(from The Interior Architecture Reader, edited by Gregory Marinic, 2018 Routledge)

Chapter 30

“Living” rooms

The hypernaturalization of the interior

Blaine Brownell

The vision of a structure embodying the full attainment of mechanization signified the ultimate separation between a synthetic interior environment and the natural world beyond. Le Corbusier’s well known 1923 aphorism, “Le maison et une machine à demeurer” or “the house is a machine for living,” called attention to the opportunities enabled by the industrialization of architecture. At the time, total mechanization was a highly desired aspiration for architecture, made possible by the tools and effects of industrialization. Nearly a century later, the design and construction fields are changing course in response to a new global influence: the rapid convergence of technology and the natural sciences. Architects harness the principles of fluid dynamics to make cooling shelters, engineers create living facades composed of algae, artists make building blocks from microbes, and designers fashion furniture from fungus. Innovative thinkers in these and other disciplines seek a closer relationship with nature to advance work within their fields. In addition, a deeper knowledge about natural systems

and processes is considered critical to making responsible environmental choices in design.

Today, Le Corbusier’s axiom would be that the house is not a machine for living, but rather a living machine, insofar as architecture has become a testbed for the application of natural materials and phenomena to create animate, responsive, and sentient surfaces and spaces. Interior environments are increasingly shaped by smart materials, active monitoring and sensing systems, occupant-attuned environmental technologies, and planted living surfaces. As material technologies and applications become increasingly lifelike, they promise to transform the fundamental character of the designed environment. This transformation points to a hypernatural condition, a state defined by the aspiration to extend, amplify, or transcend natural capacities by partnering with nature in a focused and intensified manner. $^1$ This chapter explores a range of possible intersections between interior architecture and the natural sciences, evaluating biological as well as nonliving (e.g., chemical) materials and processes. These intersections are framed according to three general approaches that designers use to explore hypernatural design: properties, which relate to the structure and composition of elements; processes, which concern methods used for construction; and phenomena, which describe transformational and responsive qualities in design.

Properties

Properties pertain to the fundamental composition and structure of elements, including their inherent physical and chemical attributes. These qualities may be static or dynamic based on the elements’ intended purpose. When designers and architects consider the properties of design elements in a rigorous and sensitive way, they can create interior architecture that is more attuned to scientific principles.

One strategy is to embrace the ability of natural systems to use resources effectively while enhancing user health and satisfaction, an approach Carnegie Mellon architecture professor Vivian Loftness calls

“environmental surfing.” For example, interior vegetated surface systems employ oxygenating plants’ intrinsic capabilities to purify air. In a vertical interior living wall developed jointly by CASE (Center for Architecture Science and Ecology) and SOM, hydroponic plants absorb interior toxins through their exposed roots, meanwhile releasing beneficial oxygen for interior occupants. The Active Phytoremediation Wall System (AMPS) includes low-power fans that accelerate the toxin-absorbing potential of the plants. Other natural “surfing” approaches include power harvesting from light or kinetic energy. Recently developed photovoltaic technologies can convert light from indirect and electric sources, making them suitable for interior applications. These technologies include biodesign materials, such as Cambridge University’s moss powered biophotovoltaics or designer Julian Melchiorri’s Silk Leaf, via chloroplast’s inherent capabilities.

In addition to performative characteristics, properties may also pertain to the innately robust structural qualities of natural systems. Some designers experiment with the scale of natural structures to create novel design applications with unexpected visual effects. For example, Smith Allen’s Echoviren reinterprets the cellular composition of the sequoia tree at the scale of a building module. The firm 3D printed some 600 modules using a biodegradable PLA material – thus also employing the inherently biocompatible properties of the cells – and aggregated them to create an interior room within a forested site. Sabin + Jones LabStudio’s Branching Morphogenesis is another example of a scaled structure – in this case, a polymer curtain inspired by lung endothelial cell tissue. Another example is the University College London Bartlett School’s Augmented Skin, wood-reinforced concrete modules that resemble collections of arthropod appendages.

