Interactive Kinetic Media Facades: A Pedagogical Design System to Support an Integrated Virtual-Physical Prototyping Environment in the Design Process of Media Facades

Abstract

Today, media facades play a significant role in our urban environments as media technologies continue to advance, aided by general systems theory and cybernetics. These media facades have taken new directions, toward holistic forms of kinetic, media, and interactive architecture, well beyond responsive architecture. Considering the move toward increased integration, a new pedagogical design tool for helping architectural designers and students understand kinesis and interaction more fully is now needed. For this, a design system that supports an associated, integrated virtual-physical prototyping environment based on multi-agent-models and Delta robot kinematics is proposed, implemented, and tested here. This research begins by exploring the latest cases of media facades, focusing on physical motions and the flow of information. Through analysis and classification, this research presents a theoretical model which consists of a tectonic model and an interactive model. Moreover, to prove the viability of these proposed models, an integrated virtual-physical prototyping environment is offered. The ultimate objective of this study is to assist, enhance, and expand the scope of media facades by proposing new ways of constructing, controlling, and simulating media facades by means of a new pedagogical design tool. Thus, this research contributes to pedagogy by allowing students and designers to fully explore and better understand interaction and kinesis in media facade design.