Woven Light

Woven Light

Research project

Date

2016-2018

People

Felecia Davis

Woven Light is a research project conducted by Felecia Davis at the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing at Penn State University’s College of Arts and Architecture from 2016 to 2018. The project, which aims to develop a prototype tensile structure using solar photovoltaic fibers, represents a novel approach in both solar harvesting and tension structure design. The structure manipulates light through absorption, reflection, and transmission, and can be compressed into several different configurations. Davis, along with colleagues from the Materials Science and Architectural Engineering departments at Penn State, has designed the structure to be flexible, accommodating multiple uses across disciplines including architecture, landscape architecture, and engineering. The potential applications span a wide range of scales, from clothing to fabric-based tensile structures like tents and canopies, to building facades. The project was sponsored by the Raymond A. Bowers Program for Excellence in Design and Construction of the Built Environment.

Fabricated wire frame of the prototype structure, like a webbed-tripod it bends down from above to meet the ground at three points.

Fabricated wire frame of the prototype structure, like a webbed-tripod it bends down from above to meet the ground at three points.

Photo: Felecia Davis

Here the flexible structure takes on the form of a canopy or a tent-like structure. One could imagine standing under it as the three legs descend down from above to surround you.

Here the flexible structure takes on the form of a canopy or a tent-like structure. One could imagine standing under it as the three legs descend down from above to surround you.

Photo: Felecia Davis

Source

Stuckeman School at Penn State University, Stuckeman.PSU.edu