Airshade

Matter Makers made a design for two facades working on 1 kinetic sunshading system. ​​​​​​​Airshade Technologies B.V. is a patented shading system for buildings that needs no electricity, motors or sensors. It uses air expansion and the heat of the sun to operate the shades. For Airshade we envisioned the possible use of this great innovation that does not use any wires or cables but purely works on the heat on the air. In the model you can see different opening capacities of the shading system.
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picture of 2 models showing different gradients of open/closed
model picture
Client : Airshade Technologies B.V. ​​​​​​​
Location : Amsterdam, Netherlands
Program : Kinetic responsive facade
Size : 50 m2
Status :  Completed concept and model (2020)
Design team : Matter Makers and Nikola Znaor
model picture
model picture
It is able to respond to the environment, harmonising its process with nature and replacing conventional, complex and energy-consuming structures. Airshade consists out of multiple shutter units, with the air container exposed to the sun. When exposed to solar radiation the air expands its volume and actuates a pneumatic cylinder that opens the shutters. Once opened, the shutters prevent the sun from coming inside a building. ​This technology has been granted a patent EP2933427B1, ​WO2015158709A1
picture of (working) prototype