., (California: Academic Press 1999) Google e-book Seeboth, Arno and Detlef Lötzsch, Thermochromic and Thermotropic Materials, (Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group 2013) Google e-book Soares, David, ‘Fundamentals of Piezoelectricity’, in Antonio Arnau, ed., Piezoelectric Transducers and Applications, (New York: Springer 2008) Encore e-book
Films 2001: A Space Odyssey, dir. by Stanley Kubrick, (MGM 1968)
Interviews Harrison, Dr. Philip, interviewed by Katherine Bates, 21st October 2013
Journals Addington, Michelle, ‘For Smart Materials, Change is Good’, Architectural Record, Vol. 195 Issue 9 pp. 160-162 (2007), in ‘Art & Architecture Complete’, <http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/ detail?sid=7feebf22-9a3d-4990-b9dc-dc4418c4a3a2%40sessionmgr4005&vid=5&hid=4212 &bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=vth&AN=26795061> [Accessed 5th February 2014] 50
Brodrick, James, ‘Where Do OLEDs Stand?’, Lighting Design & Application, Vol. 43 Issue 10 pp.16-18 (2013), in ‘Art & Architecture Complete’, <http:// web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=64ab8b97-fda5-43e7-9278d264744eb63f%40sessionmgr110&hid=118> [Accessed 5th February 2014] Okada, Naoki, et al., ‘Rendering Morpho butterflies based on high accuracy nano-optical simulation’, Journal of Optics, Vol. 42 Issue 1 pp. 25-36 (2013), in ‘Springer’, <http://link. springer.com/article/10.1007/s12596-012-0092-y?no-access=true> [Accessed 13th February 2014] Ouellette, Jennifer, ‘How Smart are Smart Materials?’, The Industrial Physicist, Vol. 2 Issue 4 pp. 10-12 (1996), in ‘Scribd’, <http://www.scribd.com/doc/194502073/p10> [Accessed 14th February 2014]
Online articles, blogs, videos and websites Berube, Claude, ‘From Sustainability and Interior Design to Nanotechnology’, Sustainability, Innovation and Nanotechnology, 13th September 2012, <http://claudeberubenanocore.blogspot. co.uk/2012/09/from-sustainability-and-interior-design.html> [Accessed 20th September 2013] Chapa, Jorge, ‘Energy-Generating Floors to Power Tokyo Subways’, Inhabitat: Design Will Save the World, <http://inhabitat.com/tokyo-subway-stations-get-piezoelectric-floors/> [Accessed 16th February 2014] Eng, Karen, ‘Tinker, tailor, solderer: Fellows Friday with Catarina Mota’, TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, 21st September 2012, <http://blog.ted.com/2012/09/21/tinker-tailor-soldererfellows-friday-with-catarina-mota/> [Accessed September 29th 2013] Grünkranz, Daniel, ‘Towards a Phenomenology of Responsive Architecture: Intelligent Technologies and their influence on the Experience of Space’, Form Society, 1st July 2012, <http://formsociety.com/2012/07/daniel-grunkranz-towards-a-phenomenology-of-responsivearchitecture-intelligent-technologies-and-their-influence-on-the-experience-of-space/> [Accessed 5th January 2014] Jana, Reena, ‘The Maker Movement Meets Big Business’, Design Mind, <http://designmind. frogdesign.com/articles/radical-openness/the-maker-movement-meets-big-business.html> [Accessed 14th January 2014] Jemison, Mae, ‘Teach arts and sciences together’, TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, May 2009 (video file) <http://www.ted.com/talks/mae_jemison_on_teaching_arts_and_sciences_together.html> [Accessed 20th November 2013] Kretzer, Manuel, ‘Electroluminescent Displays’, Materiability Research Network, 15th August 2013 <http://materiability.com/electroluminescent-displays/> [Accessed 11th January 2014] Material ConneXion, <http://www.materialconnexion.com/> [Accessed 24th November 2013] 51
