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The Meaningful Integration of
Interactive Media in Architecture
Abstract
Current media architecture practice demonstrates the
rich potential of interactive media in our built
environment for various economic, social and cultural
purposes. However, the meaningful integration of
interactive media with(in) architecture remains
challenging, as architects typically expect that media-
specific qualities amplify the architectural intentions and
experience of the built environment. This paper
demonstrates how this challenge can be tackled by
grounding the design rationale of an interactive media
architecture manifestation on fundamental architectural
motives, such as the intended physical, experiential and
communicative characteristics. More specifically, we
discuss the design rationale of a permanent, sound-
based media façade that will consist of the dynamic
mechanical actuation of multiple wooden window
frames. By explicitly articulating the design rationale in
an architectural framework, this paper aims to inform
emerging HCI research on human-building interaction
(HBI) from a ‘building’ perspective.
Author Keywords
Human-building interaction; interactive architecture;
media architecture; media façade; architecture.
ACM Classification Keywords
H.5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g.,
HCI): Miscellaneous
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DIS'17 Companion, June 10-14, 2017, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
© 2017 Copyright is held by the owner/author(s).
ACM ISBN 978-1-4503-4991-8/17/06.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3064857.3079143
Maarten Houben
Research[x]Design
KU Leuven,
Leuven, Belgium
maarten.houben@student.kuleuven.be
Benjamin Denef
DMOA Architects
Leuven, Belgium
benjamin@dmoa.be
Matthias Mattelaer
DMOA Architects
Leuven, Belgium
matthias@dmoa.be
Sandy Claes
Research[x]Design
KU Leuven,
Leuven, Belgium
sandy.claes@kuleuven.be
Andrew Vande Moere
Research[x]Design
KU Leuven,
Leuven, Belgium
andrew.vandemoere@kuleuven.be
Introduction
The human experience of space consists of a rich range
of subjective motivations that deserve to be addressed
by modern information technology [1]. As such, the
current practice of media architecture [2] demonstrates
the compelling potential of interactive media in our built
environment for various economic, social and cultural
purposes. Manifestations of media architecture tend to
vary in terms of media (e.g. light, video, sound),
material (e.g. scale, resolution), functional
characteristics (e.g. technology, interactivity) and
purposes (e.g. communication, advertising, place-
making). Driven by the ultimate aim to seamlessly and
ubiquitously integrate technology in space, architecture
and computing, two disciplines that seemingly deal with
fundamentally different matters – the physical and the
digital – seem thus destined to grow towards each other
[3]. Yet, common HCI research tends to focus on
progressing technological advances that in their
relationship to space are often based on notions of
proxemics. In contrast, conventional architectural design
is driven by controlling more intricate notions of ‘space’
and ‘place’, in which however interactive technology
tends to be tolerated rather than fully embraced. In
order to better understand and eventually overcome the
relative lack of engagement between these two domains
[4], we consider it crucial to better understand how
interactive systems can be embedded in more
‘architecturally relevant’ ways.
Context
Following the tradition of architectural design, and in
relative contrast to the design-oriented research praxis
in HCI research, we deployed a research-oriented design
approach [5] in which we used design as the area (and
research as the means) to describe the considerations
that were faced during the process of creating a
permanent and real-world product. The product consists
of a newly built architectural office building, shown in
Figure 1, of which the design intentions explicitly aimed
to make meaningful relationships with its immediate
environment. Once convinced that these relationships
could potentially become augmented via the use of
interactive media, the architects were prepared to
collaborate in exploring the integration of a media facade
in their intended architectural design.
We ground the design rationale of this media façade on
the results of our recent Q-methodology survey of
practicing architects [6], which showed that architects
embrace digital media only when they can interpret it as
a ‘material’ that can be moulded so to amplify (and not
only decorate or compliment) the overall architectural
message. The survey synthesized three core
‘architectural’ qualities of media architecture, coined as
physical,experiential and communicative dimensions.
By motivating our design rationale from this set of
architectural qualities and relating these with
consequential HCI considerations, this paper expects to
inform the emerging discussion on human-building
interaction (HBI) [7] – the design and evaluation of
building-sized interactive experiences – from a ‘building’
perspective.
Physical Quality
The architectural relevant integration of dynamic media
should consider physical properties [6],which typically
includes trivial characteristics such as rhythm or
proportionality,but basically considers how media
should ‘blend in’ the overall architectural expression. Not
surprisingly, the collaborating architects dismissed
common media architecture manifestations like lighting
Figure 1: The corner of the
building is curving towards the
park, suggesting movement.
Figure 2: Integration of the
actuator into the façade.
Underneath the aluminum sill, a
separate piece of chestnut is able
to resonate when hit by the
solenoid.
or displays, as they believed these would overpower the
subtle material qualities of the intended yet rarely used
materials like the ‘stamped’ concrete for the outer facade
wall and the exposed chestnut wood for the pronounced
window frames. Consequently, the intended media was
required to be invisible and unobtrusive, yet still be
perceivable.
Soundscape. Whereas acoustics already forms an
integral aspect of architectural expression, the artificial
generation of an outdoor soundscape does not, and was
therefore considered unique and original. Several
potential ways for audible expression were explored,
ranging from integrating small loudspeakers in the
facade to embedding vertical metal tubes within the
outer shell in which sound effects could be mechanically
created, or artificial wind bursts could be transformed
into intriguing ambient sound effects. Low-fidelity
prototyping quickly demonstrated how loudspeakers are
inherently immaterial, and therefore non-architectural,
forms of expression, and how emanating sound waves
from a tube embedded in a heavy concrete mass is
challenging without creating protruding elements from
which sound waves could escape. Instead, we re-
interpreted the wooden window frames as architectural
‘instruments’ that could be more authentically actuated,
such as by the mechanical hammering motion of a small
piston that can be electronically driven by a solenoid (see
Figure 2). Moreover, the resulting wooden-like tonality
can be intuitively interpreted as a materiality that is
generated ‘out of’ the architectural manifestation itself.
