Interactive architecture : its development, means, tools and implementation into the built environment

This work deeply explores Interactive Architecture as a new trend in design, based on communication of user and the space, the ability of the space to respond in real time and to accommodate different and changing needs of the users in a more effective way, creating continuous relationship between the society and the built environment. It describes the emergence and development of interactive architecture, evolving through time, philosophy behind it and ways of implementation in the built environment, studying the realized projects and the means and tools required to obtain specific structural performance. This thesis considers various types of interactive behavior, kinetic abilities and classification of systems, ensuring the responsiveness of interactive architecture, from physical re-configuration of the building components and the change of geometrical shape, to tracking of visitors and data receiving and interpretation by the built object, and the virtual architecture with parametric design. The structure seen as a dynamic body instead of static. This work also deals with adaptive and programmable architecture, describing its' impact on sustainability, energy consumption, urban planning and social network. It shows the new approach to construction techniques and interdisciplinary collaboration of different fields, linked to design production, revealing new possibilities of collaborative design, such as BIM, GIS and IPD, considering trends of the Swarm Architecture as well. This paper describes implementation of interactivity in House Automation, public space, medical facilities and edutainment design, explaining why is it important to consider new trends and introduce embedded computation into structure on the early stages of design process in order to obtain the most effective spatial performance, ensured by abilities of interactive design.