Flex Skin: Developing a material system based on interlocking wooden panels

This paper summarizes the development process of a performative material system as well as a corresponding digital design tool, potentially to be used in performative building envelopes. The system’s basic components are wooden panels that are joined by mechanical interlocking. The triangulation and offset of an immaterial target-surface to both sides defines the components’ geometry and distribution within the system. The performative qualities of the system are both on a structural and an environmental level. Changing the size and orientation of the panels, as well as their staggered arrangement, allows to control, within certain limitations, the quantity and quality of incoming daylight. Digital analysis tools help to evaluate the environmental performance of a given configuration during the design phase and create feedback loops that consequently lead to an optimized solution. These modifications have an impact on different levels of the system. A comparative study, based on three different climatic scenarios, demonstrates the system’s capacity for adaptation.