Toward Optimization and Performance: Assessing Architectural Design through Microcontrollers

This paper addresses responsiveness and the integration of microprocessors as a real-time assessment tool by investigating the work completed in Responsive Prototyping [RP], a design/craft studio. Students were asked to address two focal research/design questions: how do we define the concepts of ‘responsiveness and optimization’ in architecture? And, how do we apply them in specific design studio subsets characterized by a craft component? Real-time data was collected, parsed, filtered, and used to provide feedback to the project delivery system via the production of responsive architectural prototypes.

keywords: Responsiveness, Optimization, Microcontrollers, Parametric