[C]space - DRL10 Pavilion

Nine Problems in the Form of a Pavilion published

2010-09-25T11:20:00.008+01:00

The book on the pavilion is now available in all leading bookshops and Amazon. Edited by Alan Dempsey and Yusuke Obuchi, with contributions from Alvin Huang, Brett Steele, Patrik Schumacher, Hanif Kara, Wolfgang Rieder and Charles Jencks.

From Mies van der Rohe’s 1929 Barcelona Pavilion to the Serpentine Gallery’s annual summer pavilions designed by architects such as Toyo Ito, Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas, the production of pavilions has been at the forefront of architectural experimentation. Because of their temporary nature and loose functional requirements, pavilions can be realised as a pure expression space and material organisation. Though not automatically categorised as great works of architecture, pavilions have nonetheless provided a vital platform for challenging current practice and facilitating its future evolution.

Designed by Alan Dempsey and Alvin Huang, and realised with students as part of the tenth anniversary celebrations of the AA’s Design Research Laboratory, the [C]space DRL TEN Pavilion is one of those built projects that push architectural convention, structural engineering and the building materials industry. A full scale construction that represents a rare collaboration between academia and industry, the pavilion brought together digital explorations in architectural design with advanced structural calculations based on non-linear analysis and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes.

This book recounts the story of the creation of the Pavilion and identifies the key problems encountered during its successful design and realisation. Though grounded in the specific experience of the pavilion, the book argues that these problems are common to broader contemporary design to production workflows and how they are addressed will have a major influence on future architectural pedagogy and practice.

[C]space leaves the AA

2008-10-29T16:37:00.008Z

Next stop Singapore..... watch this space.
Thanks to Valerie Bennet for all the great photos over the last few months.

[C]Space 4 Sale...

2008-09-15T09:33:00.002+01:00

[C]Space will be auctioned off by internationally reknowned auction house Phillips de Prury & Company on 25 September 2008. More information below:

AUCTION  25 September 2008 2pm
Howick Place London SW1P 1BB

Proceeds from 17 lots will benefit the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. These lots have been handpicked by independent curator, Francis Sultana and all proceeds will benefit the NSPCC treatment and therapeutic services.

Viewing 16 - 25 September
Tuesday 16 6pm - 8pm
Wednesday 17 - Friday 19, 10am - 6pm
Saturday 20 - Sunday 21, 12pm - 6pm
Monday 22 - Wednesday 24, 10am - 6pm
Thursday 25 10am - 2pm

Enquiries Alexander Payne apayne@phillipsdepury.com
+44 20 7318 4052 London +1 212 940 1268 New York

Catalogues  catalogues@phillipsdepury.com
+44 20 7318 4039 London +1 212 940 1240 New York

ALAN DEMPSEY AND ALVIN HUANG

‘[C]space DRL TEN’ pavilion, 2008
Fibre-reinforced concrete, rubber, mild steel. 500.1 x 1000.1 x 600.1 cm. (196 7/8 x 393 3/4 x 236 1/4 in.) Fibre-reinforced concrete manufactured by Rieder, Germany. Designed for the Architectural Association School of Architecture ‘AA DRLTEN’ temporary pavilion competition.

ESTIMATE £20,000-30,000 ♠

EXHIBITED Architectural Association School of Architecture, Bedford Square, London, 25 February-31 July 2008

Advances in Architectural Geometry

2008-09-14T20:51:00.004+01:00

Alan will present [C]space and other recent work at the innaugral 'Advances in Architectural Geometry' conference in Vienna on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 September. The conference will take place in the Austrian Academy of Sciences and other speakers include Charles Walker from Zaha Hadid who also provided some assistance on the pavilion. Full details can be found on the conference website.

