Abstract
Approximately 39% of global greenhouse gas emissions stem from activities related to the built environment. The resulting impacts of climate change, specifically the anticipated rise in global temperatures and the increased risk of extreme climatic events, underpin an urgent need to reconsider ways of making residential buildings --existing and new-- more resilient in the face of climate change.
Second Skin is an exhibition that focuses on the possibilities of a more climate responsive architectural approach. Via concepts of adaptation, we consider the social and technical reuse of existing building stock; the transformation of prevailing construction practices via the uptake of bio-based and low-carbon building materials; and the very adaptation of buildings themselves in response to environmental and occupant influences enacted via cyber-physical systems. Our research is situated by designs, visualisations, and prototypes of a second skin, which transforms an existing residential building in Canberra, albeit, with a view to expand its deployment to other new and old buildings both here and in other parts of Australia. The exhibition consists of projection mappings, sensor-augmented models, drawings and 1:1 material prototypes.
Supported by an Alastair Swayn Foundation Design Strategy Grant, Second Skin is an interdisciplinary collaboration undertaken by a team of researchers from the University of Canberra’s Faculty of Arts and Design. The team members are Mike Louw, Sally Farrah, Max Maxwell, and Sam Tomkins, with research assistants Noah Watson and Jonathan le Chung. Second Skin was included in the official program of the Craft + Design Canberra Festival as part of 2024’s theme “Regenerate”.
Second Skin is an exhibition that focuses on the possibilities of a more climate responsive architectural approach. Via concepts of adaptation, we consider the social and technical reuse of existing building stock; the transformation of prevailing construction practices via the uptake of bio-based and low-carbon building materials; and the very adaptation of buildings themselves in response to environmental and occupant influences enacted via cyber-physical systems. Our research is situated by designs, visualisations, and prototypes of a second skin, which transforms an existing residential building in Canberra, albeit, with a view to expand its deployment to other new and old buildings both here and in other parts of Australia. The exhibition consists of projection mappings, sensor-augmented models, drawings and 1:1 material prototypes.
Supported by an Alastair Swayn Foundation Design Strategy Grant, Second Skin is an interdisciplinary collaboration undertaken by a team of researchers from the University of Canberra’s Faculty of Arts and Design. The team members are Mike Louw, Sally Farrah, Max Maxwell, and Sam Tomkins, with research assistants Noah Watson and Jonathan le Chung. Second Skin was included in the official program of the Craft + Design Canberra Festival as part of 2024’s theme “Regenerate”.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 8 Nov 2024 |
