Real Time Green Wall

The knowledge of the way in which different environmental variables operate in our environments is vital to making decisions about the nature of the buildings we design. The current state of knowledge about the cities we live in, requires a complexity in terms of measurement and analysis that exceed the capabilities of the instruments traditionally used by architects and planners for these examinations. For this reason, this research focuses on the use of new technologies for environmental monitoring techniques and the use of this information produced by them as a tool for visualization and design.

The accessibility of electronics and low cost processors has made it feasible for designers to study real-time monitoring of buildings and sites by measuring environmental variables with high level of accuracy. This thesis makes use of these technologies applying them to a local case study. It is proposed to first study the role of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) in architectural design and the speculative proposals in the mid-20th century. As well as the rise of the internet and the 21st century cyber-revolution, including their influence on current architectural proposals.

Alongside the case study revision, physical Arduino based environmental sensor modules were assembled, as a practical way of gathering, visualizing, and ultimately simulating the real time environmental data. These simulations will allow for a better produced and stronger bond between architecture and the environmental context as it pertains to the built environment. This lead the development of interventions in the city or sites where these buildings are located, by making use of real time environmental data for the creation of dynamic feedback building systems as interactive green walls.