AADRL TEN Pavilion at Architectural Association

2008-08-16T03:50:00.003+01:00

Pavilion construction

2008-08-01T18:23:00.002+01:00

Yusuke has posted a time lapse video of the construction process on You Tube

[C]space Pavilion, Bedford Square

2008-07-22T23:30:00.001+01:00

[C]space Pavilion, Bedford Square, originally uploaded by Stefan Schäfer.

London Festival of Architecture

2008-07-08T12:39:00.003+01:00

Pavilion, originally uploaded by erase.

LFA talk

2008-07-07T15:43:00.007+01:00

Alkis and Yusuke gave a public talk on Saturday afternoon in Bedford Square as part of the London Festival of Architecture. Also this week Cristina Donati has published a feature article on the pavilion in Italian design magazine Modulo. The full article is available here

AA pavilion

2008-06-25T10:23:00.001+01:00

AA pavilion, originally uploaded by jiathwee.

Photo from the new issue of A10 Magazine

2008-06-10T12:24:00.003+01:00

AA_pavilion_03, originally uploaded by *-*-*-*-*-*.

By Philippe Brysse

[C]space - DRL10 Pavilion

2008-06-04T12:04:00.001+01:00

[C]space - DRL10 Pavilion, originally uploaded by *hoodrat*.

Pavilion, Bedford Square

2008-05-29T10:46:00.001+01:00

Pavilion, Bedford Square, originally uploaded by Paul Pearson2007.

Bedford Square Montage

2008-05-19T18:43:00.001+01:00

Pavilion, Bedford Square Montage, originally uploaded by Paul Pearson2007.

16.05.08 AA - Pavilion Roundtable

2008-05-19T16:10:00.010+01:00

[Photos. Rafael Contreras]

Pavilion at London Festival of Architecture

2008-05-08T21:29:00.002+01:00

The AA annual projects review will participate in this year's London Festival of Architecture. [C]space and the new intermediate unit two pavilion Swoosh will be open on Bedford Square for the duration of the exhibition. See LFA for more details.

Dyntr

2008-04-26T17:25:00.001+01:00

, originally uploaded by Dyntr.

AA DRL 10 pavilion

2008-04-26T17:23:00.001+01:00

AA DRL 10 pavilion, originally uploaded by dodeckahedron.

AADRL TEN Pavilion, Bedford Square

2008-04-26T17:22:00.001+01:00

AADRL TEN Pavilion, Bedford Square, originally uploaded by Ben.Harper.

Danger! [C]space - DRL10 Pavilion, Bedford Square

2008-04-26T17:20:00.001+01:00

Danger! [C]space - DRL10 Pavilion, Bedford Square, originally uploaded by Loz Flowers.

18.04.08 [ photos. Rafael Contreras ]

2008-04-20T15:34:00.008+01:00

flix from flickr

2008-04-20T15:19:00.001+01:00

Bedford Squ4, originally uploaded by It's only a tree!.

Pavilion reopens!

2008-04-15T11:46:00.008+01:00

The pavilion will reopen to the public today after being closed for the end of term break. It will be open daily from 8am - 7pm until the end of July. Please send us any great photo's you have and we'll post them.

photo by Valerie Bennett

New photos by Gidon Fuehrer

2008-04-10T13:40:00.004+01:00

[c]space in Barcelona

2008-04-03T18:49:00.002+01:00

Alvin and Alan will both be in Barcelona Friday 11 April 2008 to present the pavilion as part of the SIMAE conference on emerging architecture. Discussions will focus on "proposals based on methodologies such as “thinking while experimenting”, which bring us back to the Deleuzian concept of “thinking as doing”."

[c]space in Berlin

2008-04-03T18:39:00.004+01:00

Alan will be in Berlin giving a presentation about the pavilion on Wednesday 9 April 2008 for the 3D Modelling Symposium at the University of Arts Berlin. There will be lectures, case studies, and master classes where top-class national and international experts will demonstrate solutions for contemporary architecture and construction demands, as well as modern design via 3D-modelling.

