The pattern with which one would print the wrap is subject to the needs of a particular project usage. Mass Customizable SmartWrap™ can be produced for an infinite number of conditions and desired aesthetic programs. Efficient SmartWrap™ replaces the conventional "bulky" wall with a composite of millimeter scale that can be erected in a fraction of conventional building time and with greater ease. The intention of the pavilion is to explain the concept of the wrap in its architectural and artistic context, to describe its various components, and demonstrate the transfer technologies associated with it. SmartWrap™ is the building envelope of the future: a composite that integrates the currently segregated functions of a conventional wall and combines them into one advanced composite. “I think people are interested how it might be appropriate beyond an installation at an art museum,” he said.įor more information on the installation, visit the ICA’s web site, is the building envelope of the future: a composite that integrates the currently segregated functions of a conventional wall and combines them into one advanced composite. While marketing the futuristic building material may be five or six years away, Timberlake noted that so far, the interest has been great. Timberlake said SmartWrap is appropriate for any structure, from small homes to high-rise office buildings. “What we have is a material that might be on a roll, that’s moving not through one printing process, but anywhere from three to five.” The roll of plastic, complete with embedded technology, can itself be rolled and easily transported to a building site. The difference is the scalability,” he said. Timberlake explained that printing the technology on the plastic is not unlike the process on a desktop printer. “Ultimately, we think that this has the potential of replacing nearly every kind of building material.” The team knows already that SmartWrap, when wrapped around a metal scaffolding and left outside, has the capability of withstanding a Category 3 hurricane, as it did during the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum installation last summer.Īs they have created it, OLEDs, or organic light-emitting displays, thin film batteries and wiring are actually printed on the plastic as green, yellow and black squares. We think this is the building material of the future,” said Timberlake. The evolution of their alternative building material, SmartWrap, began about five years ago, when they were conducting a master’s research laboratory in the School of Design.īut is it really possible that the future may lie in the very same plastic film used to make soda bottles? In their book, “refabricating ARCHITECTURE” (McGraw-Hill, 2003), they argue that the time is ripe for a reevaluation of traditional design and construction methods. Timberlake and Steven Kieran GAr’76, principal partners in the award-winning architecture film KieranTimberlake Associates, are hardly strangers to innovative design. “They’re used to displaying information and art and this crosses over into technology as well.”
“We’ve tried to make it as artful as we possibly can for them,” said Timberlake.
SmartWrap, a very thin polymer-based building material embedded with technology that captures and stores energy, will be displayed in the lobby, with the “smart” working panel on display in the main window. Now everyone interested in a building material that can multitask can see SmartWrap up close, in an Institute of Contemporary Art installation running through April 4. James Timberlake GAr’77 calls building materials with only one function “dumb.” Materials that contain embedded technology and have multiple functions are therefore “smart.” A “smart” wall, for example, can contain electronic data while screening the light, or it can block wind and simultaneously give an accurate temperature reading.
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