Kinetic Environments: Explorations into the Spatial Experience of Transformable Surfaces

This doctoral thesis explores kinetic environments through a narrative of historic definitions cross referenced with analysis of the spatial experiences of transformable surfaces. Research by Rudolph Arnheim and Thomas Thiis-Evensen along with project case studies gives foundation to an argument for investigating the relationship between human perception and kinetic environments. These relationships are understood further through a systematic cataloging and analysis of modeled transformable surfaces, computer generated simulation studies, and prototype proposals for the physical application and testing of kinetic principles. These explorations serve to show that existing definitions of spatial experience are not applicable when considering the potentialities of kinetic surfaces, and thus a refined framework is generated to begin to understand the spatial experience of kinetic environments