[C]space photos by Philippe Brysse

2008-03-30T00:06:00.004Z

AA_pavilion_01, originally uploaded by *-*-*-*-*-*.

AA_pavilion, originally uploaded by *-*-*-*-*-*.

Here are some great shots of the pavilion by super talented photographer Philippe Brysse. check out his flickr page to see some of his other amazing photos...

night visions

2008-03-18T01:19:00.008Z

despite the fact that we still havn't received clearance to here's a few of the beautiful night shots posted by Suryansh on the DRL blog of the completed pavilion illuminated with just a small sample of the full spectrum of hues available through our Philips ColorKinetics lighting package...

pavilion open!

2008-03-14T07:38:00.003Z

The pavilion opening last night was a fantastic success. A sincere thank you to all those involved for making it happen. Many of the team are taking a well deserved holiday next week but we will post some more images over the next few days as they come in.

There will be a 'post op' presentation and round table discussion in the AA on the 18 April attended by the design team, sponsors, manufactures and assembly teams, which will examine the issues raised during the design and construction process and how they can be related to current architectural practice. All are welcome to attend.

via aalog.net
photo by Valerie Bennett

as usual....

2008-03-13T00:07:00.009Z

the clock is ticking...

here are some night shots of late night preparations and testing of the Philips LED lamps....lighting design has been graciously provided by Desmond O' Donovan of DHA Designs. Philips has generously lent us the hardware including a Color Kinetics iPlayer3 lighting controller and 6 ColorBlast12 LED units.

T minus 24h 10m 32sec....

2008-03-12T18:18:00.007Z

the scaffolding is down, the books are printed, the invitations have been sent, and the audience is waiting...

yet with the opening exactly a day away....it looks like we're almost there....BUT we've had some last minute issues pop-up to sort out on-site. MAJOR anxiety right now...so keep your fingers crossed...the team is hustling trying to make things happen.

and don't forget to wish us luck....we need it.

in the meantime here's some eye candy to keep you occupied...

Project Data Sheet updated...

2008-03-12T12:48:00.002Z

As we're gearing up for tomorrow night's opening...we've also updated the project data sheet. Check it out for more detailed info on the project.

Construction Day31

2008-03-12T09:16:00.003Z

Alkis sent over a photo of Yusuke putting some final touches to the roof.

Construction Day 29

2008-03-10T10:39:00.005Z

Almost complete. All of the primary profiles have been installed, most of the cross profiles are also in and the floor installation has begun.

Pavilion Detail - Day 28

2008-03-09T21:02:00.003Z

Construction Day 27

2008-03-08T11:25:00.009Z

Some recent images from Alkis on site. The span connecting the two sides has been completed in many places with the only the very front and rear remaining. The overall structure gets stiffer with every piece that goes in. Only four days left to go....

view from front

view from rear square side

fitting the profiles

Abhishek inserting some gaskets

Joao and Nicholas in front

Pavilion Detail - Day 26

2008-03-06T23:37:00.005Z

Construction Day 26

2008-03-06T15:05:00.008Z

view from Bedford square towards school

view from corner of Bedford square

view on platform with construction reference model

view from front

and Alan gets drill happy...

Construction Day 25

2008-03-05T16:49:00.002Z

via aalog.net
photo by Valerie Bennett

Pavilion Detail - Day 22

2008-03-05T00:58:00.002Z

Construction Day 21

2008-03-03T13:47:00.004Z

Claudia Dorner, Marga Busquets and Ujjal Roy

Yusuke and Joao

Brian Houghton on top

Pavilion D.Tail

2008-03-03T05:42:00.004Z

A nice photo of the tail of the pavilion bench posted the AADRL blog by Rafael.

