“If you make a system aesthetically pleasing, that may help people adopt technology for the long run and keep them interested and engaged,” said Merihan Alhafnawi, a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton Engineering. 

While engineers tend to focus on technology and functionality, almost everything they build is meant to be used by humans, and humans are deeply influenced by aesthetics. 

Alhafnawi works with Radhika Nagpal, Norman R. Augustine ‘57 *59 Professor in Engineering and a professor of computer science and mechanical and aerospace engineering. As part of her work in the Nagpal Lab, Alhafnawi helped create the Swarm Garden, an installation of robotic flowers that can be used as an adaptive shading system on a building facade. 

The goal of the project, she said, is to find ways to improve the functionality of a building, “not only by maintaining light and temperature, but also by being beautiful.” 

The Swarm Garden, which was exhibited on campus at the Lewis Center for the Arts in 2024, is a collaboration between Nagpal; Alhafnawi; Sigrid Adriaenssens, professor of civil and environmental engineering; and Lucia Stein-Montalvo, a former postdoctoral research associate who is now an assistant professor at Northwestern University.