Urban Infrastructure & Architectronics

Abstract

The future of urban infrastructure is no doubt a future of control systems. An architecture that engages infrastructure can engage control systems to not only improve efficiency and mediate contested urban space but also to modifying spaces for different uses, buffer environmental factors and respond to occupation or use. The use of mechatronics in architecture requires interdisciplinary collaboration and an understanding of control systems, sensors and actuators. Through a theoretical project, research and a design studio, this paper discusses the future of mechatronics in architecture and shows the huge potential for reimagining our infrastructure. The application to the infrastructural realm pushes the design out of the scope of conventional architecture both in the use of mechatronics and its application to the larger realm of the city.