Matthews, Stanley, ‘From Agit-Prop to Free Space: The Architecture of Cedric Price’, Audacity, <http://www.audacity.org/SM-26-11-07-01.htm> [Accessed 3rd January 2014] McGrane, Sally, ‘Maybe an Electric Ski Would Help’, The New York Times, 3rd December 1998, in ‘nytimes.com’, <http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/03/technology/maybe-an-electric-skiwould-help.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm> [Accessed 14th October 2013] Mota, Catarina, ‘Play With Smart Materials’, TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, March 2013, (video file) <http://www.ted.com/talks/catarina_mota_play_with_smart_materials.html> [Accessed 18th September 2013] OpenMaterials, <http://openmaterials.org/> [Accessed 18th September 2013] Philip Ball: Science Writer, <http://www.philipball.co.uk> [Accessed 7th November 2013] Phillips, Dr. Tony, ‘”Genius Materials” on the ISS’, NASA Science News, 27th November 2013, <http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/27nov_genius/> [Accessed 7th January 2014] Pieper, Fritzi, ‘The Future of LED Innovation: An interview with the DOE’s Jim Brodrick’, Energy Efficiency Matters, 18th October 2012, <http://www.energyefficiencymatters.org/thefuture-of-led-innovation-an-interview-with-does-jim-brodrick/#> [Accessed 17th February 2014] Sherwood, Christina, ‘Q&A: Catarina Mota, co-founder, openMaterials.org’, Smart Planet, 5th May 2013, <http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/pure-genius/qa-catarina-mota-co-founderopenmaterialsorg/> [Accessed 14th January 2014] Smart Geometry, <http://smartgeometry.org/> [Accessed 25th September 2013] USC University Communications, ‘Thermo-bimetal. Prof. Doris Kim Sung, USC School of Architecture’, Vimeo, January 2012, (online video) <http://vimeo.com/35968896> [Accessed 30th October 2013] - Online resources, author unknown ‘About’, Jay Watson Design, <http://www.jaywatsondesign.co.uk/about> [Accessed 16th February 2014] ‘About’, Heatherwick Studio, <http://www.heatherwick.com/about/> [Accessed 4th November 2013] ‘About’, Materiability Research Network, <http://materiability.com/about/> [Accessed 16th January 2014] ‘Daniel L. Schodek’, Harvard University, <http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/images/content/5/1/ v2/516155/fac-cv-schodek.pdf> [Accessed 17th February 2014]
52
‘D. Michelle Addington’, Yale School of Architecture, <http://architecture.yale.edu/faculty/dmichelle-addington> [Accessed 17th February 2014] ‘Dr. Philip Harrison’, University of Glasgow, School of Engineering, <http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/ engineering/staff/philipharrison/> [Accessed 15th October 2013] ‘FAQ’, Energy Floors, <http://www.sustainabledanceclub.com/faq/> [accessed 13th December 2013] ‘Lotus’, Studio Roosegaarde, <http://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/lotus/info/> [Accessed 11th October 2013] ‘Profile, Bradley Quinn’, The Royal Collage of Art, <http://inspiringmatter.org/speakers/bradleyquinn/> [Accessed 17th February 2014] ‘Rethinking OLED lighting’s future’, Nano Markets, March 2013, <http://nanomarkets.net/ articles/article/rethinking_oled_lightings_future> [Accessed 2nd January 2014] ‘SmartWrap’, Kieran Timberlake Associates, <http://www.kierantimberlake.com/pages/view/28/ smartwrap/parent:3> [Accessed 12th January 2014] ‘Smart Wrap – Exhibit Proposal’, Kieran Timberlake Associates, <http://web.mit.edu/lira/www/ qualExam/biblio/smartwrap.pdf> [Accessed 12th January 2014] ‘Speakers, Doris Kim Sung: Architect’, TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, <http://www.ted.com/ speakers/doris_kim_sung.html> [Accessed 16th February 2014] ‘Startup Weekend Glasgow’, Startup Weekend, <http://glasgow.startupweekend.org/> [Accessed 30th October 2013] ‘Sustainable dance floor’, Energy Floors, <http://www.sustainabledanceclub.com/products/ sustainable_dance_floor/> [Accessed 13th December 2013] ‘The Crystal Palace’, Royal Institute of British Architects, <http://www.architecture.com/ howwebuiltbritain/historicalperiods/victorian/leisureandpleasure/thecrystalpalace.aspx#. UwH9z2RdW6U> [Accessed 17th February 2014] ‘Thermotropic Polymers’, Fraunhofer IAP, <http://www.thermotropic-polymers.com/en/ termotrope-materialien/solardim.html> [Accessed 30th January 2014] ‘Word of the Year 2013’, Merriam-Webster, 3rd December 2013, <http://www.merriam-webster. com/info/2013-word-of-the-year.htm> [Accessed 18th January 2014]
53