cloudMAGNET A prototype for climatically active light-weight skins

cloudMAGNET A prototype for climatically active light-weight skins

Wit, Andrew John; Ng, Rashida

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This paper describes a potential for the integration of micro-encapsulated phasechange material (mircoPCM) into lightweight skins as a means of regulatinginternal climatic conditions of volumetric objects. Viewed through the lens of therecently completed series of quarter-scale cloudMAGNET prototypes tested in thecloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica, this research utilized a wound, flexiblecarbon fiber framework and a lightweight fabric skin coated with varyingdensities of microPCM. The prototypes were monitored using real-time collectionof climate data throughout the testing. In this paper we will demonstrate howclimatic variables such as temperature, humidity, and pressure can be passivelymanipulated by varying the form and energy storage properties of materialswithout the use of active mechanical systems. Produced to bring awareness to therising cloud levels within the Monteverde cloud forest, this research is intended toexplore the fundamental relationships of material, energy and form. Beyond theseobjectives, the paper will also illustrate how these methods can be more broadlyapplied to the development of thermal-regulating lightweight tensile structures.Such innovations could be utilized as a method for the reimagining thearchitectural design and production processes allowing for the emergence of newtypologies of environmentally self-mediating architecture.

This paper describes a potential for the integration of micro-encapsulated phasechange material (mircoPCM) into lightweight skins as a means of regulatinginternal climatic conditions of volumetric objects. Viewed through the lens of therecently completed series of quarter-scale cloudMAGNET prototypes tested in thecloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica, this research utilized a wound, flexiblecarbon fiber framework and a lightweight fabric skin coated with varyingdensities of microPCM. The prototypes were monitored using real-time collectionof climate data throughout the testing. In this paper we will demonstrate howclimatic variables such as temperature, humidity, and pressure can be passivelymanipulated by varying the form and energy storage properties of materialswithout the use of active mechanical systems. Produced to bring awareness to therising cloud levels within the Monteverde cloud forest, this research is intended toexplore the fundamental relationships of material, energy and form. Beyond theseobjectives, the paper will also illustrate how these methods can be more broadlyapplied to the development of thermal-regulating lightweight tensile structures.Such innovations could be utilized as a method for the reimagining thearchitectural design and production processes allowing for the emergence of newtypologies of environmentally self-mediating architecture.

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DOI: 10.5151/proceedings-ecaadesigradi2019_024

Referências bibliográficas

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Como citar:

Wit, Andrew John; Ng, Rashida; "cloudMAGNET A prototype for climatically active light-weight skins", p-627-636. In: Proceedings of 37 eCAADe and XXIII SIGraDi Joint Conference, “Architecture in the Age of the 4Th Industrial Revolution”, Porto 2019, Sousa, José Pedro; Henriques, Gonçalo Castro; Xavier, João Pedro (eds.). São Paulo: Blucher, 2019.
ISSN 23186968, DOI 10.5151/proceedings-ecaadesigradi2019_024