Designing with Smart Materials

The idea of a built environment that changes form and appearance over time has captivated many architects and designers for centuries. The invention of design and architecture always comes from the geometry, the process, and the material. However, quite often we have accepted working with conventional materials such as brick and concrete. While this provides stability, we lose flexibility and adaptability to different occasions and user needs.

With the advance in technology, we now have more intelligent and futuristic composites to choose from. Instead of working with the materials’ limitations, one could begin to engineer the properties of the material to meet specific requirements. A new generation of smart materials can take it even further - smart materials are dual-functioning, and can change properties over time according to different conditions. These sophisticated materials react to external stimuli such as temperature, electricity, light and pH. They have served as a novelty with surfaces that mysteriously fold and unfold themselves. Self-reconfigured and responsive surfaces are no longer limited to the realm of science fiction; they are quickly becoming a reality, and will radically change approaches to design and the way we live.

Fig 1: 3D printed smart memory polymer actuated by heat

With all the benefits offered by smart materials, whether it is improvement to the environment or inspiration for engineering innovation, these composites will positively affect the design field. Airbus has recently developed a morphing wing made from smart memory alloy, which can alter the flap shape and vibrate along its trailing edge, mimicking the aerodynamics of a bird to reduce wind drag. However, while more scope in science and technology may be demanded at times, smart materials haven’t been widely used in the design field.

So one may ask.. “why are smart materials not widespread?”

Lack of availability and accessibility have been restricting the widespread replacement of traditional materials with smart composite alternatives. Even if designers can get access to these materials, their intended use is unclear. In other words, smart materials are promising technologies that are seeking suitable applications.
 
With this in mind, I would like to share two projects which have experimented with smart materials. And hopefully as more people become familiar with these forward-thinking composites, more people will be willing to experiment and discover alternative and innovative uses.

TechniChrome:

I will start off discussing my own experience working with smart materials during my Masters program in Innovation Design Engineering. The objective of my final project was to form a discourse around the current barriers for smart materials within the context of design. As previously discussed, smart materials haven’t come into extensive use due to the difficulty of access. Even if designers obtain these composites, they may require knowledge in material science to understand the underlying mechanisms. Therefore, one important agenda from my project was to develop a simple process to address this barrier while showing users unique applications that cannot be achieved through the use of other materials.

Fig. 2 & Fig. 3: TechniChrome actuated by electricity

My final degree project ‘Technicrome’ is a paintable display that can applied to many surfaces. It uses a combination of conductive paint and pixel paint. When combined, they exhibit a property that changes colour when activated by electricity. In comparison to traditional smart materials, the ‘TechniChrome’ display is inexpensive and simple to create. Users can apply digital displays on many surfaces, providing radically new ways to show digital information on nearly any surface.

Fig. 4: TechniChrome’s application to Fashion - A collaboration with fashion designer Becky Hong. Photo credit to Renato Csatich.

This smart composite disrupts the way we present digital information by opening up any surface to potentially becoming an active display for information. The displays can be painted in any shape, inviting more creative and novel configurations, which can be difficult to achieve using current display technologies. The high flexibility allows for displays to be folded and formed into any shape. ‘TechniChrome’s open and accessible nature means that its applications are broad and diverse.

Fig. 5: TechniChrome actuated by electricity

Throughout the project, I developed a simple process to encourage more people to engage with smart materials. This new medium can be accessed via tool kits, which allow people to experiment and prototype their own vision of the screenless future. The accessible nature of ‘TechniChrome’ means that anyone from professionals to children can design their own displays in an easy and fun way.

Material Reflex:

A secondary smart material project I came across while studying at the Royal College of Art was created by my peers. ‘Re:flex’ is a reconfigurable, shape-memory composite that can alter its shape in response to heat. Designed by Pierre Azalbert, Benton Ching, James Fraser, and Karlijn Sibbel, the team observed how nature constantly responds and adapts to environmental changes. They noticed that in comparison, the built environment is static. The project aims to create a programmable composite that morphs in response to different conditions. This allows users to make adjustments to daily objects according to their needs.

‘Re:flex’ is made from shape memory hybrid (SMH), which, when isolated, does not demonstrate shape memory material (SMM) properties. However when combined together, it does. When actuated by heat, the smart composite can be deformed into a temporary shape and then freeze in place as its temperature cools. When heated again, it returns to its re-programmed shape. To showcase the potential of the material, the designers present applications to demonstrate the material applied in specific contexts:

Fig 6 & 7: Material Re:flex. The first prototype is an arm cast demonstrates the material in use in a medical context as a reusable, breathable and washable alternative to existing casts.

Fig 8. Material Re:flex. The final prototype - the stool - shows how one day re:flex might be used to create flatpack furniture that can assemble itself in your living room.

Unlike traditional SMMs, ‘Re:flex’ is low-cost, using widely-available materials that can be manufactured at low temperatures on a large production scale. The team hopes that by providing designers and makers with a readily available, low-cost alternative to shape memory materials, products can be created that are adaptable and suitable for reuse. This flexibility is also sustainable, preventing the use of single-use disposable products which fill landscapes and oceans.

’Technichrome’ and ‘Re:flex’ are examples of smart material utilization on the cutting edge of possibilities and everyday solutions. Looking forward, it would be exciting to see how other professions and users can engage these materials to discover new applications.

Image reference:

Fig. 1: Three dimensional printed structures “remember” their shapes [Online], available at <https://news.mit.edu/2016/3-d-printed-structures-remember-shapes-drug-delivery-solar-panel-0826>
Fig. 2 – 5: TechniChrome, a printable display [Online], available at <http://www.tamchiyan.com/portfolio-item/technichrome/>
Fig. 6 - 7: Re:flex [Online], available at <https://www.materialreflex.com/>

Video reference:

Video 1: TechniChrome [Online], available at <http://www.tamchiyan.com/portfolio-item/technichrome/>
Video 2: Re:flex [Online], available at <https://www.materialreflex.com/>

Bibliography:

1. Abeer Mohamed, Smart Materials Innovative Technologies in Architecture; Towards Innovative Design Paradigm (Tanta University, 2017)
2. Michelle Addington, Smart Materials and New Technologies For The Architecture and Design Professions (Harvard University, 2005)
3. Michelle Addington, Smart Materials and Sustainability (Texas University)
4. Thorsten Klooster, Smart surfaces : and their application in architecture and design (Basel : Birkhauser , 2009)
5. Hiroshi Ishii, IAmbient Displays: Turning Architectural Space into an Interface between People and Digital Information (Springer, 1998)
6. Kris Paulsen, Here/there : telepresence, touch, and art at the interface (MIT Press, 2017)
7. TED: Catarina Mota: Play with smart materials [Online], available at <https://www.ted.com/talks/catarina_mota_play_with_smart_materials/transcript?language=en>