Iridescence Facade System

Based on the study of a biological pattern in this case, the structure of a peacocks feather, a material system is designed. This system is later given an architectural application as a facade system.

For this proposal, Elisava’s School of Design main building in Barcelona, Spain is taken as a site. Taking the buildings sun exposure as an existing environmental input and the lighting needs inside the building according to the program of the classrooms adjacent to the facade as desired outputs, a new facade is proposed.

The process of design consisted in creating a a system that could be modified according to certain environmental parameters, resulting in a morphology that would provide shadow and heat protection to the facade in the needed areas. Having a system which morphological outcome could be varied in terms of density, permitted bringing into equilibrium the outer sun exposure with the inside heat/ light requirements.

The materiality and geometry facade proposed for Elisava was studied in a prototype composed of different stages. Taking advantage of the fabrication resources at hand, each part of the model could be fabricated using the most appropriate method. In the process we used 3d printing to fabricate the base and pillars of the structure. For fabricating the interior enclosure, which was proposed as cushions of ETFE for the facade, we created a mold using the CNC milling machine which was later used for thermo conforming a plastic sheet to be added to the 3d printed pieces.