Abstract
Urban Microclimate Canopy is a digitally fabricated fiber glass structure supporting climbing plants in order to explore new ways of integrating vegetation in densely built urban environments. A prototype was designed and manufactured in the context of an interdisciplinary studio with master’s students following an approach of research by design. Varying the assembly of winding frames and fiber weaving syntax generates diverse geometric shape and structural performance. For two short-term exhibitions, ivy plants were temporarily installed in the structure. This first step was followed with a reflection of systematic integration of the growth processes of climbing plants and parametric design. An iterative solution is given, consisting of a feedback loop linking the design of the technical structure, the simulation of plant growth, and the simulation of the environmental effects of the hybrid structure. To achieve this a novel framework for simulating twining plant’s growth on network-like structures is presented: external stimuli define a cone-shaped circumnutation space (searching space model) which results in a climbing path (climbing steps model). The framework is constructed to integrate improved individual functions (such as stimuli of circumnutation) for better simulation results. To acquire more knowledge about interactions between the plants and the fiber structure, the prototype was installed permanently and planted with three different climbing plants, representing different climbing mechanisms.
Highlights
For two short-term exhibitions, ivy plants were temporarily installed in the structure. This first step was followed with a reflection of systematic integration of the growth processes of climbing plants and parametric design
The project presented here attempts to reveal new architectural potentials of trellises and climbing plants by making use of new design and manufacturing techniques that make it possible to design and build complex structures much more and efficiently than just a few years ago. One such novel strategy is the robotic fabrication of geometrically complex fiber-reinforced building elements based on a “core-less” filament winding process allowing for the fabrication of individual components with differentiated fiber layout [9]
The project “Urban Microclimate Canopy” (UMCC) is the first of its kind that employs this approach to generate trellis-like structures that support the growth of climbing plants
Summary
In the context of climate change and increasing urban population, greening of buildings through vegetation has been widely explored in the past decades in order to mitigate heat waves and Urban Heat Island effects [1,2,3] In this regard, the combination of trellises and climbing plants are a well-established and robust solution. The project presented here attempts to reveal new architectural potentials of trellises and climbing plants by making use of new design and manufacturing techniques that make it possible to design and build complex structures much more and efficiently than just a few years ago One such novel strategy is the robotic fabrication of geometrically complex fiber-reinforced building elements based on a “core-less” filament winding process allowing for the fabrication of individual components with differentiated fiber layout [9]. By combining computational design techniques and robotics with the climatic and aesthetic potentials of climbing plants, an innovative micro-architecture was created with high potentials for the design of public spaces with improved outdoor comfort
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