Problem, Research, Question.
500 word statement discussing the problem, initial research and question.
Back in my architecture degree, I saw this beautiful Shell villa by ARTechnic architects. It has always intrigued me that a cold hard solid object could appear sculptural and organic. The concrete shell takes the form of a roof, wall and floor in one fluid motion. Since then I knew I wanted to explore more on concrete.
According to Christian Meyer and Michael H. Sheer’s research, the popularity of concrete shells has diminished since its popularity in 1920s and early 1960s (Meyer & Sheer, 2005, pp. 43–44). From their interviews with different industry professionals, they gathered potential problems as to why concrete shells structures are no longer popular.
1. Thickness
2. Formwork wastage
3. Shoring wastage
4. Speciality work
5. Labour cost
6. Time
7. Reinforcement in terms of time efficiency
8. Cost
9. Overdone
10. Practical option for small scale projects
11. Customisable
12. Reinforcement
13. Limited shapes
14. Inflexible shoring
15. Lack of flexibility in the final form
If there are all these negative reasons why concrete shell structures are no longer popular, why pursue the idea of it? Meyer and Sheer mentioned that the interviewees are aware of the benefits of concrete shell structures. The benefits include “the abundant availability of materials, fire, blast, and impact resistance, energy efficient, clean and uncluttered interior and exterior, surface appearance, and interesting geometries” (Meyer & Sheer, 2005, p. 46).
In the Shell villa’s case, the concrete shell structure has a significant thickness to it. Since concrete is an unsustainable construction material, as it can’t be recycled or upcycled, this is a problem. In contrast to the HiLo NEST by supermanoeuvre, ETH, and Block Research Group, they have recently successfully created a thin, average of 5cm, concrete shell structure (ETH Zurich, 2017). They designed a fabrication method using cable-net and fabric formwork. Reading Mark West’s research on Fabric Formwork, West discusses advantages to fabric as concrete formwork. Firstly, fabric allows for sculptural form with a clean finish as water and air bubble can seep out. Secondly, since excess water exits the concrete, resulting in a higher compression strength on the surface that is in contact with the formwork. West also mentioned that fabric is a cheaper option in comparison to plywood. And lastly, fabric is a more sustainable material compared to plywood (West, 1994, p. 88). Although the HiLo NEST prototype was successful in terms of construction and execution, their project had a high labour cost from the different speciality contractors (ETH Zurich, 2017).
With Kingsley Castillo’s research on the form finding concrete shell structure, he could manipulate how rainfall is distributed around the surface of the roof. Building on his research, if we were to take it into a regional context, a South East Asian developing country with an abundant of rain, how will the fabrication adapt to this situation? How can we teach locals how to build these roofs, and what materials are present in the local vicinity to reduce the cost? How can we incorporate local materials with efficient digital fabrication?
References
ETH Zurich, 2017. Construction prototype for ultra-thin concrete roof. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2017/10/innovative-construction.html
[Accessed 13 October 2017].
Meyer, C. & Sheer, M. H., 2005. Do Concrete Shells Deserve Another Look? Industry professionals give mixed opinions. Concrete International, October.pp. 43–50.
West, M., 1994. Fabric Formwork. Progressive Architecture, July, 75(7), pp. 88–89.
