Architecture Professor Doris Sung wins Cooper Hewitt 2021 National Design Award

USC Architecture Professor Doris Sung has won the Cooper Hewitt 2021 National Design Award for climate action for her design: InVert Self-Shading Window.

The window shades are made of a material called thermobimetal, a sheet metal composed of two different alloys that respond to heat. When the sun’s rays warm these pieces up, they will flip over and sit in a configuration that shades the building’s interior. Sung’s design places these pieces inside the cavity of a standard double-glazed window to provide a hands-free automatic shade to the building. After six years of development of what seems like something out of a sci-fi novel, the self-shading window is now a low-cost, commercially available way to combat climate change.

Sung is the founder of DOSU Studio Architecture and co-founder of TBM Designs.

Read the rest of the story, “Award-winning design from USC architecture professor saves energy while using none,” by Grayson Schmidt on USC News, where it was published on Sept. 15, 2021. (Photo/Doris Sung)