We’re thrilled to share that our project, Woven Breathing Façade, will be featured at the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennale, opening tomorrow!
The installation reimagines architecture as a living, adaptive organism. Drawing on the hygroscopic properties of wood, its woven elements expand and contract with heat, humidity, and rainfall opening to ventilate, closing to protect, all without electricity or mechanical systems.
Inspired by basket weaving techniques, the façade becomes a responsive textile: a breathing membrane in continuous dialogue with its surroundings. Throughout the biennale, it will subtly shift with atmospheric changes, offering a live demonstration of climate-responsive design and an alternative to sealed, energy intensive systems
Team:
Ye Sul E. Cho, Jane Scott, Ben Bridgens
Curator:
Clevio Rabelo, Renato Anelli
📍 Oca, Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, Brazil
📅 18.09 – 19.10.2025
#biodesign#Livingconstruction#biomaterial#smartmaterial#mycelium#biofabrication#circulareconomy
Woven Breathing Façade reimagines architecture as a living, adaptive organism. Conceived as a self-regulating system, it passively responds to heat, humidity, and rainfall by harnessing the hygroscopic properties of wood. Without electricity or mechanical components, its woven elements expand and contract with atmospheric shifts, opening to ventilate, closing to protect, and continually negotiating with the surrounding climate.
Instead of relying on technological complexity or artificial control, the project draws on the intrinsic intelligence of natural materials. Inspired by traditional basket-weaving techniques, the façade transforms wood’s innate hygroscopic capacity into a responsive textile. Each stitch functions as a pore, tightening or loosening with environmental change, creating a living weave that breathes with its context.
@ysc120@responsiveknit@programmableknitting@opjp@aplworkshop@newcastleuniapl@bienaldearquiteturasp #responsivearchitecture #livingarchitecture
Discover how architecture responds to the challenges of an increasingly overheated planet.
We look forward to seeing you!
Check out the full program on our website: .br
14th BIAsp
Extremes: Architectures for an Overheated Planet
From September 18 to October 19, 2025
Oca Building - Ibirapuera Park
Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, S/n - Gate 2 - Moema, São Paulo - SP
Free admission
Woven Breathing Façade: Hygroscopic Responsive Textile Architecture was created by HBBE members Ye Sul E. Cho, Jane Scott and Ben Bridgens as part of the RESPIRE: Passive, Responsive, Variable Porosity Building Skins research project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, and has been selected for exhibition at the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennale: Architectures for an Overheated Planet which takes place from September 18th to October 19, 2025 at Ibirapuera Park, Sao Paulo.
.br/en/
Woven Breathing Façade reimagines architecture as a living, adaptive organism. Conceived as a self-regulating system, it passively responds to heat, humidity, and rainfall by harnessing the hygroscopic properties of wood. Without electricity or mechanical components, its woven elements expand and contract with atmospheric shifts, opening to ventilate, closing to protect, and continually negotiating with the surrounding climate.
Instead of relying on technological complexity or artificial control, the project draws on the intrinsic intelligence of natural materials. Inspired by traditional basket-weaving techniques, the façade transforms wood’s innate hygroscopic capacity into a responsive textile. Each stitch functions as a pore, tightening or loosening with environmental change, creating a living weave that breathes with its context. @ysc120@responsiveknit@programmableknitting@opjp@aplworkshop@newcastleuniapl@iab.sp
Hold the ••• and scroll to see it come alive.
Early prototypes for the Breathing Woven Façade project. Woven textile system that loosens and tightens with humidity, shifting between a porous and non-porous states in response to its surrounding environment.
Part of the RESPIRE project at HBBE,
funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant
Team:
Ye Sul E. Cho, Jane Scott, Ben Bridgens
@bio_buildings@newcastleuniapl
#biodesign#Livingconstruction#biomaterial#smartmaterial#biofabrication#circulareconomy♻️ #hygroscopic #woodconstruction #art #sculpture
The Breathing Façade was designed with similar hygroscopic behaviours observed in pinecones.
Pinecone’s tissues consist of different cell layers that expand or contract at varying rates as they absorb or release water, creating a bending motion. This bend in their scales allows them to open to release seeds when conditions are ideal and close to protect them when conditions are not.
The façade applies a similar bilayered system, translating this natural mechanism into an architectural strategy.
————————————— Breathing Façade Series (2020)
University of Waterloo School of Architecture Advisor: David Correa Committee: Maya Przybylski @waterloo_architecture #biodesign#Livingconstruction#biomaterial#smartmaterial#mycelium#biofabrication#circulareconomy #hygroscopic #woodconstruction #woodarchitecture #innovation #architecture #aginginplace#art#sculpture
Breathing Façade no.3
How might our building skins support aging in place? As part of the Smart Aging Project (2020), I explored how responsive façades could help create healthier environments for aging. As we grow older, our bodies lose efficiency in regulating temperature, making comfort harder to maintain. The challenge was to design a façade that could passively adapt to changing conditions, providing comfort and efficiency without complex technology.
This proof-of-concept from the Breathing Façade series opens and closes with shifts in humidity and temperature, much like the pores of human skin. By adapting to its surroundings, it reimagines architecture as something that can breathe, adjust, and live with us.
—————————————
University of Waterloo School of Architecture
Advisor: David Correa
Committee: Maya Przybylski
@waterloo_architecture #biodesign#Livingconstruction#biomaterial#smartmaterial#mycelium#biofabrication#circulareconomy #hygroscopic #woodconstruction #woodarchitecture #innovation #architecture #aginginplace
Breathing Woven Façade prototype series no.1
Hygroscopic materials naturally absorb and release water to stay in balance with the humidity around them. This process can change their size, structure, and even their physical properties. Wood is a great example, it swells in damp air and shrinks in dry conditions.
In these early prototypes for the Breathing Woven Façade project, I tested how this property can be harnessed into a woven system that loosens and tightens with humidity, shifting between a porous and non-porous states in response.
Developed as a part of the RESPIRE project at HBBE, funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant
.
@bio_buildings@newcastleuniapl
#biodesign#Livingconstruction#biomaterial#smartmaterial#mycelium#biofabrication#circulareconomy#hygroscopic #hygroscopicwood
Mycelium can grow up to 6–12 mm a day. With properties like thermal insulation, acoustic absorption, fire resistance, and carbon capture, it’s no surprise it’s become a material of interest in construction.
What fascinates me most, though, is its digestive ability. Mycelium can bind to wool, wood, metal, and even plastics. In collaboration with the HBBE, I’ve been exploring how this could position it as a bonding material, opening up possibilities for mycelium-based smart materials.
@bio_buildings
#biodesign#Livingconstruction#biomaterial#smartmaterial#mycelium#biofabrication
Over the last 11 months I’ve been collaborating with Hub for Biotechnology Lab (HBBE) at Newcastle University. One of the most exciting directions has been expanding my material library into the world of mycelium.
Looking forward to continuing this line of investigation and sharing more of the work developed over the past year.
@bio_buildings@newcastleuniapl
Introducing @ysc120 !
Smart Aging: How Smart Materials in Architecture Can Respond to Changing User Needs explores how smart materials can prolong aging-in-place by addressing common environmental problems seniors face in their homes. This thesis consists of an iterative cycle between prototyping and designing, resulting in a proof of concept prototype for each design intervention: lightweight and form fitting protective apparel to protect against falling; a water responsive floor system that enhances grip and indicates wetness to prevent slipping; and a heat and humidity responsive screen system that allows environments to thermally self regulate.
