Yasaman Tahouni

“Re-active flaps” is a part of an ongoing research aimed to create adaptiveness through engineering the material compositions, geometry, and structure. Inspired by nature, we aim to create responsive systems that eliminate or reduce the dependency on electro-mechanical systems, and instead, employ the inherent properties of material in order to bring transformations. These transformations are the direct response to user-based or environmental stimuli such as heat, humidity, and etc, which closes the loop of sensing to actuation in an adaptive system.

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As a part of MIT Design Lab’s collaboration with its sponsor from Sportswear Industry, the goal of Re-active Flaps  is to create Adaptive Ventilation for sportswear. We implemented adaptive ventilation through creating a multi-material composite that undergoes shape transformations when being exposed to heat. We executed this transformation in form of shape-changing flaps covering the surface of the shoe or apparel. When temperature increases, these flaps bend and opens up the pores underneath them, which enables the air circulation and thus brings additional ventilation to the sportswear.

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