Kinetics in Building Facades
Development of Taxonomy of Kinetics in Climatic Building Envelopes
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Overview
Abstract
The prominence of climatically responsive building facades through the use of kinetics has proliferated in recent years due to a concern for the reduction in building energy demand and increasing user comfort. However, no resource provides an extensive catalogue of knowledge around how kinetics in the building facade are used, what they aim to achieve and where they exist. Consequently, the taxonomy acts as a useful tool to organize and better understand a body of knowledge that will become increasingly important for architects, engineers and clients in years to come.
Through a grounded theory approach, a database of existing projects is analyzed through categorizing and coding their kinetics as well as their ‘type’. Kinetics are coded: rotate (vertically or horizontally); linear (vertically or horizontally); flex; fold (point or linear); translate; and, scale. Each project is given an order of complexity, up to three, depending on the number of kinetic mechanics within the facade system. It results in 729 potential sequences, a vast number of which are still to be explored. ‘Type’ refers to: light (L); thermal (T); airflow (A); generator (G); and, a combination of each (TL, AT, AL, LG, TG, AG). These are cross-referenced with climatic indicators and date of completion.
The taxonomy allows for an understanding of how ‘type’ interconnects with climate conditions and how complexity of kinetics has increased over time. Similarly, it indicates the role of kinetic facade systems in managing lighting conditions, which historically lies beyond the remit of mechanical services – the environmental management system of choice in the last century. It also highlights how other types, like generator systems, are becoming more prevalent.
Authors
Sean Cullen
Queen’s University Belfast
scullen05@qub.ac.uk
Professor Greg Keeffe
Queen’s University Belfast
g.keeffe@qub.ac.uk
Keywords
Introduction
In recent years, there has been a shift in the way environmental management systems improve user comfort and energy efficiency within buildings. As Banham (1967) explored in The Architecture of
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Importance of Taxonomies
The importance of developing a taxonomy lies in the ability to remove oneself from a close working relationship with a specific field and analyze it from the perspective of the
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Database
Grounded theory uses a qualitative, inductive method of research that combines the process of data collection and analysis in a continual, cyclical nature. It allows highly contextualized theories to emerge
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A Taxonomy of Kinetics
The kinetic movement of each precedent in the database was determined and coded. As a result, the following kinetic motions were established: rotate (vertically or horizontally); linear (vertically or horizontally)
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Typologies in Climate Control
Despite the use of developing a taxonomy of kinetic sequencing within responsive building facades, an understanding of how they are used and in what climate they are located is equally
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Findings
The result of this process exposed a number of key insights. The first is the limited number of climates represented through the process. This could be for a number of
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Discussion
As a result of the taxonomy, manufacturers, designers and clients can utilize it to reference desired outcomes for kinetic, climatically responsive facades. It has established clear links between ‘types’ and
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Future Work and Conclusion
The grounded theory approach to this work acknowledges the cyclical nature of the research methodology. For this reason, new precedents will continually be added to the database in order to
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Rights and Permissions
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