Research on integral design and planning processes for adaptive buildings

Adaptive skins and structures constitute an approach for reducing the immense material consumption in the construction of buildings, their energy demand and related emissions. Through the integration of sensor-actuator systems, conventional structures and skins become a controllable dynamic system, capable of reacting to different external influences. This approach demands an integral planning and design process with participants from various disciplines. The Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1244 entitled Adaptive Skins and Structures for the Built Environment of Tomorrow, involves, the research of specific processes and methods for the design and planning of adaptive buildings. In this paper, conventional approaches in architectural design and planning are analysed, providing the basis for the development of an improved process for adaptive buildings.