Morphing Structural Materials – From Biology to Physics to Architecture

Matter is rarely completely static: often matter can morph. This is true for all living systems that grow, adapt and change shape. Indeed, cells divide, leaves and fungi grow, octopuses transform, and wings reshape to control flight. But it is also true that bread rises and that pasta swells. While morphing is omnipresent in the living, it is not confined to it. Harnessing morphing capacities has many potential applications, from machines and robots to architecture. The goal of this course is to review the current and fast-growing knowledge about structural materials that change shape or develop spontaneous internal stresses that improve their properties. The emphasis will be on potential applications in the built environment, from houses to infrastructures. Lecturers from physics, engineering, biomaterials science and architecture will cover this topic in an interdisciplinary way. The mechanics of shape-change requires the physical understanding of how internal stresses in conjunction with the overall shape lead to macroscopic deformation. This raises a number of questions that will be addressed: To what extent can one predict the final shape? In which cases and in which way is it possible to solve the reverse problem? Which ways of inducing shape change, such as air inflation, water-based swelling and shrinking, thermal expansion, have been addressed theoretically and practically? How can shape-change be used for self-assembly and dis-assembly of morphing units? What is different at large scales that are relevant for architecture and where gravitational forces play a major role? Nature is a major inspiration for shape-change due to its ability to grow and remodel. But natural systems, plants in particular, evolved to use “passive” morphing that does not involve an active metabolism. Major examples are seed dispersal systems, such as the pine cone and many others. The course will also address natural examples and review the current knowledge in the field in order to provide a basis for the inspiration of technical structural materials that are able to morph. Examples from architecture will be discussed, including inflatables, assemblies of morphing and non- morphing particles, and composites with internal stresses. But architecture is not only an engineering field but also requires design knowledge and approaches. One of the goals of this course is also to initiate the participants to research and development approaches that combine scientific and engineering methods with techniques from design. In nature, morphing has always been critical– it is about growth and survival; a matter of life itself. Along with scientific observations, insights and theorems on natural morphing matter, shape-shifting permeated the dreams and fantasies of mythology, folklore, fiction and the human imagination. The vision that led to the development of this course is that morphing will also increasingly impact our built environment, perhaps encompassing more sustainable solutions than what is common practice today.