Graduation project

Ever since the rise of the computer and 3D programs architects have been designing the wildest free form designs. It is easy to use the computer as a design tool, but the translation to a real building is still very hard. The traditional production methods lack behind while architect are pushing their designs to a next level. This new wave of free form buildings are so called Blob’s, which stands for ‘binary large objects’. Some well known examples are Kunsthaus in Graz and the Guggenheim in Bilbao. The facades of these high end buildings have been produced using an expensive mould technique which is, unfortunately, only available for large projects that have huge budgets. The problem is that every single part of the façade is unique, which means that they have to be produced using a unique mould. Producing these one-of-a-kind moulds is very expensive. When there would be a mould technique available that is flexible, reuseable for a lot of elements and is economically attractive, a lot more projects could be realized with a special double curved façade.

Mould techniques
Today’s mould techniques can be divided in several different categories. The first one is the static mould. The most common mould of that kind is the EPS/PS (polystyrene) mould which has been 3D formed using a CNC cutter. This technique has a high accuracy but produces a lot of waste material. The second category is the reusable mould, for example a mould made of clay or sand. There is no waste material and therefore the method is a lot more environmental friendly. The third category is the flexible mould. This type of mould can be used for a lot of different shaped elements because the mould will form itself to the elements that will be produced. An example of this kind of mould is the FlexiMould by dr. ir. Boers, which contains a field of height adjustable pins. Each pin can be set into height individually using a computer automated machine. The downside of these flexible moulds is the large amount of investment costs. These costs can only be gained back when a large amount of elements will be produced using this mould.

Flexible mould using a membrane
Membrane structures are well known because of there special shapes. When a membrane is stressed, a lot of free form, double curved shapes are possible. This happens because the membrane will search for a shape with less inner tension, like a saddle shape. Research have been done to see if these double curved shapes will be suitable as a mould surface. When a membrane textile is stretched over a predefined edge the surface will form itself very smoothly. Using this property as a base, a new flexible mould has been designed which combines the benefits of a flexible mould (adjustable to a lot of different elements) with the benefits of a reusable mould (no waste materials and lower investment costs).

The new production process will be discussed in the PDF. The goal is to test the method by producing a mock-up model of a façade. This mock-up consists of 12 double curved panels of 600x600mm. They will form a small piece of a façade. The boundaries of the part will be kept straight so it is possible to fit the mock-up model into a real, flat façade.

More information can be found in the rapport (PDF, Dutch).