Bartlett Environmental Design Prize 2016: 'Cutaneous Tectonics' by Andreas Körner

The winner of Bartlett Environmental Design Prize 2016 is 'Cutaneous Tectonics': Andreas Körner. 

Andreas Körner's thesis 'Cutaneous Tectonics' investigates the relationship of inside and outside and how the construction of skins can manipulate and blur this duality.

It discusses the architectural definition of skins as a continuous exchange interface. By blurring the boundary condition of the envelope a third – intermediate - space can be created in the in-between. Furthermore the role of transparency and human perception of openness are discussed, as they are an integral part of the visual and sensorial appreciation of indoor climate. The envelope’s spatial dimensions are extended from a thin threshold to a thick inhabitable zone.

The city of Istanbul is introduced as a given outdoor climate condition and data centre, archive, library and greenhouse are set indoor climate zones. Non-mechanical environmental control techniques, such as natural ventilation, thermal mass and material embedded moisture buffering, are utilised to modulate climate conditions according to thermal comfort demands.

A voluminous boundary, shielding a central core region by shell layers, can construct seasonal chambers with migrating functions and occupation patterns. Computer aided fluid dynamics tests were conducted by the author to identify principles of air flows in cavity spaces. The calculated results, analysing those tested matryoshka envelopes, proof that it is possible to design a system of moulting fabrics and still sustaining required standardised air change rates.

This method, inflating the sticky envelope and creating puffy cutaneous cavity layers, is illustrated by several conceptual designs. Environmental field conditions are strategically defined as climates, rather than functions, are allocated. One particular intuitive design is further optimized and the previously generated knowledge is applied. Both the syntax of allocating climates – hence resulting temporary functions - and the idea of epidermal tectonics show great potential for architectural application and seem feasible within a temperate climate zone.