Shape Design and Analysis of Adaptive Structures

Architecture is mostly perceived as a static, unchanging and rigid element without an ability to react to the changing environment around it and the specific conditions of its location. The digital approach to architectural design has already shown that it is possible to create architectural prototypes that react to the external inputs by changes in their material properties or even in the shape. The conventional, stationary architecture is not able to react to the environmental factors, nor to the changing needs of building occupants, which brings architects, designers, and engineers to the issue of movement in architecture. This paper describes selected adaptive materials and structures used in architecture. An adaptive shape is designed and analyzed using a combination of 3D modeling tool Rhinoceros and the visual algorithmic plug-in Grasshopper, together with the extension for Grasshopper, Kangaroo. The wind simulation is made in the Flow Design.