TED Talk Thursday – Doris Kim Sung: Metal that breathes

by | Oct 23, 2014 | Creativity, Inspiration, TED Talks, Video

According to ted.com: “Modern buildings with floor-to-ceiling windows give spectacular views, but they require a lot of energy to cool. Doris Kim Sung works with thermo-bimetals, smart materials that act more like human skin, dynamically and responsively, and can shade a room from sun and self-ventilate.”

“Architect Doris Kim Sung asks: Why can’t building materials be more adaptable? Why can’t they function more like clothing, or even human skin? Having studied biology at Princeton University intending to go to medical school, Sung applies principles of biology to her work as an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Southern California. She explores architecture as an extension of the body, challenging the notion that buildings ought to be static and climate-controlled. Rather, they should be able to adapt to their environment through self-ventilation. In November 2011, Sung exhibited her art installation “Bloom” in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. The installation is 20 feet tall and made with 14,000 completely unique pieces of thermo-bimetal, a smart material made of two different metals laminated together. This metal is dynamic and responsive, curling as air temperatures rise, resulting in a beautiful sculpture that breathes.”

Enjoy these “out of the box” ideas.

For those of you not familiar with TED Talks here is a brief summery from www.ted.com: “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize”

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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!