Academic research conducted at the University of Cincinnati, School of Architecture and Interior Design, in the vertical research studio ARCH 4002+8001 titled "Optical Illusions of Volume", Spring 2017.
Directed by Mara Marcu, Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati.
Students and Image Credits: Han Shen, Matt Brubaker, Kiana Memarandadgar, Yasamin Enshaeian. All students received the Director's Choice Award (highest design recognition in the school) upon graduation. Professor Marcu received the Outstanding Junior Faculty Award 2016-2017.
This work is sponsored by the AHSS Third Century Foundation Research Grant at the University of Cincinnati http://bit.ly/2rwXK8I.

Video Credits: Han Shen
Music: Midwayer by Joep Beving (Solipsism)

Moving Monocoque (MOMO) began as an exploration into the possibility of an architecture that directly and autonomously responds to human needs and interactions. Central to the process was the question: can spaces become autonomously adaptive to address situational needs? The problem with most existing “multi-function” architecture is its lack of ability to respond to internal environmental needs. Externally architecture has begun to respond to climactic factors such as solar movement and heat gain throughout the day. Internally however, most buildings remains static and ignorant of intrinsic (program and user related) transforming conditions.
A spatial canopy was constructed which responds to multi-dimensional user interaction and provides situational environments by utilizing sound sampling technology to drive a kinetic sequence, which in turn transforms the space in reaction to the amount of activity occurring underneath.