Biomimetic Kinetic Façade as a Real-Time Daylight Control: Complex Form versus Simple Form with Proper Kinetic Behavior

Purpose – This study aims to develop a methodology that extracts an architectural concept from a biological analogy that integrates forms and kinetic behavior to identify whether complex forms work better or simple forms with proper kinetic behavior for improving visual comfort and daylight performance.
Design/methodology/approach – The research employs a transdisciplinary approach using several methods consisting of a biomimetic functional-morphological approach, kinetic design strategy, case study comparison using algorithmic workflow and parametric simulation, and inverse design to develop an interactive kinetic facade with optimized daylight performance.
Findings – A key development is the introduction of a periodic interactive region (PIR), which draws inspiration from the butterfly wings' nanostructure. These findings challenge conventional perspectives on facade complexity, highlighting the efficacy of simpler shapes paired with appropriate kinetic behavior for improving visual comfort. The results show the facade with a simpler 'book-shelf' shape integrated with a tapered shape of the periodic interactive region outperforms its more complex counterpart (Hyperbolic Paraboloid component) in terms of daylight performance and glare control, especially in southern orientations, ensuring occupant visual comfort by keeping cases in the imperceptible range while also delivering sufficient average sDA of 89.07%, UDI of 94.53%, and EUDI of 5.11%.
Originality/value – The investigation of kinetic facade studies reveals that precedent literature mostly focused on engineering and building physics aspects, leaving the architectural aspect underutilized during the development phase. Recent studies applied a biomimetic approach to involving the architectural elements besides the other aspects. While the biomimetic method has proven effective in meeting occupants' visual comfort needs, its emphasis has been primarily on the complex form which is difficult to apply within the kinetic façade development. This study can address two gaps: 1) the lack of an architectural aspect in the kinetic facade design, specifically in the development of conceptual form and kinetic behavior dimensions, and 2) exchanging the superficial biomimetic considerations with an in-depth investigation.