Pneumatic Textile Actuators for Transformable Spaces in the City of the Future

Abstract

Today more than ever, urbanization is a global trend. More and more people around the world are living in cities, making cities very important problem solvers of tomorrow’s world. This addresses ever new questions about connectivity and mobility, but also about urban planning itself. One focus is the future design of buildings. Pneumatic textile actuators can positively influence the need for active tensioning of textile facade elements for the construction of the future. Initially, urban growth was strongly limited by the productivity of neighboring agriculture, as its surplus was the basis of supply [1]. However, this necessity was soon overcome, urban growth increased massively and in 2008, for the first time, more people lived in cities than in rural areas [2]. By 2030, the United Nations Population Federation projects 5.2 billion urbanites [3]. Cities have long since developed into conurbations, and there is increasing talk of redensification in their planning and organization. This refers to the use of vacant land in the area of existing developments and the increase in the volume of building space within existing developments.