MECHANICAL BOUNDARY - Why did I create Active-Wall & Portalw

 "I’ve built hundreds of projects, but only one truly shifted my perspective: the Rubin Museum of Art, a high RH environment, completed for BOVIS-LEND LEASE. I owned the metro-area dealership for Visionwall and used the M20 VISION AREA window.  They chose this vision window solution because it performed far better and wanted assurance that condensation will not present on the vision area surfaces.  Regardless the opaque areas of the building suffered a severe mold event, exposing a critical flaw in standard building design.

The space between the exterior and interior—the area OUTSIDE THE MECHANICAL BOUNDARY —was being ignored. Conditioned air was not being delivered to this space. Surface Temperatures fall below the dew point and condensations forms.  Mechanical engineers weren’t taking responsibility for the performance of these modest-in-depth but vast opaque zones. So, I did, I set out to design a solution and own the responsibility.

I invented a solution which promoted air flow using open portals in off-the-shelf components, repurposed in a way no one had imagined. See FIG. 9B. First, we promoted passive airflow. Then I added a mechanical method to it. That single insight sparked a wave of innovations.

Now, we can distribute conditioned air, pressurize the interstitial cavity, and actively manage moisture risk —delivering walls with zero long term mold growth potential. If we’re part of your design team, we’ll stand behind it."

—Yonatan Zvi Margalit

Sole Inventor & Exclusive IP Owner

 © 2025 Yonatan Zvi Margalit. All rights reserved. 

RUBIN MUESEUM OF ART