Architecture in motion: Between Spectacular Performance and Efficient Construction

In architecture, mechanical movements are only sensible when the basic conditions are limited, for example through shortages in resources such as time, space or energy. Similar to motorsport in the automobile industry, kinetic, or moving architecture, acts as an experimental area, in which extreme solutions can be found. Relating to the concrete uses of this approach the following four areas are brought to the fore: playful staging like the Prada Transformer from Rem Koolhaas; reversible convertibility, like the opening and closing walls of architect Brut Delux’s Kiosk m.poli; continuing adaptation, like the sun protection fins that adjust according to the position of the sun at the BMW training academy from Ackermann and Partner; and the efficient shifting that was the goal behind the crooked lift stairs from schneider + schumacher. It has been shown that the creative manipulation of kinetic elements will be influenced in the future by two key trends of technical development: either as simple, local movements, where many small decentralised elements create a surprising overall effect, or as interactive movement that reacts to outside influences, like the sun protection mechanism for the large glass surfaces of the new courthouse in Madrid from Chuck Hoberman and Foster and Partners that will be opened in 2011.