Adaptive Beauty: Transferring natural elegance to architected materials

Biological structures perform engineering feats with an astonishing economy of means. The robust functionality of a pine cone, for example, is essentially based on the arrangement and differentiation of its material structure and does not involve any metabolic energy. By drawing inspiration from the simple yet sophisticated elegance of nature, we wish to cultivate a new notion of beauty in engineered structures that respond to subtle variations in the environment.

With this international collaboration, we investigate adaptive beauty through an interdisciplinary approach that blends physics and architecture. We will develop methods for overcoming the geometric constraints in morphing surfaces by integrating concepts from materials, geometry, and mechanics. We aim to explore the dynamic sequence of shaping in a new class of deployable structures --- without any motors, sensors, or batteries, but only the design of the material using additive manufacturing.

Future forms of beauty: announcement of the awarded projects

ICD Institute for Computational Design and Construction, University of Stuttgart

Tiffany Cheng, Yasaman Tahouni, Dylan Wood, Ekin Sila Sahin, Prof. Achim Menges

PMMH Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL

José Bico, Benoît Roman, Maïka Saint-Jean

La Chaire Beauté(s) de l’Université PSL