Papers about design | Facade Tectonics Institute

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295 results

Integrating Soft Robotics into Architectural Assemblies
- Paper by Vera Parlac, Associate Professor
The project described in this paper explores the integration of custom-made soft robotic muscles into a component-based surface. This project is part…
March 19, 2020
Integrated Building Control System
- Paper by Jae Yong Suk, Ph.D. · Keith Graeber, PE · Andrew Harper, PE · Michael Siminovitch, Ph.D.
Integrated management of commercial lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems is considered as one of the most promising building

September 02, 2024
Multi-domain Assessment of a Kinetic Facade
- Paper by Kunyo Luo, Master of Building Science Karen Kensek, LEED AP BD+C, DPACSA, Professor of Practice Marc Schiler, FASES, Professor
An assessment workflow was created to simulate and evaluate the performance of a kinetic facade in an interior space. It includes parameters of…
June 10, 2020
Put Your Sweater On!
- Paper by Eric Haas, AIA, LEED AP BD+C
During the particularly cold first months of 1977 President Jimmy Carter, in what some call “The Sweater Speech,” famously noted how much energy

January 22, 2020
When Facades Kill
- Paper by Terri Meyer Boake,
The tragic fire of June 14, 2017 at the Grenfell Tower in London, England has brought to a very public global forum issues related to the impact of…
March 14, 2018
Fire Safety and Code Challenges for Mass Timber in Curtain Wall Systems
- Paper by David Barber · John Neary · Mic Patterson PhD LEED AP+
With the desire for more sustainable construction and reduced embodied energy, mass timber is being explored for building structures. For medium and

January 29, 2020
The Double Skin Facade
- Paper by Lee A. Fithian, AIA, AICP, NCARB, LEED AP,
The largest source of air pollution in North America is the atmospheric boundary layer of a city caused by its urban canyons with pollutants produced…
March 14, 2018
Carbon-Dioxide-Inhaling Facade
- Paper by Prof. Dr. Timo Schmidt, Professor for facade technology and design Carmen Herrmann, Student Dr. Michael Lakatos, Professor Daniel Zabicki, Scientific Employee Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Wahl, Professor Kai Scherer, PhD Student
3.5 billion years ago, cyanobacteria created the foundation for life on Earth by producing the oxygen basis for our atmosphere. Should we once again…
March 15, 2020
Retroreflective Coating for Window Blinds
- Paper by Luca Papaiz, Lars Oliver Grobe, Giuseppe De Michele,
Solar shading devices are required to find a trade-off between conflicting requirements: Protection from excessive solar gains and glare, daylight…
March 23, 2020
Pioneering the Structural Terracotta Mullion Façade
- Paper by Victoria Ereskina · John Neary
Architects today must explore alternative enclosure materials to meet evolving energy codes and embodied carbon regulations. Terra cotta has been

October 11, 2022
Challenges of Tall Iconic Building Retrofit
- Paper by Hamid Vossoughi, P.E., P. Eng.,
Change happens, for better or for worse, to all living and physical matter. In order to thrive and achieve longevity, we constantly need to adapt to…
March 14, 2018
Separating Direct From Diffuse
- Paper by Nick Novelli, PhD · Robert Gordon · Igor Varfolomeev
An Enclosure-Integrated, Daylighting, Tracking Solar Collector (EIDTSC) has been developed for market which integrates into a building’s fenestration

March 14, 2018
Rethinking Building Skins
- Paper by Eugenia Gasparri, Lecturer in Architectural Technologies Arianna Brambilla, Senior Lecturer in Architecture Gabriele Lobaccaro, Associate Professor in Solar Design and Building Performance Simulation Francesco Goia, Professor of Building Physics Annalisa Andaloro, Senior Researcher Alberto Sangiorgio, Principal Façade Engineer
Building skins play a pivotal role in architecture. Other than the aesthetical and architectural aspects, facades are key to the climate performance,…
October 11, 2022
Invert Auto-Shading
- Paper by Jae Yong Suk, Assistant Professor Doris Sung, Associate Professor
Allowing sufficient amount of natural light while avoiding excessive sunlight penetration is often hard to achieve with static facade systems due to…
March 15, 2020
Shaping Skin
- Paper by John Neary AIA LEED AP NCARB, Sr. Associate
The conventional modern facade is essentially flat, which creates the tendency toward visual monotony and problems for modulating daylight—both on…
March 21, 2020