A shift in the architecture industry’s focus in the last 20 years toward ecological concerns, long-term value, and user comfort has coincided with significant new developments in digital controls, actuators, shading typologies, building physics simulation capability, and material performance. This collision has afforded architects an expanded set of opportunities to create architecture that can respond directly to environmental conditions, resulting in innovative façade designs that quickly become landmarks for their cities.

Authors Russell Fortmeyer and Charles Linn trace the historical development of active façades in modern architecture, and reveal how contemporary architects and consultants design and test these systems.