The Corn-Crete House System

The main aspects of the Corn-Crete House system are the use of space, material efficiency and relationship to site. The way space is shaped influences human behaviour. According to a research paper done by KAYVAN MADANI NEJAD in 2007 the curvilinearity of interior design directly affects the way people feel inside them. It concluded that the more curvilinear a space is the more comfortable, safe, relaxed and friendly it feels. My project builds upon this argument. Research also shows that the concrete industry is a major environment pollutant. Cement is the most damaging ingredient. I am proposing a new system which will be using less concrete & less cement thanks to: 1) corn residues partially replacing aggregate making the structure lighter and more porous 2) casting around inflatables resulting in curvilinear architecture suitable for compression which requires less tensile strength.

Adaptable Hypars

 

An exploration of the simplest Hyperbolic Paraboloidic ‘saddle’ form has lead to the development of a modular system that combines the principles of the hypar (Hyperbolic Paraboloid) and elastic potential energy.

A hyperbolic paraboloid is an infinite doubly ruled surface in three dimensions with hyperbolic and parabolic cross-sections. It can be parametrized using the following equations:

Mathematical:   z = x² – y²  or  x = y z

Parametric:   x(u,v)=u   y(u,v)=v   z(u,v)=uv

The physical manifestation of the above equations can be achieved by constructing a square and forcing the surface area to minimalise by introducing cross bracing that has shorter lengths than the  square edges.

A particular square hypar defined by b = n * √2 (b=boundary, n=initial geometry or ‘cross bracing’) thus constricting the four points to the corners of a cube leads to interesting tessellations in three dimensions.

Using a simple elastic lashing system to construct a hypar module binds all intersections together whilst allowing rotational movement. The rotational movement at any given intersection is proportionally distributed to all others. This combined with the elasticity of the joints means that the module has elastic potential energy (spring-like properties) therefore an array of many modules can adopt the same elastic properties.

The system can be scaled, shaped, locked and adapted to suit programmatic requirements.

28th November 2013 Cross-Crit 2

Very enjoyable crit day for DS10 at Westminster University. It was our second cross-crit of the year and students showed their proposal for Brief2A, building an interactive structure for Burning Man or the festival of their choice.

Thank you very much to our helpful crits Harri Lewis (Ramboll RCD our engineers for last year’s Shipwreck and Fractal Cult), Marie-Isabel de Monseignat (Tutor at DRS1 Chelsea College of Art), Dusan Decermic, Anthony Boulanger and Katherine Herron. Here are couple pictures:

Marie de Monseignat is holding the Plywood Spiralohedrons

Jessica Beagleman’s Plywood Spiralohedrons

Sarah Shuttleworth’s large metal origami model.

Paul Thorpe’s Twisting Plywood pods 1:1 Model

Ieva Ciocyte’s Burning Euclid Wall

Joe Leach’s Burning Seed Reciprocal Structure

Sarah Stell’s wind powered animals

Josh Haywood’s beautiful Digital Muqarnas

Henry Turner’s intersecting plywood wave structure.

Will Garforth-Bless’ bamboo and fabric hypars

Lorna Jackson’s Spacer Fabric Cloud

Charlotte Yates’ Origami Roofs

Naomi Danos’ Folding roofs.

Mark Simpson’s mirror diamonds in the desert.

Technical Studies Lectures

Pete Silver and William McLean organize these great lectures at the Westminster University. The Evening Lectures are open to public! To our students: Make sure to attend as many as possible.

See their Tumblr page for details: http://technicalstudies.tumblr.com/

A list of the Technical Studies Lectures Every Thursday