A particularly promising realm of investigation concerns animal architecture, or structures created for the habitation of non-human species. The spatial and dimensional principles of animal architecture may be embraced to create resource-efficient constructions with compelling visual qualities. For example, MATSYS’ Chrysalis III is a parametrically designed installation that investigates the efficient packing capabilities of sea

barnacles with irregular sizes $^8$ (Figure 30.1). Other examples are designed to support actual occupation by living animals and insects – particularly beneficial species whose populations are under threat. University of Buffalo’s Elevator B is a tower pavilion designed to house a beehive, with space below for human visitors to occupy the structure and witness the insects’ activities. $^9$ The University of Minnesota’s Artificial Thicket is a dense, multidimensional wall composed of reclaimed driftwood, designed to support bird and insect populations along the ecologically critical Mississippi River corridor. $^{10}$

Figure 30.1 Chrysalis III by MATSYS

Image credit: MATSYS

Another way properties may be employed is to structure natural knowledge, such as creating interior architecture attuned to the purposes of archiving and exhibiting collections of important natural artifacts. Heatherwick Studio’s Seed Cathedral, the United Kingdom pavilion at the

Shanghai World Expo in 2010, was designed to be an occupiable and spatially cohesive seed bank. The 6,000-square-meter structure was composed of 60,000 transparent acrylic rods, each of which contained the seed of an important plant specimen embedded within its tip. These specimens were collected from the Kew Gardens’ Millennium Seed Bank Project in Surrey, United Kingdom, the largest off-site plant conservation program on the planet. The womb-like, undulating interior cavity delineated by the staggered filaments served as a physical archive of botanical wisdom in which visitors could be completely immersed. The Lithuanian Pavilion, designed by Mecislovas and Martynas Valevicius for the Yeosu World Expo in 2012, presented another approach to structuring natural knowledge – in this case exhibiting vitrines housing rare Baltic amber specimens within a space composed of entirely backlit translucent surfaces that resembled the fossilized resin substance.

Processes Processes refer to natural methods of fabrication and construction. Since the Industrial Revolution, material fabrication has generally been carried out in a highly resource-intensive, inefficient, and polluting manner. By contrast, natural processes use resources effectively and generate byproducts that may be reutilized. In this way, even natural waste is a resource for another process, unlike many types of industrial waste that must be disposed in landfills. Another distinction pertains to the issue of control in design and manufacturing. Industrial logics and traditional design approaches mandate near total control over design and manufacturing, leaving nothing to chance. However, the incorporation of natural processes in design introduces a new kind of material agency in which biological, chemical, or physical processes are allowed to run their course and subsequently alter the final results. What is effectively a partnership with nature – rather than traditional brute consumption of natural resources – presents an intriguing opportunity for designers, who assume the role of directors of the design experiments they set into motion.

Processes may be generally conceived according to the two approaches of additive and subtractive methods. Today, additive manufacturing is commonly associated with 3D printing, a technique that is largely perceived as entirely manmade. Yet many natural examples of this approach may be seen in the animal kingdom. For example, potter wasps construct nests by regurgitating masticated soil and other materials in additive layers, producing hollow vessels resembling clay pots. Based on this biological model, the Italian company WASProject has developed a method of 3D printing earthen structures of aluminosilicate clay. A kinematics printer governs a material-extruding nozzle that incorporates reinforcing materials, like hemp and kenaf fibers, adding enhanced tensile properties to printed constructions. At this time, WASProject can print structures up to six meters in height. Another biological model is the sessile barnacle, which effectively “prints” its chitinous shell over time, extending its height and diameter as the animal grows from within. University of Minnesota architecture students devised a method of printing cementitious materials with a custom-built, nozzle-fed table, which produces conical cells of manifold heights and diameters based on available space. A third example of zoological construction may be seen in the Silk Pavilion, designed by MIT Media Lab researchers, who placed 6,500 live silkworms on a dome-shaped scaffold composed of lightweight steel formwork and silk cables. Over time, the insects spun a fibrous curtain of silk over the formwork, which was later removed to showcase the entirely animal-constructed textile skin.

Designers have also employed mineral-based processes in their work. The Seizure project by UK artist Roger Hiorns, for example, demonstrates the potential of crystalline-clad surfaces to create new kinds of user experience (Figure 30.2). To create the work, Hiorns created watertight seals around an apartment in London, and then immersed it in a water-based solution with copper sulfate. After one month, the artist removed the fluid to reveal a space entirely encrusted with blue crystals. In another example, University of Minnesota architecture students created self-similar building modules made from borax crystals. The crystal bricks were made by placing felt-wrapped PVC pipe sections in a mineral solution. After

six hours, the tubes were removed to reveal sturdy yet lightweight cylindrical blocks of white crystal. The students constructed a full-height pavilion with these modules, demonstrating their capacity to hold 100 times their own weight.

