tions), yet behaving as a collective whole to attain certain spatial reconfigurations.

 

THE MUSCLE TOWER 1

The Muscle Tower is a working prototype (model scale 1: 20) for a building’s structure that responds to external stimuli (the weather) and internal conditions (the users) (see Figure 3). This programmable structure is seen as a process relating to other running processes (people, the environment) that displays real-time behavior. It was first shown at the Aandrijftechniek exhibition, part of the Industrial Week (a meeting point for Dutch industry), at the

Jaarbeurs Utrecht. This exhibition informed visitors about many of the latest innovations, developments, and ideas in the fields of power transmission, factory automation, and motion control in one brain-stim-ulating visit. Some possible practical applications of a real-time adaptive structure like the Muscle Tower include:

• Adaptive Facade: Adapting to changing external environmental conditions and internal usage patterns.

• Responsive Roof: Responding to changes in solar radiation.

The potential importance of interactivity through organic reshaping of buildings as computers, and as computer displays, has become apparent.