The PolyForm project commenced in the summer of 2013 with a series of conversations and an afternoon visit to Cornell Human Ecology to tour labs and meet faculty. Featuring digitally fabricated advanced materials, the project takes inspiration from the transdisciplinary nature of work by Human Ecology faculty, including Professor Emerita Kay Obendorf in emerging material sciences. The project embodies the mandate of Cornell Human Ecology to promote human-centered design science. Obendorf’s seminal research in fiber science, films, and protective clothing made great impact in the field of textile chemistry. Discovering immediate synergies in these areas, JSS initiated a series of generative design iterations alongside material research exploration. In an ideal large-scale application of research studies from JSS, Obendorf, and CHE, the resulting material effects, specifically optical color change, transparency, and transmission, would be the result of geometric variation within a surface, a viewer’s relative position with respect to that surface, and the source of illumination upon or from behind the surface.

These relationships formed the basis for design iterations and simulations, with the goal of developing a project that would be highly transformational in its materiality, engage with its local context, respond to the sun, integrate cutting edge research and digital fabrication techniques, and most importantly inspire visitors and human interaction. A key component is how we perceive those subtle to dramatic changes of light and color within the material itself. These responsive and dynamic material properties were a driving set of parameters in the design process.