PhD Defence / Rigorosum Andreas Körner, BSc MArch   Variegated Poché Exploring thermochromic materials as surrogate models for the design integration of surface weathering in architecture.   Abstract: Current environmental and ecological pressures lead architects to reconsider the relationships between the inside and the outside, the permanence of surfaces, and the ageing of buildings. Integrating weathering through design and contextualising it in architectural theory are key components of this paradigm shift. This doctoral dissertation explores thermochromic materials as surrogate models for weathering as a design tool. Thermochromics change colour due to temperature. The research projects investigate the textural relationship between surfaces, substrates, and environments. The study employs a mixed-methods approach. First, a comprehensive literature review surveys the contemporary and historical concepts of weather, colour, texture, and poché. The correlation between the 19th-century debate on architectural polychromy and anthropogenic pollution acts as a historical case study for today’s relationship between ornament and climate change. Subsequently, the method of thermochromic programming is developed via five design research projects. Consequently, aesthetic chromogenic correlations between natural, long-term weathering and reversible, short-term thermochromic materials are outlined. The findings demonstrate that thermochromic programming can act as a surrogate model to explore design aspects of augmented weathering […]