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46THE USE OF INTERACTIVE FACADES AS A MENAS OF IMPROVING THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Phd Lambeva Ina Phd Spiridonova Irena
High school of Civil Engineering "Luben Karavelov"; Faculty of Architecture Department of Urban planning, Theory and History of Architecture
Abstract. The term "interactive façade "or "media façade " is a term that has recently gotten in to the architectural practice. This term defines an innovative method in constructing the building environment that is already being used all over the world. Are we prepared to live in a world where the visual perception of the building is an illusion, animation, movement? This paper will try to prove the benefits and the positive aspects of the use of this innovative method in architecture, as well as take a focused look at the different means for conducting the media façade.
Keywords: interactive façade, mechanical media surface, media façade, design
The term "interactive façade"or "media façade" is a term that has recently gotten in to the architectural practice. This term defines an innovative method in constructing the building environment that is already being used all over the world. This approach in the implementation of modern buildings and urban solutions is being evaluated contradictory as any new and different trend in the development of architecture.
Often interactive façade is understood as three-dimensional screens, illuminated advertising at places like Times Square in New York or Las Vegas Strip or Hong Kong. All these examples illustrate how the building façade dematerializes and turns into a huge means of communication. But the interactive façade is a lot more than that it can be constant changing surface due to the movement of separate objects part of the covering of the façade, it can be floating plastic sculpture or even reforming structure. However the overexposed media façade creates an environment that can provoke many diverse emotions starting with deep impression and admiration to discomfort due to light pollution and redundancy.
Are we prepared to live in a world where the visual perception of the building is an illusion, animation, movement? The use of contemporary technologies in creating the architectural environment places us as inhabitants in a field of constantly changing light and colors. This paper will try to prove the benefits and the positive aspects of the use of this innovative method in architecture, as well as take a focused look at the different means for conducting the media façade.
Today the effect of the interactive façade is not a process that follows the construction it is part of the whole creative process of design and planning of the building therefore it is possible to achieve an integrated concept which offers new possibilities in visual design. This new tendency created a new stream in architectural practice called "Mediatecture".The media façade can be observed as a connection between digital and urban space thus turning into visual art, part of the architectural concept.
Fig. 1. Times Square, New York Fig.2. Hong Kong
The interactive facade is a challenge for both the architect and the artist but perhaps the most important participant in the process is the observer, the person who will interact with that environment daily. Here we will try to analyze the combination between technology and art expressed through
architecture. With examples in the field of contemporary development of art and architecture, the use of modern technologies, the application of new techniques in the designing process will point the advantages as well as the obstacles facing this new trend in the creative architectural thought.
Interactive façade and the artist / architect. Interactive façade and the observer.
Have artists found a new field for the realization of their creative ideas? How we communicate with the modern expression of art and architecture? There are several methods in creating the interactive façade. The first one that we will examine is called mechanical media surface.
"Screens and lighting elements generally offer a change of the three dimensional perception of an immobile object. The first known interactive media surface was, however, made up of a mechanical display and was the result of the work of a team of architects, engineers, mathematicians and programmers. It is precisely this spatial change that creates different surface images which makes the 'Aegis Hyposurface' so revolutionary. The display has been constructed using reflecting metal plates that are moved pneumatically and react in 'real-time' to electronic input. Sensors transfer impulses from the surroundings of the display and these are transmitted to a matrix of rotors to which the metal plates are attached. The movements of the spectators are transferred in 'real-time' to the display and transferred in exact detail into expressive, naturally looking flowing movements." 1
Fig. 3. 'Aegis Hyposurface '
'Institute du Monde Arabe' designed by Jean Nouvel is one of the examples using that method. The façade is made of a grid with attached to it blinds that react to sunlight intensity. The used motive in the construction of the surface is constantly changing throughout the day and night depending on the sunlight strength. In this example the artist implements both technology and nature in his work to perform the final experience. The observer whether located outside or inside the building is exposed to a constantly changing surface that reflects the overall perception of space. One of the positive aspects in this example is the lack of excessive use of electricity to achieve the desired effect, but on the contrary natural resources are being used to configure the movement of the facade. Lighting and color contamination of the environment are also avoided.
1 http://www.dailytonic.com/ Media Façade: A new form of art in architecture; Posted by Nora Schmidt on 02.10.2009 ' '
Fig. 4. 'Institute du Monde Arabe' designed by Jean Nouvel
Jean Nouvel creates a facade that skillfully uses the techniques of mechanical surface. Certainly for this artist this is a new platform for creative thought. Technological capabilities allow freedom of the mind and soul of the architect to transform the perceptions and experiences of form and
space. He managed to position the observer in an environment that provokes emotions and it is crucial for a work of art to cause emotion in order to exist and be appreciate. Certainly no one can remain indifferent, standing in front of or inside the building of the 'Institute du Monde Arabe'.
