Interactive Architecture explores dynamic building systems that can autonomously adapt to environmental conditions, enhancing energy efficiency and sustainability through responsive design strategies that extend beyond traditional smart home technologies.
Summary
While architecture is typically perceived as static, our interaction with buildings often introduces subtle, human-driven changes, such as adjusting blinds, switching lights, or rearranging furniture. Interactive Architecture challenges this assumption by exploring systems that allow buildings to respond autonomously to changing conditions. Beyond smart home devices, this research explores architectural elements that dynamically move, transform, and adapt to optimise comfort and reduce energy demand. In an era of heightened climate awareness, integrating responsiveness at the architectural scale presents new opportunities for sustainability, resilience, and human-centred environments. The goal is to redefine architecture as a living system that senses, reacts, and evolves.
Architecture is traditionally perceived as static: buildings do not move, and their form does not change. However, this is only partially true. In everyday life, we regularly modify our environments—we draw curtains when the sun is too intense, turn on the lights when it's dark, or move furniture to reorganise a space. These changes are typically performed by humans.
But what if architecture itself could sense the need to change and respond autonomously?
The concept of the "smart house" has been around for decades, and we are already accustomed to systems that turn lights on when we enter a room or automatically regulate indoor temperature. Interactive Architecture takes this idea further by embedding dynamism into the architectural fabric itself—not just through devices or appliances, but through building components that physically adapt to changing needs and external conditions.
With growing awareness of climate change and the urgent demand for sustainability, architecture is evolving toward energy-efficient solutions. Dynamic architecture represents a next-generation response, enabling buildings to minimise energy consumption by adapting in real-time to environmental stimuli such as sunlight, temperature, or occupancy.
This research investigates how interactive systems—through materials, mechanics, and embedded intelligence—can transform buildings into responsive entities. By doing so, it seeks to redefine the built environment as a living interface between humans and nature.
Related publications:
Albag O., Anishchenko M., Grassi G., Paoletti I. (2020) Adaptive Skins: Towards New Material Systems. In: Daniotti B., Gianinetto M., Della Torre S. (eds) Digital Transformation of the Design, Construction and Management Processes of the Built Environment. Research for Development. Springer, Cham. Available on-line at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-33570-0_19
