Whirlstools

Author

Takeuchi, Yuichiro and You, Jean

Abstract

Despite the deepening integration of digital technology into architectural space, kinetic (i.e., shapeshifting) architecture has found few applications outside of installations in art galleries. Clearly, a major culprit is cost-complex transformation mechanisms can rarely be built and operated at costs low enough to justify their often unclear benefits. In this paper we argue that by drawing on the psychological theory of affordance, we can design low-cost kinetic architectural systems that nonetheless bring about beneficial, sizable changes in human behavior. To illustrate the idea we introduce Whirlstools, a kinetic furniture system that uses modest adjustments of seat angles to foster spontaneous conversations among strangers in public spaces.