Form: an adventure in concrete and brick. Pai Lin Li Travel Award Application Mr John Orr

Transcription

1 Form: an adventure in concrete and brick

2

3 Form: an adventure in concrete and brick Abstract The principles of form active design can facilitate architecturally interesting, structurally optimised, materially efficient construction. Putting structural material only where it is needed is the fundamental theme to the two areas of construction technology that this proposal for the Pai Lin Li Travel Award 2012 sets out to investigate. Digital forms (Belton, S) Brick vaults (Dieste, E) Fabric formed flat slab (West, M) Fabric formed shell (Bhooshan, S) Objective 1 To determine how the concrete construction industry may be positively influenced by recent advances in flexible formwork technology, towards an aim of low carbon construction. Objective 2 To determine how the prestressed brickwork and timbrel vaulting techniques of Eladio Dieste might be utilised to influence the future direction of form active construction across the world. Outcomes Covering European and South American construction this travel award will provide a unique The results of this travel award will be written up as a technical report, incorporating site and meeting perspective on the political, social, economic and technical demands of sustainable and materially notes, in addition to photographs and personal research into the two topics described above. efficient construction. The global reach of the Institution of Structural Engineers will provide an important means for the Consideration of the relationships between these complex demands will be presented to demonstrate dissemination of findings from this travel award. the important role that Structural Engineers can have in facilitating globally sustainable construction through their choices of form and material. 1/3

4 Form: an adventure in concrete and brick Introduction The language and technology of concrete construction has changed dramatically over the past two thousand years - from the dome of the Pantheon, through its renaissance in the 1800s, and up to the work of Nervi and other modern masters of this fluid material. Throughout, concrete has been cast almost exclusively into wooden or steel moulds to create prismatic elements. Nervi himself noted that: although reinforced concrete has been used for over a hundred years and with increasing interest during the last few decades few of its properties and potentialities have been fully exploited so far...the main cause of this is a trivial technicality: the need to prepare wooden forms (Nervi, 1956) This trivial technicality pervades the minds of Engineers even today, with increased cost being associated with concrete structures that deviate from the use of flat panels of timber or steel as formwork. Despite this, concrete remains one of the most widely used man made materials in the world, with global production of cement approaching 2.8x10 9 t in Cement accounts for a large proportion of global material expenditure, reaching nearly 33% of the total in Although concrete has a relatively low embodied energy, its rate of consumption means that cement manufacture alone is estimated to account for some 3% of global CO 2 emissions. Against a backdrop of emissions reduction targets, a recognition of the impact construction has on the environment and an increasing client focus on sustainability, design philosophies centred around the need to put material where it is required are becoming increasingly desirable. shape is cheaper than material. (Beukers and van Hinte, 2005) To achieve such an aim, structural engineers must be able to design and construct form active structures, whose geometry reflects and supports the requirements of their loading envelope. Proposal This application sets out to consider how the design of form active structures is becoming more relevant today as designers look to satisfy the increasingly complex demands of sustainability criteria by focusing on two construction techniques, one in concrete and one in brick: 1. Flexible formwork for concrete structures; 2. Prestressed brick work and timbrel vaulting. Flexible formwork sets out to overcome Nervi s trivial technicality in concrete construction by replacing conventional formwork systems with a flexible mould, whose form supports the fluid concrete during casting to create the desired geometry. Such an approach provides both architecturally astounding and structurally efficient elements, as shown in the images above. To investigate how flexible formwork may change our perceptions of concrete construction, academic discussions at European Universities will be undertaken (see itinerary overleaf) and combined with site visits (instigated through links with Atkins) and study visits to precast factories in Europe. In doing so, the current state of the art in concrete construction will be determined. Reinforced masonry remains a little used construction technique, and yet the work of Eladio Dieste suggests that through the sound application of structural engineering principles, highly efficient forms can be created with a minimum of material use, in a direct corollary to the use of flexible formwork for concrete structures. In the second stage of the itinerary, Dieste s work is to be explored in his home country of Uruguay. Particular attention is to be paid to his innovative thin gaussian-shell structures, the double curvature of which provides buckling resistance without the need for ribs and beams - giving efficient, beautiful, wide span structures. Contacts within Uruguay have begun to plan this part of the trip, with some site visits described in the itinerary. From beauty in brickwork, the itinerary returns to fabric formwork, travelling to the Open City in Chile (Ritoque) where one of the largest collections of completed fabric formed elements is to be found. With the assistance of local architects, engineers and sculptors, it is proposed to document this work prior to returning to the UK. Architects David and Victoria Jolly, both of whom live and work in the Open City, will be my hosts. Two possible extensions to the travel award are envisaged: 1) Travel to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to visit Professor John Oschendorf, whose work in form active structures is highly regarded and whose input would be invaluable; 2) Travel to the University of Manitoba s Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology to visit Professor Mark West, whose work in Flexible Formwork provides a cornerstone to much of the work being undertaken in Europe. Both visits will depend on funding. Funding and Duration The travel award is proposed to last for a total of four weeks and will cover Europe, Chile and Uruguay. A skeleton itinerary is given on the following page. A summary of the cost breakdown given in the itinerary overleaf is provided below: Travel within Europe: 350 Accommodation within Europe: 500 International Flights: 1800 International accommodation: 500 Total: 3000 References Beukers, A and van Hinte, E., Flying Lightness: Promises for Structural Elegance. 010 Publishers Nervi, P L., Structures. F. W. Dodge Corp. 2 / 3

5 Form: an adventure in concrete and brick Stage 1 (10-14 days) Stage 2 (18 days) The first stage of this research project includes visits to some of Europe s leading structural engineering research centres as well as site visits to determine the role of flexible formwork in delivering a sustainable concrete construction industry. Visits to consulting engineers and contractors are proposed (many of which will be obtained through the author s contacts in Atkins; precise details to be confirmed). The experience of industry will then be compared to academia, with visits to date including the University of Edinburgh (Professor R Pedreschi), Sheffield Hallam University (G Tang); Eindhoven University of Technology (Professor A Pronk); Vienna University of Technology; The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts; ETH Zurich (Dr P Block) and Vrijie Universiteit Brussel. Each research centre will provide insight into a different area of expertise in form active, sustainable or materially efficient construction techniques, adding a different perspective to that found during the site and industrial visits described above. Dates: 1st - 11th November 2012 Travel: 200 (EuroRail Ticket for train travel), 150 (Flights to Edinburgh) Accommodation: 500 Flight 3 Chile - Europe Flight 2 Uruguay - Chile After exploring the possibilities of flexible moulds for concrete structures, the proposal then moves to South America, where its focus turns initially to the work of Eladio Dieste. Proposed visits include the Church of Christ the Worker (Atlantida); Church of Our Lady of Lourdes Flight 1 Europe - Uruguay (Montevideo); Church of Saint Peter (Durazno); Municipal Bus Station (Salto); Ayuí Parador (Salto); Fagar Cola Bottling Plant (Tarariras) plus more throughout Uruguay. Dieste s work encompasses both public and private buildings, and with access to the latter currently being sought by contacts within Uruguay. It is proposed to spend two weeks in Uruguay, dependent on access to the various sites. From Uruguay the trip moves to Chile, to document the work in flexible formwork undertaken at the Open City (Ritoque), thus bringing the travel award back to its original research area. The unique living, working, and learning space of the Open City will provide an additional and invaluable perspective to the goals of this travel proposal. Dates: Uruguay: 12th-22nd November Chile: 23rd - 29th November Travel: 950 (Europe - Uruguay - Chile); 850 (Chile - Europe) Accommodation: / 3

6