Looking into the following projects from a digital technology perspective. AL BAHAR TOWERS / Responsive Facade BLOOM / Thermo Bimetals TORRE DE ESPECIALIDADES / Photocatalytic Depollution

1. ROLE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
IN URBAN SPACE
Contemporary Practices in Architectural Design
Kirthi Balakrishnan | 2015701515

2. BLOOM
TORRE DE ESPECIALIDADES
Photocatalytic Depollution
AL BAHAR TOWERS
Responsive Facade
Thermo Bimetals
TABLE OF CONTENTS
01
02
03

3. AL BAHAR TOWERS
Responsive Facade / Aedas
01
Architect
Abdulmajid Karanouh /
Aedas Arquitectos
Built in
2009-2012
Floors
27
Facade
Facade responsive
Location
Abu Dhabi, United Arab
Emirates

4. ISSUE TACKLED
In extreme weather
conditions, even architects
listing environmental design
as their top priority are up
against a tough battle. Never
mind that the sand can
compromise the structural
integrity of the building, the
intense heat and glare can
render a comfortable indoor
environment relatively
impossible if not properly
addressed.

5. Aedas was keen to explore
the possibilities for
combining a contemporary
solution to the traditional
philosophy of cooling
buildings through
screening and shading
buildings.

6. PARAMETRIC
INTELLIGENT FACADE
Completed in June 2012, the 145 meter towers’
Masharabiya shading system was developed
by the computational design team at Aedas.

7. 一 Peter Oborn,Deputy Chairman of Aedas.
“At night they will all fold, so they will all close, so
you’ll see more of the facade.
As the sun rises in the morning in the east, the
mashrabiya along the east of the building will all
begin to close and as the sun moves round the
building, then that whole vertical strip of
mashrabiya will move with the sun.”

8. The pioneering shading screen of
the towers, controlled by
computer, operates as a
curtain-wall, positioned two
metres from the exterior façade of
the buildings in an independent
frame.
Each triangle is covered in
micro-perforated glass fibre and
programmed to respond to the
movement of the sun in order to
reduce the solar gain and glare.
Also, its ability to filter light has
allowed the architects to be more
selective in their choice of glass.

9. 一 Peter Oborn,Deputy Chairman of Aedas.
“At night they will all fold, so they will all
close, so you’ll see more of the facade.
As the sun rises in the morning in the east,
the mashrabiya along the east of the
building will all begin to close and as the
sun moves round the building, then that
whole vertical strip of mashrabiya will
move with the sun.”

10. BLOOM
Passive Energy Conservation / DO|SU
Studio Architecture
02
Architect
Doris Kim Sung
Built in
2011
Type
Installation
Material
Thermo Bimetal
Location
M&A Gallery, Silver Lake, CA

11. ISSUE TACKLED
When used on a building's
surface, it will reduce the
absurd dependency on costly
air conditioning and retard the
“heat island effect”.
The increased complexities of
building envelope design with
new, smart and dynamic
materials will bear careful
consideration in the new era
of facade aesthetics and urban
meaning.

12. A sun-tracking instrument
indexing time and
temperature, with a shape
alluding to a woman’s
Victorian-era under
garment, "Bloom" stitches
together material
experimentation, structural
innovation, and
computational form and
pattern-making into an
environmentally
responsive form.

13. THERMO BIMETAL
It is sheet metal that curls when heated (no
controls, no energy), the form’s responsive
surface shades and ventilates specific areas
under the shell as the temperature rises.

14. “Thermo bimetals are comprised of two different metals laminated
together, their movement is attributed to the different heating and
expansion coefficients of the metals laminated together.
When heated one metal expands faster than the other therefore causing
it to curl as it is constricted by the slower expanding metal.
By using different metals, the movement of the structure can be
calibrated to dynamically respond to their environment.”

15. Composed of 414 hyperbolic
paraboloid-shaped stacked
panels, the self-supporting
structure also challenges the
capability of the materials to
perform as a shell.
The panels combine a
double-ruled surface of bimetal
tiles with an interlocking,
folded aluminum frame system.
The final monocoque structure,
lightweight and flexible, is
dependent on the overall
geometry and combination of
materials to provide
comprehensive stability.

16. The severely twisted panel shapes aid in
the performance of the surface and
challenge the digital and fabrication
capabilities of parametric design.
Within a single panel, portions of the
surface directly face the sun, while the
other side is in the shade and requires no
reaction or curling.
The result is dramatic variation in tile
shapes and function within each panel.

17. TORRE DE ESPECIALIDADES
Depolluting Quasicrystal Facade / elegant
embellishments
03
Architect
elegant embellishments
Built in
2013
Type
Hospital
Material
Superfine Titanium Dioxide
(TiO2),
Location
Mexico City, Mexico

18. ISSUE TACKLED
Mexico City is a densely
populated, heavily trafficked
city, with many older cars on
the road that produce high
carbon emissions, making it
an ideal place to install a
cleansing façade.

19. DE-POLLUTING SKIN
The ornate double skin was designed by
Prosolve, and it was chosen for its
anti-microbial and de-polluting properties
that also create a beautiful design statement.

20. The modules are coated with a
superfine titanium dioxide
(TiO2), a pollution-fighting
technology that is activated by
ambient daylight.
This is the nano photocatalytic
version of conventional TiO2
commonly used as pigment and
already known for its
self-cleaning and germicidal
qualities.
It requires only small amounts
of naturally occurring UV light
and humidity to effectively
reduce air pollutants into
harmless amounts of carbon
dioxide and water.
Top Illustration
Combustion engines emit harmful toxins such as NOx and VOCs while running,
and also emit VOCs, ozone and particulate matter while resting.
Bottom Illustration
A photocatalytic screen positioned between cars and people would trap and
filter many of the harmful by-products of combustion engines.

21. When installed near heavy
traffic or on building
facades, the tiles help to
neutralize emissions and
other toxins, stopping them
dead in their tracks.
A network of the tiles not
only helps to clean the air
entering their host
buildings, but also the air in
the urban setting.

22. "With help from the New York
office of Buro Happold, [they]
devised Mega Panels, a clustering
system for the tiles to connect
using CNC-milled plastic plates.
For the 509 Mega Panels used on
the hospital façade, Elegant
Embellishments generated 500
distinct drawings.
Each represents a unique
configuration of tiles along with
connection points and front and
back elevations. "
一 SHONQUIS MORENO

23. CONCLUSION
Regardless of whether our environment is
monopolized by screens or buildings, it is important to
emphasize that the design should first and foremost be
for all. Scale, uses, and function should all support the
needs of humans. They should enhance the vibrancy
of the sidewalk and encourage individuals and a
mixture of activities.