In bloom: Environmentally responsive architecture

Los Angeles – Los Angeles-based architecture practice DO|SU Studio Architecture has created a thermobimetal structure called Bloom which can shade and ventilate specific areas in response to environmental conditions.

The surface of the structure is made up of 14,000 laser-cut pieces of thermobimetal which curl as they are heated by the sun. As the metal curls, it allows air to pass through the surface and shields the area beneath it from the sun’s rays.

This is the first application of thermobimetal in architecture and Bloom was installed at Los Angeles’s Materials & Applications gallery to demonstrate its potential in actual building projects. DO|SU Studio Architecture is looking into applying the same principle in a glass panel system that is able to automatically act as a shutter.

Buildings have long worked to obstruct the natural elements. Bloom, however, represents a step towards architecture working with the surrounding environment. Read our Inform with Rachel Armstrong to find out about another interpretation of this idea.