In the 21^st Century, materials are no longer thought of as being static, uniform, bulk resources that must be cut, milled, cast, or formed into manufactured products for architecture and other constructed environments. In our age, where the domestication of atoms and genes has led to the design of materials at the molecular scale, researchers are fundamentally altering the properties of matter, how it is formed, and how we experience it. Today’s new materials are grown or created from the bottom-up, and they are made to express various behaviors and functions that we have designed for them.

As such, recent advancements in the development of new materials offer tremendous possibilities for innovation and fresh experiences. This is especially so with smart materials, biomaterials, and other responsive materials that adapt to changes that they “sense” in their environment, such as variations in temperature, humidity, pressure, or light. From new substances that change color, fluidity, and shape, to metamaterials and advanced biocomposites that luminesce and generate water, these advancements in the creation of novel materials offer an increasingly broad array of opportunities to contemporary architects and designers.

Therefore, during these two Material Prospects learning modules, you’ll be learning about recent developments in smart materials (Material Prospects I) and biomaterials (Material Prospects II). And you’ll generate some ideas that envision how a selection of these substances might be used, innovatively and/or creatively, in the making of future constructed environments. Your work will be important, because your ideas will lend vision to a range of possible new futures, with things that don’t exist yet. As you work to excite our imagination, the quality, credibility, and originality of your ideas and vision will matter.

The schedule is arranged as follows. Please note that Assignment ONE must be completed before our class meets on June 16th; it’s a very quick team project. Assignment TWO will be due on July 13th; it’s a longer team project.

When our class meets on June 16th:

Assignment ONE | due at 9:30 AM on June 16th:

• This is a quick team assignment. Choose one or two other students to work with and, together, form a two- or three-person team. Teams must be two or three people, not more.
• Visit our Material Prospects I & II 2026 MIRO Board and enter the first and last names of all of the people on your team. You’ll see a zone for TEAMS, where you can post the names of team members on a post-it.
• Read all of the SELECTED MATERIALS REPORTS for Assignment ONE that are listed below.
• From this list of selected reports, your team is to choose only one reported material discovery as a prompt that excites your imagination.
• Meet with your team to discuss how this particular material discovery might serve as a means to create constructed environments that creatively address or engage (but need not solve) an issue that your team has identified. You might decide to focus on issues surrounding health, or safety, or energy, or climate change, or privacy, or community, or memory, or play, or provocation, or territory, or communication, or war, or new experiences, or displacement, or mobility, or one of any number of issues that architects can engage by design. The kind of issue that you identify doesn’t really matter, and you’re not being asked to solve anything either.
• Then, after your team meets, demarcate a zone on our Material Prospects I & II 2026 MIRO Board for your team to submit its ideas as a quick design proposition. In this framed zone, post no more than two of your best ideas as preliminary design sketches/images, plus a 100-word written summary for each of the two concepts. Critically consider what new challenges or new unintended problems your design might create.
• In this framed zone, also add a bit of key information on the material that you selected from below, so that others know what it is, and be clear about how your design makes use of (i.e., would be enabled by) the material discovery that you selected. Many of these new materials are currently not being developed for the built environment, so you will have to be inventive in envisioning how their promise and capabilities might be transferable/applicable to a new kind of architecture. Show us your vision!
• You will be using the MIRO Board on Peter Yeadon’s laptop to present your ideas for discussion on June 16th. You will not be using your own laptop to present. So, make sure you get all of this done before the 9:30 AM deadline. After 9:30 AM on June 16th, the MIRO Board will be locked and you will only be able to view it; you will not be able to edit it.

SELECTED MATERIALS REPORTS for Assignment ONE

For Assignment ONE, your team is to choose only one recent material advancement from the following list. Click on the titles for hyperlinks to the reports (for any of the physicsworld.com links or science.org links, you might have to delete the cache/cookies for their site and reload). Some of these reports provide technical details/data on the science behind the discoveries. We’re not scientists, we’re designers, so please don’t get lost in those details that are published in the original scientific papers. The important thing is to grasp the general conclusions of what’s possible and what’s not.

