Geometrical, open, close, strong and ductile, these structural systems offer a paragon to be worked out in material science and structural systems in architecture as material practice.
In our era new strategies and approaches have emerged for design through new techniques and technologies based on biological models.
The Characteristics of Self-Organisation from molecular and cellular level up to global levels of the structure
Nanotubes
S. Lee, Yoon 'SELF-ASSEMBLY AND NANOTECHNOLOGY', 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
S. Lee, Yoon 'SELF-ASSEMBLY AND NANOTECHNOLOGY', 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
General Self-assembly schemes for the formation of Nanostructured materials
S. Lee, Yoon 'SELF-ASSEMBLY AND NANOTECHNOLOGY', 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Example of self-organised materials - Carbon Nanotubes
Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City Pyramid, Japan
Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City Pyramid, Japan
Image Courtesy - Http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/engineering/pyramidcity/interactive/interactive.html
The Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City Pyramid is a proposed project for construction of a massive pyramid over Tokyo Bay in Japan. The structure would house 750,000 people.
The design relies on the future availability of super-strong lightweight materials based on carbon nanotubes.
The pyramid structure would be composed of 55 smaller pyramids stacked five high.
Megatrusses :Built of Carbon nano-tubing, these supporting struts
could be coated with photovoltic film to harvest sunlight
for electricity. The self sustaining city could also get
electricity by harnessing ocean currents, and even
from fuel cells powered by algae.
Skyscrapers :
These 30- story high building would be supported
from above as well as below, connected to the city
pyramidal exterior with light weight carbon nano-tubing.
The idea originated during1980s design competition
to address urban crowding.
Robots:
The finciul architectural plans would call for some
of the city to be built by robots, which would
assemble the struts and trusses.
The finciul architectural plans would call for some
of the city to be built by robots, which would
assemble the struts and trusses.
Polymers
FLEXIBLE POLYPROPYLENE HONEYCOMB PANELS
ROWNELL, Blaine 'Transmaterial' - ©2006 Princeton Architectural Press
PadLab makes Flexicomb by fusing thousands of closely packed polypropylene tubes on one end to form a flexible honeycomb. The production of Flexicomb begins with a set of tightly compressed cylinders. When the ends of the closely packed tubes are heated, they fuse into a matrix of hexagons.
ROWNELL, Blaine 'Transmaterial' - ©2006 Princeton Architectural Press
Kevlar is perhaps the best-known manufactured organic fibre, because of its unique combination of material properties, it is now widely used in many industrial applications. However, it has yet to be used widely in architectural construction.
Materials in nature respond to the conditions, for instance load. Bone is a cellular solid, a porous material, formed from very small connected structures. And it’s strength and density changes in response of activity, respectively age.
Yahya, Harun - BIOMIMETICS:Technology Imitates Nature, GLOBAL PUBLISHING, 2006
Even today, the Eiffel Tower is accepted as a marvel of engineering, but the event that led to its design took place back to 40 years before its construction. This was a study in Zurich aimed at revealing "the anatomical structure of the thigh bone.”
Yahya, Harun - BIOMIMETICS:Technology Imitates Nature, GLOBAL PUBLISHING, 2006
Self-assembly
The Radiolaria Design Used as a Model in Dome Design
Radiolaria and diatoms, organisms that live in the sea, are virtual catalogs
of ideal solutions to architectural problems. In fact, these tiny creatures have inspired a great many large-scale architectural projects. The U.S. Pavilion at EXPO ’76 in Montreal is just one example. The pavilion’s dome was inspired by the radiolarians.
Image courtesy : Wurm, Jan ‘Glass structures Design and Construction of self-supporting skins’ © 2007 Birkhäuser Verlag AG
‘Grown’ Materials
Layered molecule by molecule, to create distinctive micro-structures in thin films, making new combinations of metal and ceramic that are produced by design rather than ‘nature’.
There is new interest within the material science and industry in the use of ceramics as a structural material. Despite their numerous advantages ceramics lack the tensile strength which problem is being south to be found in biological models.
Examining the internal structures of the shells of a number of sea creatures, scientists noticed the extraordinary properties of abalone shells. Magnified 300,000 times with an electron microscope, the shell resembled a brick wall, with calcium carbonate “bricks” alternating with a protein “mortar.” Despite calcium carbonate’s essentially brittle nature, the shell was extremely strong due to its laminated structure and less brittle than man-made ceramics. Inspired by such models, scientists developed some very hard, resistant ceramic-metal composites.
Image courtesy: Yahya, Harun - BIOMIMETICS:Technology Imitates Nature, GLOBAL PUBLISHING, 2006
Material constructions
Design and construction strategies based on space-filling polyhedra and foam geometries.
Example: The ‘Watercube’ National Swimming Centre, Bejing
Bubbles, Image courtesy, http://www.eikongraphia.com/?p=63
How can space be divided into cells of equal size with the least surface area between them? In 1993, Denis Weaire and Robert Phelan used a computer programme to propose a solution whereby three quarters of the cells have 14 sides, while the rest are dodecahedra with 12 sides. Both sets of cells have the same volume and it was this principle that was taken up for the Water Cube © Arup/PTW/CCDI
Image courtesy, INGENIA ISSUE 33 DECEMBER 2007
Biomimetics as an interdisciplinary collaboration makes obsolete the traditional way of thinking about materials as independent from form and structure.
Image courtesy: INGENIA ISSUE 33 DECEMBER 2007
The building's structural design is based on the natural formation of soap bubbles
Image courtesy: INGENIA ISSUE 33 DECEMBER 2007
TUBES AND BUBBLES
In Beijing, the structure forms a true space frame in which all members are framed into the nodes. This might seem inefficient in a country not prone to major earthquakes, but for the seismically active Beijing it provides a
perfect energy-absorbing structure. Arup decided to make the structure from simple circular tubes welded to spherical nodes at each end to simplify fabrication.
Conclusion:
The boundary between the ‘natural’ and ‘manufactured’ is soon going to diminish, where form, material and structure is going to be seen as a whole complex interaction. New materials and the way to use them is transforming architecture as material practice.
Excerpt from:
Michael Weinstock
2006: ‘Self-Organisation and Material Constructions
AD 76/2 = 180, p. 34-41
Summarised by: Banush Shyqeriu
No comments:
Post a Comment