Arts Thread

The built environment generates 47% of the global carbon footprint those split between building, materials, and construction. Façade with a complex morphology produces a lower carbon footprint due to insulation and radiation scattering properties compared to a classic flat façade. Manufacturing of such consume energy and material resources due to the use of molds and low suitability for transportation. SHINGLER, designed to meet climate challenges, suggests a new fabrication approach of a complex morphology façade using morphing clay. Morphing matter, like a rose petal shape itself by embedded internal stress into a desired shape. Morphing clay made by firing of two joint clay types with different shrinkage rate. those cause geometrical incompatibilities that resolve into a 3D shape. A research and refine of the parameters affecting the morphing clay made in collaboration with Prof. Earn Sharon’s Physics Lab of HUJI. Using parametric code, a complex surface convert into shingling tiles and generate manufacturing instructions of the complex tiles to an on-site production line. The façade designed for hot climate combine two passive cooling strategies. In its global geometry, a traditional desert construction methods such as wind tunnels; at the surface, hydrogel applied to the clay grooves, absorbing the dew, and permeating it through the clay, thus cooling the surrounding. The project is a development of a material research by Arielle Blonder and Shira Shoval.