Turning lunar material into building blocks for future moon infrastructure

Transforming one of the moon’s most stubborn obstacles, its abrasive dust, into a valuable building resource.

A Stretchable OLED that Can Maintain Most of Its Luminescence

The work improves on existing technology by integrating a flexible, phosphorescent polymer layer and transparent electrodes made from MXene nanomaterial.

New material changes color and texture like an octopus

Researchers have developed a flexible material that can quickly change its surface texture and colors, offering potential applications in camouflage, art, robotics, and more.

Reengineered wood powers and cools buildings

Reengineered metasequoia wood generates electricity from water flow while cooling buildings through evaporation, offering a dual-function material tested successfully in real-world cabin trials.

A Yarn-Like Seawater Battery

Flexible, yarn-like batteries can be knit or woven into various shapes. These stringy energy sources are lightweight and are often designed to be waterproof. But rather than avoid battery exposure to water entirely, scientists have proposed using salty water as a critical battery component — the electrolyte — a liquid that conducts electricity through ions.

Stretchable fabric emits light and sound for wearable displays

Researchers have created a new type of electronic fabric that produces both bright light and clear sound while stretching to double its original size. The material maintains consistent performance even when repeatedly stretched, bent, and twisted.

iWood technology – integrating tactile sensing with natural wood for smart, responsive environments

Researchers in China have developed an intelligent iontronic wood (iWood) device that integrates highly sensitive pressure mapping capabilities into natural wood. The innovation enables wooden objects and surfaces to dynamically sense and digitize complex human touch interactions without any change to the underlying material.

Perovskite PV films at room temperature

Researchers have made high-efficiency perovskite solar cell coatings that enable free-form designs capable of powering the ever-increasing array of things. The new production process is also extremely gentle. To demonstrate this, the team prepared a perovskite layer on fresh leaves, a feat that was impossible with previous, high-temperature processes for solar cells.

Self-charging, ultra-thin device that generates electricity from air moisture

Imagine being able to generate electricity by harnessing moisture in the air around you with just everyday items like sea salt and a piece of fabric, or even powering everyday electronics with a non-toxic battery that is as thin as paper. Researchers have developed a new moisture-driven electricity generation device made of a thin layer of fabric consisting of sea salt, carbon ink, and a hydrogel.

Acoustic textile can hear sounds

A piezoelectric fiber that enables fabrics to detect sound has been developed. According to the research team, a single strand of this fiber can turn tens of square meters of fabric into a microphone that senses mechanical vibrations created by sound and converts them into an electrical signal.

Janus textile could keep you warm and cool you down

Researchers in Belgium have unveiled the design for a fabric that could keep a person warm when worn one way, while cooling them down if worn inside out.

Assignment TWO | due at 12:00 PM on July 13th:

• This is a longer team assignment. Choose one or two other students to work with and, together, form a two- or three-person team. Teams must be two or three people, not more. You don’t have to work with the same people that you collaborated with for Assignment ONE.
• Together, make sure your team reviews SPARK IP’s USPTO 2025/0249394A1, especially the section on Constructed Environment Embodiments that starts at paragraph [0203], as you’ll be creating a design proposal for an Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG) for a Constructed Environment. Don’t get lost in the details of this publication. You will be introduced to SPARK IP’s core AWG technology during our class on June 16th.
• You are free to design any kind of constructed environment that features an AWG of your own configuration, for a particular site of your choosing.
• Create a folder for your team project here, and upload any images, sketches, drawings, renderings and/or other media files that best show your design. To the folder, also upload a 200-word description of the project that includes the names of all team members. Clearly show the AWG that is designed to be a part of your envisioned constructed environment, and remember to mention where the project would be located, and what the water would be used for!
• Any information and media contained in your submission may be used in future electronic and/or printed media publications, and lectures/presentations, either in whole or in part, and might be posted online and shared on social media with attribution to all team members.
• Make sure you get all of this done before the 12:00 PM deadline. After 12:00 PM on July 13th, the submission will be considered late.