These students also explored the potential of natural subtractive manufacturing processes. In one project, they studied the ways in which termites digest wood fibers. Based on the knowledge that particular species of termites are attracted to the softer, wetter regions of timber specimens, the students proposed a series of plywood sheets custom designed to anticipate particular patterns of termite digestion along their surfaces. In this way, the insects could be employed to create acoustical interior wall or ceiling panels of varying absorption levels – each one uniquely crafted by termites. The Truffle house in Costa da Morte, Spain, exemplifies an animal-driven subtractive process at a much larger scale. Designed by Ensamble Studio architects, the house was constructed of concrete cast around a formwork composed of stacked hay bales. Once the concrete cured, a small calf was led to the entrance of the structure and encouraged to eat the compressed hay. Over the course of one year, the calf ingested all of the formwork, revealing the interior of the house. During this time, the animal grew to be a mature cow of over 600 pounds in weight, symbolizing the conversion of a residual building material by a metabolic process.

Phenomena

Phenomena concern the transformational qualities of environments over time, as experienced in changes of weather or fluctuating seasonal patterns – or in natural organisms’ responses to their physical contexts. Like the processes described above, natural phenomena invite new ideas about the notion of control. In some ways, interactive and responsive architecture enables greater user control than in conventional interiors. In other ways, however, continually transforming environments signify an unpredictable departure from traditional, homogeneous spaces.

One of the most direct applications of natural phenomena is the physical re-creation or simulation of meteorological experiences within interior environments. Many studies have demonstrated, for example, the beneficial health effects that result when high-quality daylighting and ventilation are introduced to interior spaces. Recent experiments in this area

have resulted in some significant and unexpected designs. One application is CoeLux sky simulation, a lighting strategy that recreates daylight within interior environments. Not only is the recessed fixture designed to provide accurate daylight color temperatures, but also the colors gradually change to represent natural diurnal and seasonal cycles. A notable accomplishment is the simulation of sky dome illumination, which resembles the visual phenomena of light bouncing within the atmosphere. While this technology suggests obvious benefits for interior occupants – particularly those inhabiting dark or windowless spaces – other approaches bring less conventional natural experiences indoors. One example is Cloudscapes, developed by Tetsuo Kondo architects and Transsolar engineers, which generates cloud formations within buildings. As spray nozzles emit a fine mist of moist air, users experience different atmospheric strata at varying heights. A similar, yet vertically oriented application is the FogScreen, which creates a curtain of fine mist for the purpose of projecting light and images in mid-air. A final example is the Rain Room by rAndom International, which allows users to experience a heavy rainstorm indoors without getting wet, thanks to a grid of sensors that turn off valves directly above occupant positions (Figure 30.3).

Another application of phenomena relates to the way natural organisms respond to environmental changes. For example, phototropism describes the way in which plants respond to the presence and direction of sunlight. Oxalis and velvet leaves open during the day and close at night, exhibiting what are called circadian responses to diurnal changes. The Bloom pavilion designed by DOSU Studio simulates this botanical phenomenon in a non-biological material. The 20-foot-tall, open-air structure is composed of thousands of strips of thermobimetal (a lamination of thin alloys with different thermal expansion rates). When sunlight intensifies along the outside surface, bimetal strips peel upwards to introduce ventilation and shade to the sheltered space within. Decker Yeadon’s Homeostatic Facade system similarly regulates shade in an automatic fashion for interior users. In this project, shading fins made of electroactive polymers wrapped in silver electrodes open and close based on the amount of direct sunlight.

Inspired by the way that muscle tissue flexes and relaxes, the designers created a system that exhibits a large mechanical deformation with a low energy input. The HygroSkin pavilion in Orleans, France, also regulates its interior environment based on external changes. The deciding factor in this case is humidity. When the relative humidity level in the surrounding air increases above 60 percent, wood “petals” made of thin veneer curl back to reveal openings in the walls, thus encouraging air flow. The project was inspired by spruce tree cones, whose seed pods open when the humidity of the atmosphere reaches an elevated level. Another phenomena-focused design application is Stratus by RVTR. This parametrically generated installation combines multiple ceiling functions such as illumination, ventilation, acoustic dampening, and sensing in one integrated structure. Stratus senses the presence of occupants, their temperature, and CO2 levels in the surrounding air, providing contextual lighting and micro fan-assisted airflow as needed. The project illustrates the capability to deliver traditionally separate services in a more targeted way within a singular, atmospheric surface.

Future implications

The experimental Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka creates environments that exemplify the search for a deeper connection with natural systems and experiences. When once asked what implications his methods have for the future of design, he replied:

The fact that creation is not entirely controlled by human beings; beauty is born out of serendipity… This production method highlights the boundary between the physical world and the world of the imagination. In this sense, the process broadens the boundaries of creativity.

