Solar energy on a building’s envelope is abundant and useful in many ways. Although vernacular typologies are often attuned to the sun’s benefits (given available, typically passive technologies) modern design strayed from the solar resource, resulting in uncomfortable, energy-intensive, and disassociated environments. 

Solar flux can be interpreted as distinct components across multiple dimensions: illumination, glare, and shade; color rendering capacity; diffuse light from the sky or direct power from the sun; ultraviolet, visible, and IR spectra; photovoltaic conversion to electricity, or accumulated thermal energy; the tradeoffs between the quality and quantity of available power. 

These are the solar components of a design space that includes a full range of affordances and criteria of the built environment. By navigating this space, we develop adaptable and robust methodologies for architectural research and practice. Technologies we develop, such as the Integrated Concentrating Solar Facade (ICSF), or the Solar Enclosure for Water Reuse (SEWR), arise out of this process of navigation. They are concepts, cross-referenced with current materials, systems, and fabrication methods, and are constantly evolved as new contributor components are available.