In order to develop a prototype that would employ hemp fiber as a smart material, we went through many projects looking for references.
The following one, is the one that became our main case of interest.



FE-00: HYGROSCOPE - CASE OF INTEREST



“HygroScope” Metheosensitivity morphology, is an installation developed by Achim Menges in collaboration with Steffen Reichert, (Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2012).

“The project explores a novel mode of responsive architecture based on the combination of material inherent behaviour and computational morphogenesis.

The dimensional instability of wood in relation to moisture content is employed to construct a climate responsive architectural morphology.

Suspended within a humidity controlled glass case the model opens and closes in response to climate changes with no need for any technical equipment or energy. Mere fluctuations in relative humidity trigger the silent changes of material-innate movement.

The material structure itself is the machine... the responsive capacity is ingrained in the material’s hygroscopic behaviour and anisotropic characteristics.
Anisotropy denotes the directional dependence of a material’s characteristics, in this case the different physical properties of wood in relation to grain directionality.

Hygroscopicity refers to a substance’s ability to take in moisture from the atmosphere when dry and yield moisture to the atmosphere when wet, thereby maintaining a moisture content in equilibrium with the surrounding relative humidity.”