19.11.

2016

BuildingElementsComeAlivewiththisPineconeInspiredMaterialthatReactstoMoisture|ArchDaily

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Building Elements Come Alive with this Pinecone-Inspired

Material that Reacts to Moisture

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WaterReactingArchitecturalSurface
ChaoChen

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Reactive materials hold huge potential for architects and engineers in the near future, oering forms
ofinteractive and customizable construction that could, if used properly, seriously alter the way in which people
interact with their built environment. The massive expansion in the capabilities oftouch screens and other glass

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based technologies have opened up user interfaces to levels where interactive cityscapes are becoming
reachable - but creating materials which are themselves reactive is a muchless-explored solution.Water
Reaction, a project byRoyal College of ArtstudentChao Chen,is an attempt at exactly that: creating a material
that reacts to external conditions with no human input required.

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Free form structures for

wood projects | Blumer
Lehmann

Unlike other more high-tech approaches to this idea, Chen was inspired by a pinecone, knowing that pinecones
naturally open and close to protect their seeds from wet weather and allow them to be spread when it's dry.
Interested in how this could be replicated, Chen found (with the aid of a knife) that pinecones were actually
made up of two layers, one of which is more porous than the other. When wet, this outer layer expands more
than the other layer, causing the scale to bend and close the cone. Using fabric, a thin film and a layer of veneer,
Chen set out to replicate this seed preserving tactic. By using a porous veneer where the fibres expand across the

Wall Panels ALUCOBOND

naturAL | Alucobond

grain, he created a tile where the outer layer elongates and curves the material away when wet.

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Using the tiles to create a canopy, Chen proposes creating structures which shelter you from the rain but, when
the sun comes out, the tiles delicately curl up, creating an open roof and allowing natural light into the structure.
Although just a prototype at the moment, if the material becomes durable enough, this idea could be expanded
from small scales likebus shelters into entire buildings or complexes in warmer areas;hospitals in particular
could benefit from natural light and ventilation that still shelters you from the rain.

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For more vertical applications, Chen thinks the material could brighten up dreary areas where grey, rainy
weather is common. By installing these tiles over a brightbackground layer, rainy days could spur a building's
walls to open like a flower and reveal splashes of color; expanding this to an entire faade would create a
genuinely dynamic building. Shrink it down again, and just one strip of his new material can act as a water
detector that, when installed alongside your plants, could tell you whether or not a plant needs watering at
glance by being either sti or limp.

Chen'sproject has so far been developed in only one term: further plans include strengthening the material
against winds and increasing its durability. With more development comes more applications, and as ideas like
Chen's become more common,we could find that our cities become increasingly responsive - not just to our own
input, but to the input of the environment as well.

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Chao Chen

The reactive surface whe...

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The reactive surface whe...

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The reactive canopy whe...

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Cite: Dario Goodwin. "Building Elements Come Alive with this Pinecone-Inspired Material that Reacts to Moisture" 08
Jul 2015. ArchDaily. Accessed 19 Nov 2016. <http://www.archdaily.com/769820/chao-chens-pinecone-inspiredmaterial-reacts-to-water/>

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