cloudMAGNET - A prototype for climatically active light-weight skins
Andrew Wit, Rashida Ng · eCAADe proceedings · 2019
This paper describes a potential for the integration of micro-encapsulated phase change material (mircoPCM) into lightweight skins as a means of regulating internal climatic conditions of volumetric objects. Viewed through the lens of the recently completed series of quarter-scale cloudMAGNET prototypes tested in the cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica, this research utilized a wound, flexible carbon fiber framework and a lightweight fabric skin coated with varying densities of microPCM. The prototypes were monitored using real-time collection of climate data throughout the testing. In this paper we will demonstrate how climatic variables such as temperature, humidity, and pressure can be passively manipulated by varying the form and energy storage properties of materials without the use of active mechanical systems. Produced to bring awareness to the rising cloud levels within the Monteverde cloud forest, this research is intended to explore the fundamental relationships of material, energy and form. Beyond these objectives, the paper will also illustrate how these methods can be more broadly applied to the development of thermal-regulating lightweight tensile structures. Such innovations could be utilized as a method for the reimagining the architectural design and production processes allowing for the emergence of new typologies of environmentally self-mediating architecture.