Adaptive Toldo systems T̳M̳

Abstract

This thesis investigates the structural, spatial, and climatic performance of the Toldo - a traditional lightweight street shading device, which is emblematic of Islamic cityscapes. Re-examining its historical roots along with its contextual, cultural and functional traits, the thesis aims at setting a framework on the basis of which to speculate its reincarnation within contemporary practice. Such framework provides the theoretical foundations and technological opportunities to reinvent the primitive Toldo as a commercial spin-off, which envisions its modernization in three steps. Firstly, a digital customization tool allows for intuitive, end-user generated designs; Secondly, energy-harvesting materials and microelectronics enhance the product's application range and enrich it with a functional flexibility such that it can be used as an architectural skin beyond street level; Thirdly, an online marketing platform coordinates worldwide communication of interdisciplinary subcontractors, while integrating the product's traditional economy and craftsmanship. Finally, different case studies in Cairo will demonstrate the widened scope of such architectural product and prove the system's reliability, as it confronts real life demands and various propensities for investment.