Vibro Windscreen

The project proposes an alternative sustainable approach to adaptive reuse in the Eastern European multi-family panelized housing blocks of the Petržalka district. It adds a lightweight, secondary facade system that mitigates the windy conditions of the housing complex while also providing opportunities for landscape design that can create new social spaces and enhance biodiversity.

The design focused on hexagonal windscreens that convert wind energy into electricity by vibrating leaves that flex piezoelectric tape. The design optimized the airflow by accelerating the wind into the hexagonal cells, to maximize the oscillation of leaves within the cells to generate electricity. The electricity would then be transferred to a central battery and utilized by the inhabitants of the housing complex.

Sectional diagrams and an analytical model mapped wind speed and light across the complex, and clusters of screens were studied in different arrangements on the cable structure. Parametric design allowed the system to adapt to varying environmental conditions and spatial requirements within the housing complex.

I designed and built the energy-capturing windscreens, including a working prototype. The physical working prototype demonstrated the feasibility of the design, showing that the hexagonal windscreens could effectively capture wind energy and convert it into electricity. Hung from net structures on the existing facades, the screens would create a second skin that would benefit the residents by providing them with a form of renewable alternative energy as well as an intermediary, semi-sheltered public space.