This article was written by Jessica Chan and published on uni.xyz, a platform for design professionals and creative thinkers.

What is "Diffuse" about?

This article covers topics related to Interactive Architecture, Art Installation, Earth Architecture, Soil Architecture, Urban Installation, Cosmic Architecture, Interactive Spaces, Land Art, Environmental art, Imaginary Landscape, Intimacy of Space, Terrazzo, Landscape Immersion, Metaphorical Space, Installations, Interactive Art, Art intervention, Concept Architecture. Terra x Terra

Diffuse: Interactive Architecture by Jessica Chan

Diffuse is a modularly assembled pavilion created using design methodologies of biomimicry and biomimetic design, proposing a passive air purifying structure situated in urban settings. Deployed in Škroupovo náměstí, this version of the module can serve its purpose to raise awareness on the universal problem of air quality, and simultaneously attract visitors from the neighbourhood and abroad. Nestled in a garden, the lightweight structures reflect the surrounding flora’s natural purification processes. We offer a space to reflect, to sit, to observe, and to relax.

The project takes inspiration from fungi and barnacles - both organisms that possess a unique filtering system that catches small particles from their surroundings by maximizing surface area and using their continuous overlapping gills and legs. The pavilion uses this strategy in the design of a responsive skin. Thin sheets of a bio-textile material used in air filtration applications are stacked and held in place by a secondary structure of flexible steel cables. This forms modules of filtering sheets held at differing spacings, which respond to various wind levels, and allows for diffusion of light under the canopy. It can then be attached to the primary structure of supports that allow for a variety of urban programs at its base, including outdoor seating and a juice bar.

A series of iterations was conducted through Grasshopper, which allowed experimentation with the differing spacings and orientation of the skin and its connection to the support system. A flexible skin system allows it to conform with the shape and canopy of the supporting structure, which is composed of a series of steel bars that expand outwards and form a network of supports connected in its shared canopy. This property of the pavilion’s main structure allows for it to have boundless potential for expansion and adaptability for a variety of sites with differing constraints, and the global air purifying objective of Diffuse allows for its application all around the world.