Programmable Buildings: Architecture as an Interaction Interface Powered with Programmable Matter Andrzej Zarzycki New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ 07102, USA andrzej.zarzycki@njit.edu Martina Decker New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ 07102, USA decker@njit.edu CCS CONCEPTS  Applied computing~Computer-aided design KEYWORDS Embedded systems; Smart materials; Sensors and actuators ACM Reference format: Andrzej Zarzycki and Martina Decker. 2017. Programmable Buildings: Architecture as an Interaction Interface Powered with Programmable Matter. In Proceedings of SIGGRAPH 2017 Talks, Los Angeles, CA, USA, August 2017, 2 pages. DOI: 10.1145/3084363.3085164 1 INTRODUCTION Adaptive designs and intelligent spaces are in the forefront of the current architectural and product design discourse. They engage users in interactive dialogue, allow for public domain authoring, and are critical factors in sustainable designs where buildings monitor their own performance and respond to environmental factors or user needs (figure 1). The following research discusses current approaches to active and reactive building components and smart building assemblies. One approach uses microcontroller-guided components with distinct elements, each performing a dedicated function such as sensing, actuating, or data processing. The second approach incorporates custom designed smart materials that not only complement or replace the need for electrically operated sensors or actuators, but also eliminate a microcontroller, since in this arrangement the material itself performs computational functions. Presented studies use physical computing and smart- material models as vehicles to discuss pros and cons of each approach to adaptive design in architecture. Building on these observations, the presentation looks into conceptual aspects of integrated hybrid systems that combine both computation approaches as well as unique opportunities inherent to these hybrid designs. The material-based computation--sensing and Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author. Copyright is held by the owner/author(s). SIGGRAPH '17 Talks, July 30 - August 03, 2017, Los Angeles, CA, USA ACM 978-1-4503-5008-2/17/07. 10.1145/3084363.3085164 actuating--are processed locally and on an as-needed basis. It can be achieved on the nanoscale--truly distributed and ubiquitous-- with non-explicit appearance. At the same time, the software- hardware integration inherent in smart-material computing sets limitations for dynamic readjustment of behavioral properties and functional configurations. In most instances, smart materials are specifically designed to perform a particular function within well-defined trigger conditions. However, these trigger properties are not easily reconfigurable once integrated into building assemblies. Figure 1: Algae bio-facade panel. Project by Samantha Bard, Mary Lopreiato, and Libertad McLellan supervised by Andrzej Zarzycki, NJIT. 2 CASE STUDY: SMART MATERIAL Automated shading elements have been designed to effectively control environmental conditions in buildings. Shading systems routinely use sensor and actuator with adaptive-kinetic assemblies to control solar gains and sunlight. These functionalities could also be achieved with engineered materials. Particular classes of shape memory alloys (SMAs) can effectively perform the same task without the needs of temperature sensors, computing devices, or electricity. The Smart Textile project (figure 2) shows a series of SMA strands integrated into a textile ribbon design that perform similarly to mechanically-controlled blinds. While SMAs can react to particular temperature, it does not respond to the amount of natural light passing through the screen. In order to overwrite the material performance in the assembly an electric current could be run through the SMAs locally to trigger the hot state configuration of the material. This parallel trigger approach demonstrates the opportunity for multilevel integration of smart materials and electronic systems. A microcontroller could work side-byside to modulate material