ACADIA:08 Silicon + Skin

Climatic data has been employed in the architectural discipline since its onset as can be seen in the placement of xxxx buildings to maximize xxxx. The advancement of digital and building technologies has continued to generate a field of dynamic responses to the environment through the implementation of responsive apertures and fins as well as smart glass technology and adaptive HVAC systems. While these “ecogadgets” in themselves remain flexible, the overall building form remains static and irresponsive. Data manipulation tools, and generative parametric digital tools suggest complete flexibility and climatic adaptability of a built form that can contextually evolve. These digital representations begin to merge with physical reality as human control at the nanoscale becomes possible.
Nanoscale robotics opens the path from digital to physical reality through allowing control of the built form at the molecular level. At this level, a group of pre-assembled and prepackaged nanobots begin a process of self-replication using carbon dioxide as raw building material. Oxygen is off-gassed as a byproduct as the nanobots use carbon to form an interlocking series of nanotube arms. The chemical bond which joins the arm of one bot to its neighbor is controlled by an increasingly complex array of nano-processors which are generated during this process of self-replication. The release and reconfiguration of nanoscale carbontubes determines the color, scale, and texture of the adaptable built form which never becomes static.
Before the process of self-replication begins, the end-user is given the opportunity to manipulate the basic formal grammar the will lead to the built aesthetic. This grammar becomes an algortithim in which data pulled from the climate and geodetic location become variables that optimize the systems use of water, light, and air, and inevitably effect the aesthetic as well. The lindenmeyer system becomes one such grammar that can be use to determine nanobot placement in the structure. The capacity of the dwelling to organize and design is itself the product of design. The l-system, which simulates nature’s growth patterns, is created and run through a genetic evolution code. Fitness criteria, based on climatic conditions and inhabitable space, will be used to filter out the millions of possible evolutions that this code would produce. The inhabitants then decide what kinds of spaces are needed inside their dwelling. And if, over time, their needs change, the house can adapt accordingly.
The system of interconnected nano-processors connects with others locally, regionally, and globally through a peer-to-peer network to share and obtain information needed to optimize its configuration. This could happen automatically, and may need no attention from the inhabitant. Houses become aware of themselves in relation to the world and to other structures via GPS, which can also aid in urban planning analysis. Buildings collaborate to form whole neighborhoods, or even cities that create effective vehicle/pedestrian circulation, quality outdoor space, and community environments. And structures will alert others in different areas of the world of major environmental changes, thereby allowing enough time to optimize before extreme conditions reach those dwellings.