Atmosphere Habitat

NOVEL ARCHITECTURAL SENSES

Human comfort is determined by various climatic parameters, most importantly by wind, heat and humidity.  Construction standards require architects to conform to a prescribed atmospheric condition for each space to provide human comfort to most occupants.  Building climates are thus controlled by centralized mechanical systems that consume much energy, and lack individual control.  Architects must seek innovative methods of providing human comfort within the built environment.

People are unique, and therefore it is impossible to satisfy everyone with a homogenous climatic condition.  Architects have therefore established that an acceptable interior climate needs to agree with eighty percent of the occupants.  While this standard may seem reasonable, the plethora of information and technologies available today render it possible to include the remaining twenty percent. 

Human comfort can enhance the experience of space, increase concentration and performance, and improve occupants’ health.  Consequently, human comfort affects the individual, the economy, and our society at large.

The first area architects must reconsider is the exterior envelope.  Our hermetically sealed buildings do well to separate us from extreme climatic conditions, yet compromise the potential to reduce energy by utilizing exterior temperature, wind, and humidity when climate permits.  Biological systems, including our own skin, offer viable examples of envelopes that are able to simultaneously reject and embrace elements according to their desirability.  Building envelopes can further utilize climatic conditions to generate electricity and reduce the energy load of the building.

Secondly, architects must reconsider the organization of interior areas.  Energy flows through spaces to achieve equilibrium, warming colder areas and humidifying drier areas in the process.  Certain interior spaces are naturally humid and warm, including greenhouses and bathrooms.  These areas can provide necessary humidity and heat to adjacent spaces to achieve comfort.  Such a method will require architects to rethink the boundaries of each space to allow only the desired amount of humidity and heat to penetrate adjacent spaces.  Excess humidity can cause the building fabric to disintegrate and rot, and humans to develop sickness.  Biological organisms, including various plants, offer us examples of how to manage such boundaries.

Thirdly, architects should reconsider the sensual experience of climatic conditions.  Although our body does not provide us an accurate sense of the climate, it is able to identify whether a space is humid, dry, cold, or hot.  Greater understanding of climate can be achieved through employing materials that evidently react to specific parameters, for instance through changing colours or shape according to the humidity level and temperature of a space.  These materials will increase the perception of space and understanding of the individual’s comfort zone. 

Finally, architects must find ways to let individual control the climate of areas they inhabit for extended periods of time.  As our spaces become increasingly shared and open, it will not be possible to solve this problem by surrounding each individual zone with walls.  Areas would have to be climatically controlled via an open space.  Smart materials and technologically advanced sensors may be able to assist us in reaching this goal.

The study of biological organisms, smart materials and advancements in technology can contribute to the creation of responsive interior climates that are energy efficient, individually controlled, and which increase our sensual experience of space.   

Dennis Dollens TED Talk

As a follow-up to Kevin's previous post on Dennis Dollens, it might be worthwhile for those investigating biomimetics, algorithmic forms, generative phenotypes, or similar issues should take a look at this (a bit better than Wikipedia...). He has been a great point person on biomimetics beyond Janine Benyus especially when dealing explicitly with architecture.