Fig. 5. 'Institute du Monde Arabe' designed by Jean Nouvel
Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis designed by Urbana Studio's Rob Ley. This is another example of the exceptional use of mechanical media surfaces. Again through the use of metal panels attached to mechanism the structure of the surface becomes dynamic expression. By orienting the angled metal panels according to an accompanying color scheme from east to west, the architect ensures that visitors are greeted with a dynamic visual experience that changes according to their vantage point. Guests driving through the hospital grounds will experience a gradual shift in color and transparency, while those driving along the bordering highway will see a faster, more dramatic change corresponding to their speed.
Using this innovative method the architects manage to bring life in the facade, which is attached to the hospital's parking structure, thus aiming to draw attention to an infrastructural form that is often overlooked and under-appreciated. The artistic facade transforms an otherwise nondescript complex into an appealing synthetic topography.
Fig. 6. Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis designed by Urbana Studio's Rob Ley
The second method to analyze is called projection. The difference here is that the surface is not as tactile as it is with the mechanical façade. It is also very dynamic but not constant. There are two kinds of projections front projection and inverse projection. The front projection can be performed
to all kinds of surfaces. The inverse projection is placed on transparent surfaces like glass. Here we can also mention the relatively new and attractive visual art 3D mapping, where the façade is the screen for the projection thus achieving amazing effects of alive, moving, ever-changing façade.
URBANSCREENS is a creative collective based in Bremen, Germany. They create interactive installations and performances using facades and urban environment as a screen and stage. Their purpose is to merge unique projection with the surrounding architecture. Their project for the metro station La Motte Picquet-Grenelle in Paris is an outstanding example of the interaction of the urban environment with the observer and a vast platform for the artists. Projections are installed on the outer facade and ceiling of the central corridor so that commuters and pedestrians can evaluate the work. The location of the installation aims to create a sense of temporality, layering and direction. The concept is to provide horizontal and vertical directions of space but also to present the observers the view of the artist o f a different reality in contrast to the one that they are used to when passing by.
Fig. 7. Metro station La Motte Picquet-Grenelle in Paris
The third method is computer animation and light installation. This method is probably the most exploited in the creation of interactive facades. The development in technologies allow unimaginable freedom of thought and creativity in the field of visual art and architecture. The challenge in executing a media facade, however, lies not only in the technical effects, but also targets innovative and artistic presentation of media elements as part of the architectural appearance and content.
The museum of modern art in Graz, Austria. In this example media content and technologies are artistically integrated. The specialized exhibition space in the museum requires a construction of double shell as covered space. The glass facade is placed only on the outer shell, which pollutes the transparency of the glass.
Fig. 8. The museum of modern art in Graz, Austria
While constructing the building the LED technology was still extremely expensive and therefore in order to achieve the desired effect, the architects decided to use quartz. The implemented installation is of great importance to the outer shell. Ordinary curved fluorescent tubes placed between the two shells form pixels and as fluorescent tubes can easily be programmed the outer glass shell becomes a screen. The initial goal was achieved and new programs are being constantly designed. The building now presents art through abstract light images.
Light installation Mader Stublic Wiermann for Uniqa tower, Vienna. This is an example that visualizes how the static façade through the intervention of media techniques becomes alive and is an expression of movement and dynamics.
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Fig. 9. Light installation Mader Stublic Wiermann for Uniqa tower, Vienna
All three methods represent intelligent and innovative concepts in developing urban design. Media architecture progress on the crossroad between physical and digital space, it is a combination between art and technology, synthesis of architecture, communications, sociology, visual arts, economics, LED technology, interactive technology, computer science and many other disciplines.
The interactive façade appears not more than 20ty years ago, but evolves with tremendous speed and is becoming a powerful force leading to the transformation of urban space and of human thought and perception. It deeply affects the design process and bears completely new and unpredicted challenges. Media façade is important tendency in the 21st century in the evolution of the city. Probably this phenomenon will lead to the destruction of the known models in architecture. It will create and form new buildings, but will also achieve interaction with the observer in a completely different level, more tangible, more intense. This trend will evolve into a messenger of social media and will form a public network for sharing information. It will play an important social role in every aspect of people's lives.
Media architecture will destroy the traditional understanding of spatial art, because now the whole city can be a stage. Presenting art in urban scale the artist can reach a lot more diverse and numerous audience, to achieve an unprecedented level of impact on the viewer. The understanding of the urban environment cannot be simply integrating intelligent technologies it is the collision between technology culture art and society. Media architecture is literally the expression of future development of urban structures.
REFERENCES
1. Grau O.; Veigl T.; Imagery in the 21st century; MIT press 2011
2. Kmep M.; Fox M.; Interactive Architecture; Princeton Architectural Press 2009
