2013 Solar Decathlon: DALE - Dynamic Augmented Living Environment

Project Details

Project Description

FROM THE STUDENTS:

DALE, the Dynamic Augmented Living Environment welcomes the Solar Decathlon 2013 to sunny Southern California. Inspired by the region’s wonderful climate, dramatic geography and adventurous lifestyle, SCI-Arc/Caltech’s net zero, rail-mounted active dwelling system carries the architectural tradition of the adobe, bungalow and Case Study Houses into the twenty-first century. Demonstrating advances in programmatic flexibility, climatic tuning, and size variability made possible by its unique capability for multi-scale/axis movement, DALE sits lightly but lives large, requiring less space and no net energy consumption to match the unsustainably bloated lifestyle claims of the current investment-driven supersized housing trends.

DALE is a net-zero solar powered house comprised of two prefab modules that run on a rail system, making it a home that is as active as the people who reside in it. Its design takes the residential outdoor connection from visible to tangible and allows the inhabitants the flexibility to configure it to fit their daily needs.

DALE's two modules work as well in unison as they do individually. These modules come together for conditioning and security purposes when needed but are designed to multiply square footage and take advantage of Southern California's ideal climate conditions. Varying configurations allow for the experience of multiple micro-climates through drought tolerant California native landscapes.

DALE redefines the relationship between the indoors and the outdoors so that we might become more aware of the way we interact with our houses, and the way our houses interact with our environment.

For more information, please visit http://www.scical2013.com