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Gaudi’s Puffy Jacket: A Method for the Implementation of Fabric Slump Casting in the Construction of Thin-Wall Funicular Vault Structures

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Advances in Architectural Geometry 2014
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Abstract

This paper describes a method for the production of thin-wall funicular (compression-only) structures from unique double-curved concrete components via a novel slump casting technique. The technique deploys fabric formwork within simple two-dimensionally cut frames to enable the efficient production of the unique parts necessary to tessellate form-found funicular geometries. Through the realisation of a high-tech / low-tech ecology of production, the paper seeks the reestablishment of generative pathways between each domain in the design-to-production cycle: architecture, engineering and fabrication. The method and resulting case study pavilions are situated within the historical trajectory of architectural form finding, specifically, the realisation of masonry vault structures.

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Correspondence to Iain Maxwell or Dave Pigram .

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Maxwell, I., Pigram, D. (2015). Gaudi’s Puffy Jacket: A Method for the Implementation of Fabric Slump Casting in the Construction of Thin-Wall Funicular Vault Structures. In: Block, P., Knippers, J., Mitra, N., Wang, W. (eds) Advances in Architectural Geometry 2014. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11418-7_5

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