Boundary and skin
Active facade
office public building hospital school
A facade that changes or produces something according to the climate, with moving parts, changing glass or panels that generate energy.
What it solves
It adjusts shade, light and ventilation to each hour of the day. It can also produce electricity from the sun it receives.
Today
Use moving parts only where fixed shading is not enough, with simple mechanisms that can be repaired. Combine good fixed shading with solar panels on the sunniest faces.
Common mistake
Relying on complex mechanisms without a maintenance plan, which over the years stop working.
Tomorrow
Active facades can read sensors and the weather forecast to adjust shade and ventilation on their own. Each part should be repairable one by one, and everything should work manually if the power fails.
Fact In two towers in Abu Dhabi the dynamic facade reduces solar gain by up to 50 percent.
Where it comes from
- 1Contemporary French architecture Paris, France, 1987
Jean Nouvel’s Arab World Institute covers its facade with 240 motorized metal diaphragms with light sensors that open and close like a mechanical lattice. - 2Building-integrated photovoltaics several countries, 1990s
Solar products designed to form part of the roof and facade instead of ordinary materials appear. - 3Gulf architecture Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2012
Two office towers reinterpret the mashrabiya with pieces that open and close following the movement of the sun.
Masters
- Jean Nouvel Arab World Institute, Paris, France, 1987
He designs a facade with 240 motorized openings that open or close according to the light like a diaphragm. It shows a facade that responds to the sun by itself.
See also
Also in Boundary and skin
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.