Responsive architecture is an evolving field within architectural practice and research. It refers to buildings that, through sensors, measure real environmental conditions to adapt their shape, structure, color or behavior through actuators.

This approach seeks to refine and expand the architectural discipline by improving the energy performance of buildings through reactive technologies (sensors, control systems and actuators), while reflecting contemporary technological and cultural conditions.

Responsive architecture is distinguished from other forms of interactive design by integrating smart technologies directly into the structural elements of the building. For example, by incorporating these technologies into construction systems, architects can directly link the form of the building with its environment. This allows us to rethink both the design and construction of space, going beyond the simple application of smart technologies to traditional architectural concepts.

Responsive architecture is usually defined as a type of architecture capable of modifying its form to continually reflect surrounding environmental conditions.

The term was introduced by Nicholas Negroponte in the late 1960s, when principles of cybernetics began to be applied to spatial design. Negroponte proposed that adaptive architecture would be the natural result of the integration of computational power in built spaces and structures, generating more rational and efficient buildings. Furthermore, he expanded this vision by including concepts such as recognition, intention, contextual variation and meaning, integrating them into the architecture through ubiquitous computing. This exchange of ideas lasted about eight years and gave rise to several relevant theories, his contributions being the most influential. His work pushed architecture towards a more technical, functional and acted direction.[1]​.

Since then, new works of adaptable architecture have emerged, many of them more focused on the aesthetic than the functional. Notable examples are: the Blur Building") by Diller & Scofidio, Aegis Hyposurface by dECOi"),[2]​ and the Freshwater Pavilion by the studio NOX&action=edit&redlink=1 "NOX (architecture) (not yet written)"). These works monitor changes in the environment and respond by modifying their form. In the case of Blur, an artificial cloud reacts to the wind; in dECOi, a programmable façade allows for adaptability; and in NOX, an indoor audiovisual environment reacts dynamically.

All of these architectures depend on the computational capacity to match programmable digital models with the real world and its events.

A contemporary review of the use of adaptive systems can be found in Tristan d’Estrée Sterk's inaugural lecture at ACADIA 2009, titled *Thoughts for Gen