Spore House
Spore house is a mutable house prototype with autonomous control system and high mobility to better serve home owners' dynamic social needs.

Spore House


Academic Work - FALL 2017 - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Individual project

Critic: Carla Leitão


With the development of smart home technologies, it is likely that a house will eventually have its own mind with an AI control system. Unlike the conventional houses, the spore house is a house prototype with high level of mobility and are mutable by electrifying the memory metal and causing them to expand or contract (assuming the cost of memory metal will be greatly reduced in the next few decades). Spore house also have social collective behaviors, they will be attracted to the others and be adapted to its neighbors based on the data available on the home owner's social media.

Self-Exile
Interaction Among Multiple Spore Houses - Rotational Match
Interaction Between Two Spore Houses - Expansion & Contraction
Temporary Linear Shared Space




Diagrams showing how a spore house can transform from its "introvert" state to the "extrovert" state. And how this can potentially provide a new way of forming a "neighborhood".




The traditional physical configurations of housing, no matter it is to "juxtapose" or to "superimpose", have failed to co-evolve with the trend that information technology has flatten the social organization, i.e. there is no longer "vicinity" or "remoteness", but only "intimacy" versus "estrangement". The mobility and mutability of spore house prototype enable the house configurations to be constantly adapted to the home owner's dynamic need for different level of privacy and the dynamic need for different neighbors. The sensors on the facade of the spore house will detect its surrounding environment and transform to adapt to it. When both a spore house and its neighbor reach the 50% state, the gaps between them will be minimized and a temporary public space will be created. A spore house can rotate and match any one of the 3 program space to its neighbor and enable users to collaborate and interact.





The plan of spore house at its "introvert state".




When the user or the spore house itself wants to "be left alone", the memory alloys on the facade and the roof will be cooled down and contract. At the same time, the 3 axes at the base will be shortened. The entire system will rotate and contract.





Here is the plan of spore house at its "extrovert state".




When the home owner or the spore house itself wants to be "extrovert" for more social opportunities, the memory alloys will be electrified and expand. At the same time, he 3 axes at the base will be elongated. The entire system will rotate and expand.





Diagrams and presentations about the linear public space when multiple units align each others.




Using a 360-degree projection screen in a immersive virtual environment, I was presenting and visualizing the scenario when the users want to have a public event(e.g. dinning together, having a party, or even have an exhibition), the spore houses will reorient themselves to establish a linear matches between their specific programs. And a temporary public shared space will be created for various different activities.