HygroSkin: A prototype project for the development of a constructional and climate responsive architectural system based on the elastic and hygroscopic properties of wood

Abstract

This paper focuses on the implementation of a computational design and robotic fabrication method that integrates the elastic and hygroscopic behavior of wood as active drivers in the design process, using the material’s differentiated characteristics as its main capacity. The project builds on previous work by the authors, furthering their research on the formal and performative transfer of such behaviors into informed architectural systems. Wood’s fibrous structure, relatively low stiffness and high structural capacity are instrumentalized into self-forming mechanisms through conical elastic deformation, while the same organic makeup and corresponding hygroscopic properties have also been programmed, formally articulated and integrated into a climate responsive architectural system. This research will be presented alongside a full-scale architectural project (Figure 1, Figure 2).