There has been a long, but disparate discourse among those responsible for our built environment about the inevitability of change on the artifacts we inhabit and those social contracts that influence their making. At a basic level doors and operable windows are an indication of the various flows that move through buildings. Innumerable “passive” and “active” strategies have been devised to allow changes to building floor plans and sections, to control sunlight and wind, to change function, etc. Hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of prototypes have been proposed and developed that change shape or composition in response to various social and environmental pressures. Though not always done with the goals of sustainability in mind, these prototypes often sought to provide increased agency for users, improved energy-efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and other commonly understood goals of sustainability. A number of books, hundreds of articles, and dozens of patents beautifully illustrate many proposed and built examples from which to learn but the descriptive terms employed are greatly varied (i.e., adaptable, animated, collapsible, deployable, enabling, evolutionary, flexible, intelligent, kinetic, manipulable, mutable, open-system, portable, protean, reconfigurable, responsive, revolving, smart, and transformable, etc.) and are therefore difficult to find. By reviewing and synthesizing the existing literature, this study provides a starting point for future research that offers both insight into how these terms have been used over time and a critique of such concerns and the exclusion of the topic within sustainability rating criteria. / text

The project aims to create a general awareness of our personal impact on our planet, while meeting the value based requirements of the client. Working within an existing context and land use creates the challenge of integrating a sustainable design proposal into this context which is preconceived as being less desirable. Eskom requires a value based conference facility within the selected culturally significant structures of the Pretoria-West power station. An analysis of the existing buildings on the selected site and its surrounding context has been undertaken within the documentation. This is to fully understand the implications of placing a design concept within the context, allowing the opportunity to respond to these implications. Energy has been conceptualised within the proposed urban framework. This energy goes beyond just proposing urban activity hubs and explores the energy within the connection lines between these hubs. This process has been inspired by the Curitiba urban precedent within this document and the associated need within a South African context. The concept aims to involve the "hierarchical" groups of our society, with this process involving people who would normally not partake in the urban energy being created within and around the proposed awareness facility. This process will undoubtedly create conflict between these groups. This conflict is the tool used to provoke thought and raise awareness. The boundaries of the sustainable approach within this proposal extended beyond just the technical requirements of the building. It deals with social, environmental and economic factors that influence the concept as a whole, within its urban environment. Although the trial and error process has lead to constant change, from the concept through to the details of the project, the result is a high quality conference facility, that supports sustainability, within a waste sorting environment. The design synthesis, although unpredictable, will provoke thought and allow an environment where people can empower themselves - on multiple levels. / Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Architecture / unrestricted

This investigation is centred on suggesting a new wardrobe concept of convertible hybrid garments; 2-in-1 designs. The proposed work is in other words, build on the transformative merging of one garment type to another. Through this intertwining, these become two parts of a whole, distorted to fit together in an upside-down position on the body. This alternative approach to garment creation, not only challenges the fundamental relationship between clothing, pattern making, and the body, but also aims to suggest the potential of implementing ‘reverse engineering’ methods, as a backdrop for the contemporary and versatile deconstruction. This work is foremost motivated by a sense of social and sustainable contribution to the field of fashion. Evoked by the prospect of encouraging interaction and providing the wearer more options on how to wear clothing, by proposing designs not fixed to one outcome. Hence, given the versatility of these hybrids, this project also advocates having fewer items of clothing, to bring about a more sustainable alternative to mass consumption.

This work investigates the area of transformable and modular clothes through the technique of notching. The idea of transformable clothes is not new. Throughout history garments have been tied, wrapped or pinned together. Transformable clothes are often seen as a sustainable option because it challenges the wearer and creates a bond making the garment more valuable. This work seeks to present a new way of draping modular clothes by pinning notching strips onto fabric, transforming it into shapes. Resulting in a collection of pieces that can be combined in many different ways, creating a large collection using a small amount of materials.

Transformable products (or transformers), those with two or more functional states, are increasingly utilized by our society. As the mobility and complexity of life increases, so must the adaptability of the products which we use. We need new design techniques to develop more adaptable devices, such as transformers. The purpose of this study is to propose a response to the question “When is it preferable to implement a design approach focused on developing transformable products over an approach focused on developing primary function, non transforming products?” Our response to this question comes in the form of a method. The method helps a designer or design team consider the benefits of developing a transformer at an early stage in the design process. Research includes a deductive and an inductive study which are used to identify transformation indicators or context properties and usage factors that identify when it is preferable to build a transformable device. Static function-state indicators are also presented. These are contrary to transformation indicators in that they identify contexts suitable for developing non-transforming devices. Our technique seeks to improve the outcome of a design project by encouraging the consideration of transformable solutions and aiding in the selection of an appropriate design process. This method for testing the presence of these indicators in exemplary design contexts is presented. One such application is the design of an autonomous bridge-health monitoring system. / text

