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The continued ecological impact of the built environment has, by now, been well documented. In response, innovative new co-designed architectural strategies are developing which combine material, computation and fabrication processes to enable new tectonic possibilities. One such technique, Coreless Filament Winding (CFW), is an additive manufacturing process that allows for the mass customisation of high-performance building elements based on local geometric, performance and functional requirements. Large scale CFW construction has been successfully demonstrated through temporary non-habitable structures. More permanent, quotidian applications have, however, not yet been fully explored. The aim of this thesis, therefore, is to explore the integration of this technology in conventional multi-storey architecture. This project builds on the existing research of ICD and ITKE by combining fibre-reinforced polymers (FRPs) with a complementary material: timber. Through system hybridisation, new functional possibilities are enabled such as enclosure and trafficability - roles CFW building components are not inherently
suited to. Additionally, the introduction of a second material is leveraged to simplify
the filament winding process. This is achieved by integrating the timber winding
frame , which further acts as an interface between the fibre system and traditional
construction trades. The design investigation is centred on a lightweight Timber-Fibre
floor system as a means of showcase the performative , functional and fabrication
opportunities that this pairing provides. An alternative material co-dependency,
furthermore, presents a viable strategy by which this emerging technology may
permeate more permanent present-day architectural scenarios, new territory for this
technique.
ITECH M.Sc. Thesis Project 2020: Hybrid Fibre Architecture - Coreless Filament Winding for Quotidian Applications
Vanessa Costalonga Martins, Sacha Cutajar, Christo van der Hoven
Thesis Advisers: Marta Gil Pérez, Niccolò Dambrosio
Thesis Supervisor: Prof. Achim Menges
Second Supervisor: Prof. Jan Knippers