Structures enabling transformability of buildings, components and materials at different levels gain significance in view of a sustainable built environment. Such structures are capable of obtaining different shapes in response to varying functional, environmental or loading conditions. Certain limitations of classic tensegrity and scissor-like structures, applied so far in an architectural and engineering context, are attributed to a limited number of possible configurations and a big number of actuators required. In this context, rigid-bar linkages offer a promising alternative with regard to constructability, modularity, transformability and control components integration. In achieving improved flexibility and controllability with a reduced number of actuation devices, a kinematics principle has been previously proposed by the authors that involves the reduction of the system to an externally controlled one degree-of-freedom mechanism in a multistep transformation process. The paper presents application of the kinematics principle in two classes of a transformable spatial rigid-bar linkage structure. Investigation of the system kinematics was conducted using parametric associative design. The kinematics principle is applied on a torus-shaped spatial structural system composed of planar interconnected linkages. Alternative motion sequences of multiple transformation steps by the planar linkages can be implemented for the stepwise adjustment of the joints to their desired values. The actuators employed are positioned at the ground supports and are detached from the main structural body. Thus, minimum structural self-weight, simplicity and reduced energy consumption become possible. The transformation approaches using parametric associative design are exemplified based on a selected motion sequence pattern. The case study demonstrates the high degree of control flexibility and transformability of the system.

This paper showcases three selected student projects on adaptive kinetic facades (AKFs) from the design studio “Smart Shade”, highlighting their influence on visual comfort, an essential component of occupants’ wellbeing and energy efficiency. Three case studies employed a set of performance metrics to assess daylighting performance of AKF using ClimateStudio, a plug-in for Rhino exploring correlations between geometric parameters, such as size, shape and arrangement. Key metrics include illuminance, daylight availability, protection against glare and view to the outside. By examining these metrics collectively, the pedagogical approach aims at achieving a nuanced understanding of how different configurations of AKF can improve daylighting conditions, responding to varying external conditions and evolving user needs. Three different actuation methods, including cable-driven, self-locking gear mechanisms and snapping-induced motion, have been integrated into the façade module. The final task was to fabricate a prototype integrating a kinetic mechanism. The findings contribute to the evolving discourse on sustainable and integrated design by presenting a holistic framework for evaluating the daylighting performance of adaptive kinetic and multifunctional facades.

Automated optimization-driven analyses may lead to an emersion of innovative design approaches, while investigating the potentials in design, analysis and control of high-performance engineering structures, and adaptive architecture. In the present study, an optimum motion sequence for the reconfiguration of a 9-bar linkage is succeeded through a robust automated optimization-driven approach of the metaheuristic algorithm, Pity Beetle Algorithm (PBA). The project explores the load-bearing behavior of the planar structure in different states of the “effective 4-bar” reconfiguration sequences considering its self-weight and a uniform distributed vertical load. Each motion step of the 9-bar linkage uses only one degree-of-freedom (DOF), in which four joints of the primary members are unlocked and the remaining joints are controlled by the brakes. The system is actuated by only one geared electrical motor detached from the structure and positioned on the ground. Different intermediate configurations of the 9-bar linkage are selected through the automated optimization-driven analysis, in such a way that all the joints are adjusted to the desired values and therefore to the target position. Hence, the objective of the optimization process focused at minimizing the brake torques in the locked joints of the structure through all the motion steps. The work-minimization problem has been solved by the metaheuristic algorithm, PBA, while the algorithm has the ability to search into large spaces for possible solutions regardless of the scale. Based on the aggregation behavior of the beetle Pityogenes chalcographus, the metaheuristic algorithm is able to find the global optimum solution among the plethora of possible solutions. The numerical studies of different possible motion sequences have been conducted with the software MATLAB and Simulink for a Model Based-Design. The obtained results demonstrate that the design of reconfigurable engineering structures and adaptive architecture can benefit from an automated optimization-driven analysis of the reconfiguration determination, in view of achieving improved performance and energy efficiency.

Adaptive structures can conform to external changing conditions, in order to improve their functional, energy related and/or load-bearing behavior. Structural adaptation can be depicted in the work of Frei Otto on lightweight tensile structures and elastic gridshells of reduced structural mass and materials with high strength and relatively low elastic modulus respectively. The main developments achieved were based on transformability in the structural simulation and erection process. Representative examples include the Olympic Stadium in Munich in 1972 and the Mannheim Multihalle in 1975 respectively. With the rise of digital and numerical technology in the last 20 years, Frei Otto’s ideas and concepts are even more important and relevant today than they were half a century ago when they first emerged. Meanwhile, research and development of actual adaptive structures are based on the afore-mentioned principles of form variation and lightweight, as well as on aspects of flexibility, controllability and simplicity in kinematics. In achieving this, the development of adaptive structures with minimum embedded actuation and maximum possible output structural states, gains significance. Selected prototype developments demonstrate related achievements in the area.