Towards feather-weight building envelope systems. Membrane systems for years have been the main alternative to lightweight construction. Although lightweight, these systems are always supported by non-membrane rigid elements, which proved not to fulfil all the required building skin properties. Within a thesis „Could a building envelope be lighter than lightweight? “, we will investigate new strategies for building envelopes that focus on exclusively textile structures. The task will be to design a selected element of a building envelope.
The developed systems should offer multifunctionality and structural integrity similar to the skins of organisms observed in nature. This could be achieved by complex geometries, composite materials, and pneumatic systems. Participants will be encouraged to use digital as well as manual prototyping methods.
This seminar is organised in cooperation with a leading textile manufacturer. Participants will have an opportunity to look into textile fabrication methods and evaluate their ideas with specialists from this industry in a series of workshops. Selected works will have a chance to be built as 1:1 prototypes.
All participants should have skills in Rhino 3d and Grasshopper. They are encouraged to take part in the design studio „TeslaTower“, in which we will apply the developed technologies in a real size project.
Teaching staff: Eliza Biala, Piotr Fabirkiewicz, Andreas Greiner