eSkin
A Project by Sabin Design Lab
Cornell University
This paper received the best paper award at SimAUD 2014.
eSkin
The goal of eSkin is to explore materiality from nano to macroscales based upon an understanding of the dynamics of human cell behaviors. Since the official public launch in the fall of 2010 of our National Science Foundation (NSF) Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) Science in Energy and Environmental Design (SEED) project titled, Energy Minimization via Multi-Scalar Architectures: From Cell Contractility to Sensing Materials to Adaptive Building Skins, we have led a team of architects, graduate architecture students and researchers in the investigation of biologically-informed design through the visualization of complex data sets, digital fabrication and the production of experimental material systems for prototype speculations of adaptive building skins, designated eSkin, at the macro-building scale. Our project contributes to an area within architecture called adaptive architecture while also presenting a unique avant-garde model for sustainable design via the fusion of the architectural design studio with laboratory-based scientific research.
This project was funded by the National Science Foundation Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation, Science in Energy and Environmental Design, and is jointly housed at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Architectural Team: Jenny E. Sabin, Andrew Lucia, Simin Wang, Giffen Ott; Cornell University
Materials Science Team: Shu Yang, Dengteng Ge, Yu Xia, Elaine Lee, Jie Li, Su Yeon Lee; University of Pennsylvania
Electrical and Systems Engineering Team: Jan Van der Spiegel, Nader Engheta, Milin Zhang, Hongjie Zhu, Xilin Liu; University of Pennsylvania
Cell Biology Team: Kaori Ihida-Stansbury, Keith Keenan, Thien Nguyen, Juliana Ames, Peter Lloyd Jones; University of Pennsylvania