Kinetic architecture is a concept where buildings are designed so that significant portions can move while retaining structural integrity.

A building's capability for motion can be used just to enhance it aesthetic qualities - but can also allow it to respond to environmental conditions and to perform functions that would be impossible for a static structure.

Practical implementations of kinetic architecture increased sharply in the late 20th century with developments in mechanics, electronics and robotics opening up new architectural possibilities.

History

Rudimentary forms of kinetic architecture such as the drawbridge

Drawbridge

A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...

 can be traced back to the middle ages or earlier. Yet it was only in the early 20th century that architects began to widely discuss the possibility for movement to be enabled for a significant portion of a buildings' superstructure

Superstructure

A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships...

. In the first third of the 20th century, interest in kinetic architect was one of the stands of thought emerging from the Futurism

Futurism

Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...

 movement. Various papers and books included plans and drawings for moving buildings, a notable example being Chernikhov's

Yakov Chernikhov

Yakov Georgievich Chernikhov was a constructivist architect and graphic designer. His books on architectural design published in Leningrad between 1927 and 1933 are amongst the most innovatory texts of their time.Chernikov was born to a poor family, one of 11 children...

 101 Architectural Fantasies (1933). For the first few decades of the 20th century kinetic architecture was almost entirely theoretical, but by the 1940s innovators such as Buckminster Fuller

Buckminster Fuller

Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was an American systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, futurist and second president of Mensa International, the high IQ society....

 began experimenting with concrete implementations, though his early efforts in this direction are not regarded as totally successful.

In 1970 architect William Zuk published the book Kinetic architecture
which helped inspire a new generation of architects to design an increasingly wide range of actual working kinetic buildings. Assisted by new concepts such as Fuller's Tensegrity

Tensegrity

Tensegrity, tensional integrity or floating compression, is a structural principle based on the use of isolated components in compression inside a net of continuous tension, in such a way that the compressed members do not touch each other and the prestressed tensioned members delineate the...

 and by developments in robotics

Robotics

Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...

, kinetic buildings have become increasingly common worldwide since the 1980s. A novel example of kinetic architecture is the adaptive tensegrity bridge, which can self adjust depending on load, publicised by Sinan Korkmaz et al in 2011.

Themes

By the early 21st century three interrelated themes had emerged. The first is for functional buildings such as bridges which can elevate their mid-sections to allow tall ships to pass, or stadiums with retractable roofs such as the Veltins-Arena

Veltins-Arena

Veltins-Arena is a football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It opened in 2001, as the new home ground for German Bundesliga club Schalke 04....

, Millennium Stadium

Millennium Stadium

The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...

 in Cardiff, or Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium

The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

.
A second theme is for fantastic structures that can perform Transformer

Transformers

A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling.Transformer may also refer to:* ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet computer manufacturer by Asus...

 style changes of shape or which have a visually stunning appearance.
The bird-like Burke Brise soleil

Brise soleil

Brise soleil, sometimes brise-soleil , from French, "sun breaker"), in architecture refers to a variety of permanent sun-shading techniques, ranging from the simple patterned concrete walls popularized by Le Corbusier to the elaborate wing-like mechanism devised by Santiago Calatrava for the...

at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Milwaukee Art Museum

The Milwaukee Art Museum is located on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Beginning around 1872, multiple organizations were founded in order to bring an art gallery to Milwaukee, as the city was still a growing port town with little or no facilities to hold major art exhibitions...

 is a well regarded example of this, though it also has a functional aspect in that its movement allows it to shade the crowds from the sun or protect them from storms.

The third theme is for movement to occur on the surface of the building, creating what Buckminster Fuller called a "skin-like articulation" effect. A classic example of this is the Institut du Monde Arabe

Arab World Institute

The Institut du Monde Arabe or Arab World Institute , in English, was established in 1980 in Paris, when 18 Arab countries concluded an agreement with France to establish the Institute to disseminate information about the Arab world and set in motion detailed research to cover Arabic and the Arab...

.

Other uses of the term

Architects Sarah Bonnemaison and Christine Macy have suggested that movement can be an inspiring idea for architecture without the designs having to allow for actual movement - they can merely suggest it as was the case for some of the constructions of Gaudi or their own recent work.
The term Kinetic architecture can also refer to static buildings designed to accentuate human movement, such as the performing arts.
The phrase has been chosen as a title for performing groups including a dance company.

Etymology

Both words making up the phrase Kinetic architecture are of Greek derivation. 'Kienetic' compes from the ancient Greek word κινητικός (kinētikos, "one who puts in motion"). 'Architecture' is dervived from the Greek ἀρχιτέκτων ( arkhitekton, from ἀρχι- "chief" and τέκτων "builder, carpenter, mason").

External links

• Robotecture: Interactive Architecture - information and discussion about kinetic architecture and interactive architecture
• Kinetic Architecture - blog with many examples of kinetic architecture
• Hoberman Transformable Design - Chuck Hoberman's design group
• Adaptive Building Initiative - Company dedicated to designing and building adaptive buildings and structures