Construction Day 20

2008-02-29T09:04:00.002Z

from Valerie Bennett at http://aalog.net

Pavilion Detail - Day 19

2008-02-27T23:44:00.004Z

Construction - Day 19

2008-02-27T19:21:00.002Z

via aalog.net
photo by Valerie Bennett

Pavilion Detail - Day 18

2008-02-27T00:25:00.007Z

Construction - Day 18

2008-02-26T11:55:00.005Z

via aalog.net
photo by Valerie Bennett

DRL10 Exhibition

2008-02-25T18:35:00.016Z

From the AA website:

AA Exhibitions
DRL Ten
25/02/2008 -18/03/2008
Mon–Fri, 10.00-7.00, Sat, 10.00–3.00

The exhibition celebrates the tenth anniversary of the AA’s Design Research Lab (DRL), featuring current work by DRL tutors and students as well as projects selected from some 354 DRL graduates, as part of a series of events in February and March. The collective mission of the DRL TEN events is to narrate the history of student and staff work, to evaluate the programme’s collaborative teaching and learning methods, and to speculate on future terms of design research in an evolving global architectural culture.

A further physical manifestation of the DRL’s vision will be on display in Bedford Square in March in the form of a pavilion designed by Alan Dempsey (DRL 2002) and Alvin Huang (DRL 2004). Their (C)Space Pavilion – selected through competition – will be constructed of fibre-reinforced precast concrete panels.

DRL TEN: A Design Research Compendium, the second book in the AADRL Documents series will be published in March and combines a visual survey of the evolution of the DRL with texts by the programme directors and Andrew Benjamin, Mark Burry, Mark Cousins, Zaha Hadid, Christopher Hight and Jeffrey Kipnis, among others.

DRL TEN is curated by Yusuke Obuchi, Patrik Schumacher, Theodore Spyropoulos and Tom Verebes.

Construction - Day 16

2008-02-25T09:31:00.002Z

"Live" Exhibitionism...

2008-02-24T19:38:00.017Z

So the DRL TEN exhibition opened this Friday, with the DRL10 seminar following on Saturday. The exhibition showcases 10 years of projects at the Design Research Laboratory at the AA, but maybe even more interestingly showcases some of the built work of the 350+ alumnus of the experimental graduate program. Visitors to the seminar on Saturday got to see a "live" exhibition, as the primary steel structure was delivered, craned into place, and assembled. It was quite a site, as the steel members are HUGE and definitely drew an audience.

The steel arrived in 3 pre-fabricated assemblies consisting of 2 "nose" pieces assembled from 15mm sheets of structural steel, and a "bridge" piece which completed the arch spanning between them. Each assembly was hoisted by a 25 ton crane and slotted into the concrete ground cross members assembled over the last week with painstaking precision through a combined effort from the sheet fabricators, crane operators, Rieder team, surveying team, and DRL team to coordinate the positioning and notch locations accurately. As each component was placed, 3D coordinates located at pre-defined points on the structure were measured with a Total Station by our surveying team and cross-checked with our 3D model and set out drawings to ensure accuracy.

After final positioning and adjusting, the third and final assembly was dropped into place with startling accuracy (to be honest, I still can't believe how easy this one was), and then bolted and spliced to the other two to complete the assembly of the primary structure.

Pavilion Detail - Day 13

2008-02-20T23:36:00.004Z

Construction - Day 13

2008-02-20T18:58:00.002Z

photo by Valerie Bennett

Steelwork fabrication

2008-02-20T09:13:00.003Z

Here's an image taken by Yusuke of the steel work being assembled in Nottingham yesterday. The partial frame is required to give the Fibre-C shell some additional lateral stiffness under windloading conditions. The frame will be painted and then delivered to site before the end of this week.

versions...

2008-02-19T19:31:00.015Z

As any designer knows, you never get it right on the first try. However, reflecting on the path taken to arrive often illuminates the view at the final destination...

As things are gearing up for the upcoming DRL 10 Exhbition opening on Friday at the AA, we've been doing some back logging and digging up some of the various versions of the pavilion that have led us to where we are now.

