Bricks and mortar are so 5 minutes ago. That's why Philly-based architects Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake are looking beyond the building profession to make their designs smarter and more efficient. For Solos: SmartWrap, on display at New York's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in August, the two created a 16 x 16 x 24-foot pavilion that shows why bulky concrete slabs and wiring may be destined for the scrap heap of history. Polyester film (the same stuff used to make everything from plastic soda bottles to next-gen truck bumpers) provides structure, solar cells pump out electricity, OLEDs provide light, and a powdered compound developed by NASA absorbs and releases heat. "Buildings are still being designed using the same materials and processes that were used thousands of years ago," Timberlake says. "We can do better."
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