Allotropic Fields : On Architectural Kinetics & Biodynamic Assemblies

Through the recent prevalence of interdisciplinary design, kinetic architecture has aligned its modalities with those of biological paradigms. Homologous to transformative architecture, biological organisms exemplify a propensity for adaptation by virtue of kinetic means. Along these lines, the institution of kinetic architecture, hitherto delineated by hard mechanical means, is transitioning to soft, polymeric material systems analogous to homeostatic mechanisms. While this signals the beginning of a paradigmatic shift, architectural kinetics – nascent by its own right - finds itself only in the incipient stages of establishing a framework rooted in the operative analogies of dynamic biological behavior. With the intent of furthering this burgeoning discourse, this thesis explores the interface between mechanisms of biological adaptation and architectural kinetics in order to cultivate new transposition strategies and, in turn, develop an architectural prototype embodying novel manifestations of kinetic complexity and dynamism.