pneuSENSE is a transdisciplinary, collaborative project that takes the form of a responsive, interactive and inhabitable pavilion space. The pavilion embodies the dynamic relationships of interdependence and reciprocity, between micro (body) and macro (environment) systems, within a diverse range of urban conditions found within New York City. Through the use of sensing and actuation technologies, biometric and environmental data was collected from individuals within a range of specific urban sites, and was translated into a responsive inhabitable space, a ‘mapped-environment’ that renders the dynamics of social ecologies. In light of the 2017 ACADIA conference theme, ‘Disciplines and Disruptions’, the design methodology of this project disrupts conventional digital design processes by using computational tools, GPS, and sensing technologies to rethink the complex relationships and interdependencies between bodies, buildings, urban spaces, and environments, as interconnected, multi-scalar, ecological systems.

This project was developed during an intensive, two week summer school, aimed at investigating emerging and novel forms of reading and producing urban spaces, reimagining the physical city through intelligent and mediated processes. Through data agency and responsive urban processes, the design methodology explored the materialization of a temporary pneumatic structure and membrane that tested material performance through fabrication and sensing practices.