Cellular Complexity is a Master’s dissertation from the Emergent Technologies and Design programme; it has been awarded second place by the international suckerPUNCH design competition for 2012; based in New York City. Furthermore the Programme Directors Thesis Commendation.

The research project investigates the potential of porous and cellular systems within an architectural context. The current application of such systems within architecture is limited to the abstraction of basic structure and aesthetics; often overlooking their efficient structural capabilities and passive performative qualities. The aim is to assimilate these qualities into a single façade system which dynamically responds to given environmental conditions. Conventional façades consist of several separate sub-systems, contradictory to how nature integrates material, form and structure. The ambition is to achieve a material efficient system with spatial and structural properties; which through evolutionary computation will result in the generation and evaluation of various morphologies. The digital fabrication of this system considers additive manufacturing, allowing for material efficient production of double-curved geometries within a differentiated component based system. The question becomes which properties of cellular systems are appropriate at each of these levels and which degree of scaling is possible without compromising the effectiveness.