Yoshioka’s response illustrates both the difficulties and possibilities afforded by hypernatural design. On one hand, designers engaging in this kind of work must relinquish some control by prioritizing natural processes and principles – whether it be empowering silkworms to weave textile surfaces or growing building blocks from crystals. Giving away control is counterintuitive to a design community trained to manage all details of a project. On the other hand, the advantages provided by these kinds of explorations enable new design opportunities that would not be possible with conventional approaches, such as surfaces that naturally shade and ventilate interior spaces without the need for mechanical equipment, air purification, and oxygenation systems composed of pollution-neutralizing plants, or construction tasks that are executed superbly by non-human species. As long as designers establish the right conditions for a project at the outset, the benefits of hypernatural design outweigh the downside of micromanaging all aspects of the work. To be certain, interior architecture’s recent incorporation of natural processes and principles remains in an early stage of experimentation; a comprehensive accounting of environmental,

social, and economic effects has yet to be conducted. Nevertheless, the idea that we might collaborate with nature – rather than merely exploit it – suggests a more thoughtful and meaningful form of design, and the ensuing work will deliver refreshingly unconventional results.

Notes

Blaine Brownell and Marc Swackhamer, Hypernatural: Architecture’s New Relationship With Nature (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2015).
Vivian Loftness, “Indoor Environmental Quality”, EcoBuilding Review (Winter 2014): 20–22.
Center for Architecture Science and Ecology, “SOM”, 2009, www.som.com/ideas/slideshows/center_for_architecture_sci-ence_and_ecology.
Julian Melchiorri, “Silk Leaf”, Julian Melchiorri Selected Works, 2014, www.julianmelchiorri.com/Silk-Leaf.
“Echoviren”, Cargo Collective, August 2013, http://cargocollective.com/SmithAllen/ECHOVIREN.
Jon Bailey, “Jenny Sabin: Branching Morphogenesis”, Archimorph, 13 August 2010, https://archimorph.com/2010/08/13/jenny-sabine-branching-morphogenesis/.
Blaine Brownell, “Bartlett Architecture Students Fabricate a Bio Skin That Rethinks Structure and Surface”, Architect, 10 November 2014, www.architectmagazine.com/technology/barlett-architecture-students-fabricate-a-bio-skin-that-rethinks-structure-and-surface_o.
Andrew Kudless, “Chrysalis (III)”, MATSYS, 13 April 2012, http://matsysdesign.com/2012/04/13/chrysalis-iii/.
Charlotte Hsu, “Buffalo Bee Dwelling Wins International Architecture Award”, University of Buffalo News Center, 1 March 2013, www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2013/03/029.html.
Blaine Brownell, “Third Nature Catalyst”, 2012, blainebrownell.com/http://blainebrownell.com/third-nature-catalyst/.
“UK Pavilion: Shanghai Expo 2010”, Heatherwick Studio, 2010, www.heatherwick.com/uk-pavilion/.
“Pavilion”, 2012expo.lt, May 2012, www.2012expo.lt/en/lithuania-in-expo-2012-yeosu-korea.
“World’s Advanced Saving Project”, founded in 2012, Wasproject.it, www.wasproject.it/w/en/.
Blaine Brownell, “Hypernatural Studio”, 2015, blainebrownell.com/http://blainebrownell.com/hypernatural-studio/.
“Silk Pavilion”, Mediated Matter, 2013, http://matter.media.mit.edu/environments/details/silk-pavillion.
Charlotte Higgins, “Seizure, Glistening Cave of Copper-Sulphate Crystals, Moves to Yorkshire”, The Guardian, 13 June 2013, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jun/13/seizure-copper-sulphate-crystals-yorkshire.
“The Truffle, Costa da Morte, 2010”, Ensamble Studio, 2010, www.ensamble.info/#!thetruffle/c1f4p.
CoeLux, established in 2009, www.coelux.com.
“Cloudscapes”, Tetsuo Kondo Architects, 2012, www.tetsuokondo.jp/project/bnl.html.
“History,” FogScreen, premiered in 2002, www.fogscreen.com.
“Rain Room, 2012”, Random International, 2012, http://random-international.com/work/rainroom/.
“Bloom”, DOSU Studio Architecture, 2012, http://dosu-arch.com/bloom.html.
Suzanne LaBarre, “Mighty Building Facade Beats Solar Heat With Mechanical Muscles”, Fast Company, 4 January 2011, www.fastcodesign.com/1662975/mighty-building-facade-beats-solar-heat-with-mechanical-muscles.
Achim Menges, “HygroSkin: Meteorosensitive Pavilion”, achimmenges.net, 2013, www.achimmenges.net/?p=5612.
“The Stratus Project”, RVTR, 2011, www.rvtr.com/research/research-b/.
Tokujin Yoshioka quoted by Blaine Brownell in Matter in the Floating World: Conversations With Leading Japanese Architects and Designers (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2011), p. 243.