Responsive Earthen Facades: Robotic Additive Manufacturing for Microclimate Resilience

2025 Faculty Research Award

AWARD PERIOD: 2026-2028

This project reimagines building façades as active climate regulators rather than passive barriers. PIs, Arash Adel, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Sigrid Adriaenssens, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Elie Bou-Zeid, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Salma Mozaffari, Postdoctoral Researcher in Civil and Environmental Engineering, are designing “responsive earthen façades” from earth-based materials with sculpted geometries—channels, cavities, textures—to direct airflow, manage moisture, and enable evaporative cooling. The team will use high-resolution simulations of local wind, sun, and rain to optimize modules for ventilation, cooling, strength, and solar balance. These designs will then be fabricated via robotic additive manufacturing of earthen mixes, with real-time sensing and closed-loop control to ensure print quality. Full-scale prototypes will be tested for their ability to lower surface and indoor temperatures and improve indoor air quality, advancing low-carbon envelope technologies that can reduce peak cooling demand and heat-related health risks in dense urban neighborhoods.