Morphing the design to go with the times

The recorded history of technology and science and art shows that the evolutionary path of design is toward a greater number of dimensions, more degrees of freedom, and greater performance, efficiency and economy. Until now, designs have evolved in steps from one to two and three dimensions. The future will bring one more step, to four dimensions: three-dimensional objects that morph in time in accord with their time-changing environmental conditions. This concept is illustrated with the thermo-fluid design and time-behavior of a volume filled with parallel plates cooled by forced convection. When the pressure difference that drives the flow varies stepwise in time, the plate to plate spacing for maximum heat transfer density must change. If the structure is free to morph to maintain its optimal spacings in step with its changing environment, then the time-integrated performance of the morphing object is maximum. If the structure is rigid (sized optimally for one flow condition), its performance is inferior. The general significance and applicability of this future of design activity is discussed.