Soft House integrates plastic photo-voltaics, natural photo-luminescent pigments and light emitting semi-conductor technologies into movable curtains, translucent textile screens and luminous room enclosures. This distributed energy network is soft and flexible. It is made of multiple, adaptable and co-operative light emitting textiles that can be touched, held and used by home owners according to their needs.

The textiles transform the household curtain into a set of energy harvesting and light emitting textiles that adapt to the changing space needs of home owners and generate up to 16,000 watt-hours of electricity. The principles of the Soft House energy network, intelligent co-operation among individual elements, are extended into the architectural design and fabrication.

The Soft house demonstrates the daily experiences of living with textiles that generate power and emit light. Translucent movable curtains along the perimeter convert sun light into energy throughout the day, shading the house in summer and creating an insulating air layer in winter. Folded downward, a central curtain establishes a habitable off-the-grid energy harvesting room. Folded upward, this luminous curtain becomes a suspended soft chandelier that defines the open living area with integral solid state lighting. The curtain volume can be rapidly re-configured to engage the upper balconies of the SOFT HOUSE, creating an instant private media room with a view to the sky.