LIVING, BREATHING, GROWING, THINKING

Oneofthemoreexcitingrealitiesof21st-centurylifeisthatobjectsarenowablewiththehelpofembeddedtechnologytosense,think,actandcommunicate.Verysoon,everybuilding,cityandlandscapecomponentwillbeequippedwithcommunicativeandcomputationalcapacities:weshallbesurroundedbysentientarchitecture.ThisbookdocumentstheroleofarchitectureinshapingthisnewrealityinmultipleresearchtrajectorieslaunchedandguidedbytheauthorsatTheUniversityofToronto,MIT,HarvardGraduateSchoolofDesignandtheUniversityofHongKong.Theprojectsestablishaninterdisciplinaryplatforminvolvingartists,designers,scientistsandengineersspanningdifferentinstitutionsandcontinentsinatechnologicalapproachtospatialproblemsthatisattunedtothedynamicsoflivingsystems.Thecollectiveaimistodevelopfromthecollaborativeexperimentsadigitallyenhancedarchitecturethatiswell-equippedtohandlepersistentandemergingchallengesinbuildingahealthyandsustainableenvironment.