![]() For the purposes of the exhibition in 2003, it was necessary for the systems to be adhered to the PET by hand. SmartWrap™ on display at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City in 2003.Īt the time, some components such as OLED and PCM technologies were only emerging, and there was no developed system for organic printing onto a substrate. Temperature sensors were added to provide a more complete understanding of the insulative capacities of the building envelope, the efficacy of the thermal stack, and the dynamics between outdoor temperatures and the interior environment of the house. The second SmartWrap™ prototype, deployed in 2008, incorporated multiple layers of PET, with thin-film PVs adhered to the exterior and solar heat and UV blocking film on the interior. “I think people are interested how it might be appropriate beyond an installation at an art museum,” he said.įor more information on the installation, visit the ICA’s web site, first SmartWrap™ prototype included one layer of PET with thin-film batteries, thin-film PVs and OLEDs adhered and a second layer of PET with PCMs and aerogel insulation.Īpplication of thin-film photovoltaic cells and copper circuitry.ĭetail of technology adhered to the PET substrate. While marketing the futuristic building material may be five or six years away, Timberlake noted that so far, the interest has been great. Timberlake said SmartWrap is appropriate for any structure, from small homes to high-rise office buildings. “What we have is a material that might be on a roll, that’s moving not through one printing process, but anywhere from three to five.” The roll of plastic, complete with embedded technology, can itself be rolled and easily transported to a building site. The difference is the scalability,” he said. Timberlake explained that printing the technology on the plastic is not unlike the process on a desktop printer. ![]() “Ultimately, we think that this has the potential of replacing nearly every kind of building material.” The team knows already that SmartWrap, when wrapped around a metal scaffolding and left outside, has the capability of withstanding a Category 3 hurricane, as it did during the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum installation last summer.Īs they have created it, OLEDs, or organic light-emitting displays, thin film batteries and wiring are actually printed on the plastic as green, yellow and black squares. We think this is the building material of the future,” said Timberlake. The evolution of their alternative building material, SmartWrap, began about five years ago, when they were conducting a master’s research laboratory in the School of Design.īut is it really possible that the future may lie in the very same plastic film used to make soda bottles? In their book, “refabricating ARCHITECTURE” (McGraw-Hill, 2003), they argue that the time is ripe for a reevaluation of traditional design and construction methods. Timberlake and Steven Kieran GAr’76, principal partners in the award-winning architecture film KieranTimberlake Associates, are hardly strangers to innovative design. “They’re used to displaying information and art and this crosses over into technology as well.” ![]() “We’ve tried to make it as artful as we possibly can for them,” said Timberlake. SmartWrap, a very thin polymer-based building material embedded with technology that captures and stores energy, will be displayed in the lobby, with the “smart” working panel on display in the main window. Now everyone interested in a building material that can multitask can see SmartWrap up close, in an Institute of Contemporary Art installation running through April 4. James Timberlake GAr’77 calls building materials with only one function “dumb.” Materials that contain embedded technology and have multiple functions are therefore “smart.” A “smart” wall, for example, can contain electronic data while screening the light, or it can block wind and simultaneously give an accurate temperature reading.
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