“Materials just coming into use on a small scale have applications on a larger scale. “The exhibit was a form of provocation,” Macneal says. The SmartWrap concept involves use of a building wrap that is a substrate for printed and laminated layers with the capacity to provide climate control, lighting, information display and power. “Instead of a centralized grid, imagine a distributed energy network that is literally soft-a flexible network made of multiple, adaptable and cooperative light-emitting textiles that can be touched, held and used by homeowners according to their needs,” says Sheila Kennedy, KVA principal and architect.Ĭoncept exhibits in museums grab attention, but hold little relevance to manufacturers, construction firms and architects working in the real world … right? Wrong, says Chris Macneal, architect and senior associate at KieranTimberlake Associates LLP, Philadelphia, Pa., a firm that created the SmartWrap™ pavilion for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, N.Y., in 2003. The textiles harvest energy, translating it into as much as 16,000 watt-hours of electricity, half the daily use of an average U.S. Not so apparent is its flexible infrastructure comprised of natural photo-luminescent pigments, light-emitting diodes (LED) and film-encased photovoltaic cells applied to, woven through and integrated within fabrics.
The futuristic vision by Kennedy & Violich Architecture (KVA), Boston, Mass., invites visitors to bask in a glowing world of curves, curtains and translucent screens. By Katherine CarlsonĪ fountain of light-filled fabric is the center of The Soft House, one of 15 architectural innovations created for the 2006 Intelligent Living by Design exhibit at Germany’s Vitra Museum. The latest films, membranes and new materials fire the imagination of architects.
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