Kinetic Architecture as a Response to Adaptive Behavior to Climate, a Case Study Through Virtual Models

In the current global context, two critical challenges are being faced: the need to take advantage of renewable energies, as well as a technologically advanced architecture to deal with climate variability that has a direct impact on buildings, demanding, therefore, new adaptable proposals, in which the connections between these two variables are strengthened. As an answer to these questions, this research is based on kinetics in architecture, with its capacity to respond to different environmental scenarios through the integration of dynamic elements in buildings. In this sense, the aim of this work was to evaluate how the architectural proposal of a kinetic envelope in an existing building responds to climatic conditions. To achieve this, the methodology used was a case study, integrating simulation as a technique to imitate the behavior of the system, creating virtual models in the process using programs such as Rhinoceros and Grasshopper. The results demonstrated the potential of integrating movable architectural elements into the building envelope and their ability to regulate thermal conditions, with certain exceptions, especially during the colder months of the year, leading us to the conclusion that static façades, while providing a basic level of energy efficiency, lack the ability to adapt to climatic variability, compared to the kinetic envelope proposal which provided an effective adaptive response to climate, leading to the creation of more sustainable and liveable built environments in the future.