TONI Outside-In  Responsive Light Materials in Interior Architecture

Teacher: Karmen Franinovic Teaching Assistant: Luke  Franzke Guest Lecturers: Dana Gordon and Marcelo Coelho  

Location: sq509, sq310 and q16

INTRODUCTION

In this course students develop interdsiciplinary skills that are on the crossroads of industrial design, interior architecture and interaction design. Students will have a unique opportunity to learn how to create active materials that can change their behavior, i.e. respond to people, information, sun, rain... These materials will be developed together with interior design concepts for Toni, the future ZHdK home-base.

CONTEXT

A building is usually brought to life by its inhabitants. Its structure and materials do not change over time. New materials offer an opportunity to create spaces that do transform over short periods of time. How can such materials be used to design experiences of artificial spaces that can be as pleasant as a walk through the woods or a swim in warm sea water?

MATERIAL

The essence of new kinds of responsive materials is their active behavior: they can self-illuminate, self-move, change color, etc. In other words, they can have properties of living matter, and can relate to human experience in complex and organic ways. In this course, we will design interior spaces for Toni Areal so that they embody some of the qualities of subtle transformation and adaptation found in nature.

APPROACH

This course is based on a do-it-yourself approach: rather than purchasing sophisticated smart materials, students will make them themselves and integrate them into an interior design project. We will explore the application of smart materials in design and their ability to transform spaces into responsive and adaptive environments. By building active materials from scratch, we will design their behavior while experimenting on the boundary between the electronic and mechanic, the analog and the digital.