Heterogeneous Interior
Liz Galvez, Professor
Architecture
Applications for Spring 2025 are closed for this project.
Project Description: This project addresses the challenges posed by extreme weather conditions and growing energy instability by exploring experimental approaches to managing interior environments. The research proposes architectural strategies that allow for multiplicity of indoor climates and environmental management.
To bridge academic exploration with real-world applications, the project culminates in the construction of a full-scale environmental test-house in Michoacán, Mexico, currently underway. This structure combines passive building technologies with contemporary methods that offer alternatives to traditional air conditioning. Post-construction, the test-house will serve as a living laboratory, utilizing thermal instrumentation, interviews, and observational studies to measure and analyze conditions such as temperature, humidity, and user experiences.
At the heart of the test-house lies a centralized "thermal mass" element that merges the utility core and central hearth into a cruciform design. This thermal mass subdivides the cubic volume into four quadrants, each capable of hosting unique thermal and environmental conditions. Additional active heating and cooling strategies are deployed throughout the house to explore hybrid approaches to interior comfort.
The project challenges traditional methodologies in building science, which often rely on "steady state" analysis to study isolated building components under fixed conditions. By constructing and operating a full-scale structure in a dynamic external environment, the test-house enables the study of time-dependent factors, including diurnal and annual cycles, as well as the synthesis of hybrid passive conditioning methods. The project highlights the complexities of hybridity, emphasizing the need for built environments that account for dynamic, heterogeneous interior conditions, and allowing for iterative modifications through demolition and addition over time.
This endeavor offers a critical pathway for advancing sustainable building practices while addressing the limitations of conventional simulation methods, ultimately contributing to broader adoption of hybrid thermal management strategies.
Role: Tasks: The URAP Student will be responsible for working closely with the PI to develop documentation and models to develop the design of the prototype. This position requires weekly, in-person meetings. Learning outcomes will emphasize addressing real-world environmental issues through architectural representation, utilizing building processes as a research methodology to rigorously reframe specific aspects of building culture.
Qualifications: Personal Skills: Detail Oriented, Clear communicator, Self-directed.
Software Skills: Adobe Creative Suite, Rhinoceros, Rendering (Varies).
Making skills: Detail Oriented, model-making, simple construction and openness to learning experimental methods of making
Hours: 9-11 hrs
Engineering, Design & Technologies