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:23:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabio dos Santos Giannini.pdf: 1873974 bytes, checksum: 1adbe3ee41694d0bf4c6a167f58cb59a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-04 / This paper aims to analyze and compare some soft spaces selected, including habitations, spaces developed by shipbuilding, railway and aviation industries, with the intent of identifying resources and useful solutions to contemporary housing types. To enjoy a moment of great prosperity in the property market, construction companies have adopted a standard typology extremely fragmented and full af environments and names of high economical value to accelerate the sale of the units. In this process the quality of the living spaces were left behind, reproducing with little changes a model that satisfies the desires of buyers but not the needs of users, leading to many conflicts between form and functions in the home environment. So the city that is being produced has high value but is increasingly poor in the spaces that people inhabit. Spaces assets identified in the areas analyzed in this dissertation can contribute to the enrichment of living space, improve the quality of life within them and minimize conflicts between form and function at home / Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar e comparar alguns espaços soft selecionados, incluindo além de habitações, espaços desenvolvidos pelas indústrias naval, ferroviária e aeronáutica, com o intuito de identificar recursos e soluções úteis para tipologias habitacionais contemporâneas. Para aproveitar um momento de grande prosperidade do mercado imobiliário, as construtoras adotaram como padrão uma tipologia extremamente fragmentada e repleta de ambientes e nomes de alto valor mercadológico para acelerar a venda das unidades. Nesse processo pouco se pensou na qualidade dos espaços de morar, reproduzindo com pouca (ou nenhuma) alteração um modelo que atende aos desejos dos compradores, mas não às necessidades dos usuários, ocasionando inúmeros conflitos entre forma e função nas habitações. Dessa forma a cidade que está sendo produzida tem alto valor financeiro, mas é cada vez mais pobre nos espaços que as pessoas habitam. Os recursos identificados nos exemplos analisados nessa dissertação de mestrado podem contribuir para o enriquecimento do espaço habitacional, melhorar a qualidade de vida em seu interior e minimizar os conflitos entre forma e função na habitação

Transformuojamų drabužių apžvalgoje nagrinėjami jų tikslai, kryptys ir drabužių detalių laikino tipo jungimo priemonės. Pateikiamas gaminio aprašymas ir jo techninis piešinys. Gaminiui parenkamas audinys ir tinkama furnitūra. Nurodomi reikalavimai gaminio priežiūrai. Apibūdinama pasirinkta vyriškų transformuojamų kelnių bazinės konstrukcijos projektavimo metodika, atliekamas konstrukcinis modeliavimas. Nubraižomi lekalai, atliekamas, gaminio lekalų dauginimas pagal dydžius. Sudaroma išklotinė ir paskaičiuojamos tarplekalinės sąnaudos. Apibūdinama atliekama gaminio kokybės kontrolė. / The review of transformable trousers analyzes their aims, trends and means of temporary type of connection for parts of clothing. The product description and technical drawing is also provided in this part. Fabric and appropriate fittings are selected for the product. It also gives the requirements for product’s maintenance. A description is given of the selected transformable men's trousers basic structural design methodology; a structural modeling is carried out. The thesis gives the drawings of molds, the propagation of product’s molds according to its sizes. It also provides the development and the evaluation of material remains’ costs. A description of the product quality control is performed.

In the field of sustainable architecture, transformability is an important way of actively responding to ambient conditions while also meeting the needs of occupants and addressing issues of building performance. This research contributes knowledge for architects about the potential of kinetics for the shading system to respond effectively to changes in its environment. Within contemporary architecture, there is a growing interest in motion; buildings and their parts are gradually shifting from static to dynamic. However, contemporary activities in architecture are evidence of a lack of a holistic approach to the design of motion in architecture and the design of motion as an alternative mode of design thinking is still in its infancy. Consequently, the existing tradition of static forms being the sole forms taught in architectural studies should be reevaluated as a design strategy. This research is a step in the direction of better understanding the key knowledge exchanges within the design process of transformable shading systems. It will seek to investigate, explore, and propose how the concept of transformability in designing shading systems can be suggested, depicted, or physically incorporated in building envelopes. In order to get the full potential of the design process of transformable shading systems, this study presents a design workflow of a specific case, called AURA, that helps to create openings for establishing a proper design methodology of transformable shading systems. While the workflow will be concerned with identifying the key decision nodes, it is anticipated that in-depth development will determine critical parameters addressing transformation itself as a design parameter of transformable shading systems. Two studio-based courses offered at Virginia Tech and Texas AandM by the author will become a testing ground for evaluating the key decision nodes found in the design process of AURA within the context of architectural programs, bringing forth the opportunity to expand the current domain of transformable shading systems to a broader perspective of architecture pedagogy. In this case, this research is a step towards adding values directly into the content of the curricula, and thus into the field of design education as a whole.' / Ph. D.

Industrial design is meant to improve the design of mass produced objects and by doing so to contribute to improve the users' quality of life. The designer's challenge is to balance functionality, aesthetic appeal and ease of use to create a successful market product. This industrial design thesis presents a pediatric examination table. Within the context of the new trends for healthcare design, it looks forward to contributing to the pediatric healthcare quality with an innovative product. Thus its design criteria must respond in both physical and emotional terms, to the users' needs and especially to their dreams. The pediatric examination table must be functional, aesthetically appealing, mechanically simple, and economic. And it can't just happen to be for children it must be designed with children in mind. / Master of Science