If you’ve been in Atlanta the last several days, you’ll “feel the heat” that’s been radiating through our streets as the temperature has risen to almost 100 degrees. This heat affects people in different ways. For some, it’s an opportunity to find a body of water or pool as we enter summer. For others, we crank up the air conditioning in our offices and homes. In buildings that use natural light, this requires a lot of energy and cost. As we think about the environment, we have questions about how to ethically and responsibly cool our buildings.

In this talk from TEDxUSC, Doris Kim Sung, a “biology student turned architect” explains how by engineering thermo-bimetal that functions like human skin, we can create structures that provide shade and self-ventilate, essentially creating a metal that “breathes.” Sung shares about the creative ways architects are thinking about modern buildings to more efficiently and effectively serve us.