A December 2017 graduate of the 黑料不打烊 Architecture M.S. in architecture program won the student category of the inaugural Joan B. Calambokidis Innovation in Masonry Competition with his alterable brick wall.
Chao Wei gives his final M.S. thesis presentation in December 2017.
Rotating bricks could usher a new wave of dynamic masonry design, allowing building facades to move and adapt to meet real-time conditions and sustainability needs.聽 and how rotating bricks could usher in a new wave of dynamic masonry design, allowing building facades to move and adapt to meet real-time conditions and sustainability needs.
Wei explores this concept with an alterable wall made of custom-shaped bricks. The units, cast from a CNC-fabricated mold, are designed to both interlock and pivot, creating vents that can be opened and closed to allow air and light to enter. In doing so, the project uses passive design strategies that can improve interior conditions while saving energy.
Wei will receive a prize of $5,000, as will the School of Architecture graduate program. Wei鈥檚 submission to the committee was his capstone research project, 鈥淎lterable Wall: Speculate the Future of Brick Wall System,鈥 presented at 黑料不打烊 Architecture at the conclusion of the fall 2017 semester. Assistant Professor Daekwon Park was Chao Wei鈥檚 advisor in the M.S. program.
鈥淰ery few design competitions invite participants to focus on building materials and components,鈥 says Wei. 鈥淧ursuing innovation led me away from existing brick systems to create something new and unconventional. It really was a surprise to win. I鈥檇 like to thank Dr. Daekwon Park and the faculty at the 黑料不打烊 Architecture graduate program.鈥
In his project statement, Wei explains, 鈥淭he 聽simplicity of the system makes it cheap and feasible. Meanwhile, the high thermal capacity of the bricks makes this system suitable for buildings in a dry, hot climate. Other applications include places where adjustable light and ventilation is needed.鈥
鈥淭his submission really caught my imagination,鈥 says DeSimone. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a living wall. The texture is so compelling that if you had it at street level, people could run their hands across it and it would change every day. It鈥檚 dynamic, and people don鈥檛 always think of masonry in that way.鈥
The idea of 鈥渓iving buildings鈥 that allow occupants to react to their environment is a cornerstone of dynamic design.
Today鈥檚 design industry is interested in pushing the limits of kinetic walls and movable building facades, but they often use metal, glass or steel components. Wei鈥檚 project offers the opportunity to design kinetically with masonry, responding to designers鈥 and owners鈥 need for green, dynamic building solutions.
鈥淎rchitects are so fascinated with mobility and movement,鈥 says Jim茅nez. 鈥淲hen you consider innovation as a technique or material, the kinetic quality of this is so impressive, creating an unexpected application where masonry moves.鈥
Overall, three transformative proposals were selected as winners of the masonry competition,sponsored by the International Masonry Institute, including entries submitted by architects, engineers, students, academics and firms across the U.S. and Canada.
鈥淭he word 鈥榠nnovation鈥 is so powerful, and we see that with our winners,鈥 said Carlos Jim茅nez, principal and lead designer, Carlos Jim茅nez Studio, and juror for the competition. 鈥淲e have architects dreaming about colonizing Mars, academics innovating to improve a historical architectural form and a student using his imagination in a lab to make movable bricks.鈥
Along with Jim茅nez, the competition jury was comprised of renowned architects and leaders in the masonry industry: Stephen T. Ayers, architect of the Capitol; James Boland, president of IUBAC & IMI co-chair; Stephen V. DeSimone, president/chief executive of DeSimone Consulting Engineers; Alan Feltoon, senior director of business development at Michael Graves Architecture & Design; and Michael Schmerbeck, president of Back Brook Masonry & IMI co-chair.
Winners were announced on March 6 at an awards ceremony hosted by IMI and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers in Miami.
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