Material- and Fabrication-informed Design of Structurally-sound Jammed Architectural Structures

Abstract

In the last two decades an increasing number of professionals and researchers have attempted to minimise the harmful impact of the building industry on the environment by taking advantage of ongoing technological progress. Computational design and digital fabrication technology are combined to realise geometrically or functionally complex architectural artefacts. As a result, optimised material use can be achieved. Nevertheless, in the context of the current advancements in the field, one key research strand has remained rather underdeveloped — recycling, which is considered essential for preventing overconsumption of materials and, in this way, foster environmental sustainability.\nIn this regard, this doctoral research investigated a non-standard material system that firstly, was made of locally-obtained ingredients and secondly could be used to fabricate architectural elements without the use of formwork and ultimately facilitated a fully reversible construction process. The building elements discussed here are called Jammed Architectural Structures (JAS) and consisted of unbound crushed stones confined by textile string. These largely-available bulk materials were shaped into full-scale architectural artefacts through a robotic fabrication process that did not require moulds during construction. The absence of a binding matrix between the stones and the string resulted in their complete separation during deconstruction and thus complete recycling. However, to investigate the material system's capacity to act as an effective building material and to study its design and application potential, it was crucial to explore the material system's properties. (cont.)