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Autoformaton
DRL Phase 2

H y d r o M O R P H

Tutors: Yusuke Obuchi & Robert Stuart-Smith
Team: Greg Williams [ USA ] Kuo Wang [ China ]
Shan Lou [ China ] Wei Li [ China ]

As natural resources continue to decline, alternative methods of
water management and its role in building systems must be considered,
seeking out new strategies for a self-sustainable architecture.
The goal of autoFormaton is to provide a passive, condition-specific
envelope that captures water and moisture and redeploys it in the
physical reconfiguration of space. Employing a responsive envelope
that utilises the various phase changes of the material hydrogel–a
super-absorbent polymer that expands up to 200 times its original
size when saturated with water –the water-activated prototype can
take on an autonomous existence, resulting in a living, breathing
environment where spatial configuration remains in a constant
state of adaptive flux.
Derived from the relationship between production and consumption,
the programme consists of an Urban Soil-less Farm and
Community Farm as well as a Farmer’s Market – a proposal that
spans generation and function. The interaction between external
climate, internal distribution demand, spatial transformation and
programmatic necessity generate a recurring life-cycle, creating a
direct link between performance and form.