Weather-responsive adaptive shading through biobased and bioinspired hygromorphic 4D-printing

Abstract: In response to the global challenge of reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption from regulating indoor climates, we investigate the applicability of biobased cellulosic materials and bioinspired 4D-printing for weather-responsive adaptive shading in building facades. Cellulose is an abundantly available natural material resource that exhibits hygromorphic actuation potential when used in 4D-printing to emulate motile plant structures in bioinspired bilayers. Three key aspects are addressed: (i) examining the motion response of 4D-printed hygromorphic bilayers to both temperature and relative humidity, (ii) verifying the responsiveness of self-shaping shading elements in lab-generated conditions as well as under daily and seasonal weather conditions for over a year, and (iii) deploying the adaptive shading system for testing in a real building facade by upscaling the 4D-printing manufacturing process. This study demonstrates that hygromorphic bilayers can be utilized for weather-responsive facades and that the presented system is architecturally scalable in quantity. Bioinspired 4D-printing and biobased cellulosic materials offer a resource-efficient and energy-autonomous solution for adaptive shading, with potential contributions towards indoor climate regulation and climate change mitigation

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Nature communications. - 15, 1 (2024) , 10366, ISSN: 2041-1723

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Freiburg
• (who): Universität
• (when): 2024
• Creator: Cheng, Tiffany ; Tahouni, Yasaman ; Sahin, Ekin Sila ; Ulrich, Kim ; Lajewski, Silvia ; Bonten, Christian ; Wood, Dylan ; Rühe, Jürgen ; Speck, Thomas ; Menges, Achim
• Contributor: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Botanischer Garten ; Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Freiburger Zentrum für interaktive Werkstoffe und bioinspirierte Technologien ; Freiburger Material-Forschungszentrum

Further information

• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54808-8
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2604546
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:33 AM CEST