Memory Mesh: Conformationally Adaptive Solar Shading

Innovative technologies that enable more efficient use of energy in the built environment contribute to the effectiveness of green building design, and to sustainable building practices. Digital fabrication can be used to unlock the inherent physical properties of common materials as a means to create solar shades which change shape in response to ambient conditions and user needs in a system which relies on extremely simple mechanical actuation. These conformationally adaptive solar shades take advantage of materials which can be deformed not only to occlude or permit the passage of light, but also to produce optimal angles for the maximization the interception of solar radiation of the surface of the device itself