The multiplication of this actuation over 17 separate
window frames also allows for the spatial distribution of
dynamic rhythms on an architectural scale.
Experiential Quality
The experience of media architecture [6] should ideally
create an atmosphere that is collective and responsive,
and able to dynamically adapt to the changing activities
of the space it mediates towards.
Atmosphere. The building is situated at the corner of a
busy and car-dominated beltway surrounding Leuven, a
mid-sized Belgian city (see Figure 3a), and a narrow
passage giving access to a small, relatively hidden, park
environment behind (see Figure 3b). When passing
through this passage lane, the urban soundscape
dramatically alters from an annoying traffic noise at the
front to a natural soundscape of a park at the back that
includes the rustling of trees and the singing of birds. As
such, we intend that the soundscape should highlight or
even enrich this gradually changing experience. For
instance, the soundscape could adapt to the rhythm of
the ambient car noise, defined by the traffic lights
nearby; or acknowledge the changing environmental
context of passers-by who walk to the park. Although
playful, this dynamic experience should be perceived as
subtle, highlighting environmental qualities instead of
the soundscape itself.
Place-Making. The architects planned a simple, yet
architecturally crucial, detail as an explicit gesture
towards the immediate surroundings: all windows swing
open outwards, a practice that is legal yet rare due to
obvious safety and weathering issues. This window
gesture is meant to be ‘inviting’, such as in encouraging
conversations to occur between office workers and
passers-by. The interactive soundscape is chosen to
‘augment’ this gesture, by rendering the sounds via the
windows frames themselves (see Figure 3f) and thus
creating an interface to a collective experience and a
Figure 3a:
Beltway of
Leuven.
Figure 3d:
Being noticeable.
Figure 3b:
Park hidden in
building block.
Figure 3e: Pull
passers-by
through passage.
Figure 3c: Use
of passages.
Figure 3f:
Creating a place.
sense of community (see Figure 3c & Figure 4). How such
an interactive usage scenario will influence the behaviour
of passers-by as well as office workers will be tested via
an iterative in-the-wild evaluation strategy taken from
HCI research, during which different actuation scenarios
will be simulated and their impact captured [8] in terms
of providing a meaningful experience that resembles as
if the building has an ‘attitude’ [9].
Communicative Quality
The ‘content’ of media architecture, i.e. what is conveyed
via the media [10], should be connected to the
contextual meaning of the place or the building. Thus,
media content should extend how architecture in itself
communicates with its surrounding [6,11].
Being Noticeable. In spite of its inherent static
character, architecture in itself is able to ‘communicate’
to and steer human behaviour. The pronounced curved
shape of the media façade corner accentuates a fluid
motion from the busy road to the park area behind.
Naturally, we plan that the soundscape will further
reinforce this ‘inviting’ gesture in order to ‘pull’ passers-
by from the street through the passage lane (see Figure
3e). Consequently, we will require a form of interaction
that has both ambiguous [12] and ambient qualities, in
that passers-by will be compelled to comprehend ‘that’
the façade is interactive, ‘what’ it interacts to, and ‘how’
it interacts [13]. It is not our goal that people decode the
underlying factors of the interaction design, but to
encourage them to step into a process of social
engagement and discovery [14], and hereby shift how
they perceive the architectural reality (e.g. [15]).
Further empirical research will provide evidence in how
much the ambiguity of the soundscape will be able to
drive, or frustrate, human curiosity. As an experiment of
architectural media integration, we will be particularly
focused on how the soundscape influences, assimilates
or overwhelms the architectural experience, and helps
determine the identity of the building within the local
neighbourhood.
Architecture-HCI Design Process
This paper synthesizes the challenge of integrating
architectural and media qualities, by articulating the
design rationale of a real-world media facade via the
‘architectural’ qualities of media architecture. It should
be noted that our research efforts reached much further:
this description lacks a description of iterative 1:1
prototypes (see Figure 5) that solved complex
architectural detailing, that related the kind and
dimensionality of the wood panels to tonality, and that
estimated how sound waves could be emitted from a
window frame in spite of stringent rain water repulsion
demands, and all this in combination with tight financial
and timetable constraints. We thus experienced first-
hand how architectural demands quickly take
prominence over interaction design, probably due to
their physical and permanent character. Until the final
construction of the façade, we will determine the precise
interaction designs based on in-the-wild experimentation
of a prototype hardware platform (see Figure 6). We
however expect that our explicit deconstruction of a
design rationale based on a framework of several core
architectural qualities will help sensitize the HCI
community towards taking into account an architectural
perspective when integrating interactive media in the
public realm, which has potential applications areas in
urban computing, smart buildings, smart homes and
smart cities.
Figure 4: The opening of a
particular window could trigger
an inverse ripple effect of
spatially distributed sounds
gradually approaching that
window, highlighting this
occurrence to passers-by, and
potentially acting as an
opportunistic conversation
starter.
Figure 5: The prototype
installation is able to resonate
multiple pieces of wood.
Figure 6: The prototype
installation is placed on an
existing façade to provide an
experience of the soundscape on
an architectural scale.
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