SmartWrap Prototype
Ever received a present without the gift-wrap? It is just not the same experience as gazing upon the exciting and mysterious wrapping. Buildings are referred to as boxes, but when was the last time a building’s wrapping made you excited to rush inside?
Philly-based architects Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake are looking beyond the glass curtain and imagining what the skin of a building could be…. An intelligent system that functions, senses and looks good! Imagine if a buildings’ walls could heat and cool automatically or could convey ever changing images and printed information. “Today, buildings are still being designed using the same materials and processes that were used thousands of years ago,” said architect James Timberlake. “We believe we can do better. SmartWrap offers a glimpse of the building envelope of the future.”
SmartWrap is only a prototype, but KieranTimberlake Associates are busy bringing its future to life. SmartWrap will be a micro-thin, advanced composite that replaces traditional bricks, mortar and other material used to make conventional walls. Technology needed for shelter, insulation, lighting and other functions is printed onto and adhered directly to the composite, which can be erected in a fraction of normal building time. Polyester film (the same stuff used to make everything from plastic soda bottles to next generation truck bumpers) provides structure, solar cells pump out electricity, OLED provides light, and a powdered compound developed by NASA absorbs and releases heat. SmartWrap can be customized with pattern or color using printing technology.
