Of course, Hoberman, who presented his work at record’s 2007 Innovation Conference in New York, is not the only designer interested in mechanizing architecture. Critics such as Martin Pawley have envisioned flexible buildings outfitted with robotics. In 1987, Jean Nouvel famously tried—and failed—to do this at the Arab Institute in Paris. But it seems only NASA engineers have truly achieved the goal, having designed compact structures that can arrive on Mars to then unfold as instant habitats. For Hoberman, nature’s transformations inspire his new designs for dynamic screens, window apertures, and awnings, at the scale of architecture in integrated systems.
Among current projects with Foster + Partners in London, Hoberman is collaborating on three 4,500-square-foot plazas for the Aldar Central Market, in Abu Dhabi. The project is like a modern interpretation of a souk. Hoberman is integrating square units of operable, anodized-aluminum extrusions that can expand within a gridded structure to limit sunlight and wind. Alternatively, when the elements retract, they disappear within the structure, opening up the roof to sunlight and breezes. When in various stages of closed or open, the coffers make a play of shadow and light similar to an Islamic patterned array.
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