The following images are from various stages of the development of the project and include early formal explorations of "skins", tests on sectioning and profiling arrangements, geometrical rationalization, and structural optimization. There are elements we have refined, developed, and improved. There are moments where we have had to sacrifice for the sake of constructability, efficiency, and structural stability. You win some...you lose some. In reverse chronological order...here's a few alternative versions of the pavilion...

laminations...

2008-02-19T19:23:00.008Z

The second shipment of panels from Rieder has arrived. this means we will soon start to see the pavilion "noses" taking shape.

The "noses" are also where the structure is under the greatest stresses....in order for the material to take these stresses where the vertical load of the roof is being transferred to the horizontal deck, the ribs in these locations are triple laminated by bolting three sheets of 13mm Fibre-C sheets together.

The resulting slot is where the next profile will slide in and complete the laminated splice joint.

Construction Day 11

2008-02-18T17:33:00.003Z

from aalog.net
photo by Valerie Bennett

random site photos...

2008-02-15T17:15:00.013Z

construction site/real-time exhibition space...the site gets a lot of attention from passers by...

special thanks to our sponsors...

dr. evil (under construction) and mini-me.

construction team schedule

a broken tooth...

the lasercut model has proven far more useful than the drawings...

post-it notes indicate profile numbers...

locations and positional reference are easy to identify...

view through the void of the bench...

Pavilion Construction - Day 9

2008-02-15T17:03:00.008Z

Gasket detail - Condition D

2008-02-14T15:34:00.009Z

Throughout the pavilion we have 4 different joint conditions, and 8 gasket types. Each of the joint conditions is determined by the assembly logic required at that location. Each of the gasket types is determined by the angle of intersection.

At the first phase of ground level assembly, we only have Condition D - Ground global profile (concrete) to ground cross profile (concrete), which utilizes gasket type 8, which is a flat 80mm x 50mm x 17mm EPDM rubber pad.

Joints on the ground members have no need for the locking gaskets to keep the profiles in place because gravity will work just fine, with the weight of the entire structure sitting on these guys, no one is lifting them off.

So, as a means of reducing costs, we opted for flat rubber pads which are glued in place at each notch to take up the difference in the over-size notch to make it a tight fit notch, but retaining enough fexibility for construction tolerances and to compensate for the fact that the intersections are angled.

After these pads have been glued into place, then the primay ground profiles can be inserted into the cross profiles.

Here's a detail, and some photos.

Pavilion Construction - Day 8

2008-02-14T14:32:00.006Z

photo from aalog.net

check out the physcial model (on the table in bottom middle of the photo) being used as a reference for locating the panels on the site.

Pavilion Construction - Day 7

2008-02-13T17:04:00.010Z

photo from aalog.net

CD or AD?

2008-02-12T19:13:00.004Z

Here's a few sample sheets from our set of construction drawings. Unlike the typical 2D construction document set you would find on a conventional building site, our drawings relate more to an IKEA flat-pack assembly diagram, with 2D views identifying an array of individual pre-fabricated components, and a series of procedural 3D views detailing how to orient and assemble them.

There are three main categories for components, all of which are pre-fabricated and delivered to site:

1. Steel
2. Fibre-C
3. EPDM Rubber Gaskets (joints)

All drawings have been produced exclusively in Rhino 4's drawing layout functions, with some help from the Technical Drawing Plug-in.

Additionally, the 1:10 physical model has been taken down to the site, and is being used as a live "construction reference" during the assembly process.

Pavilion Construction - Day 6

2008-02-12T17:00:00.000Z

photo from aalog.net

Pavilion Construction - Days 1-5

2008-02-12T08:37:00.001Z

As stated earlier, the pavilion is now on site! Yusuke has been coordinating the efforts on-site with the help of a team of AA DRL students. There has been a lot of action, as you will see from the photos below...including a surprise celebrity visit to the site...

Progress so far:

site fencing erected
fibre-c panels delivered and unloaded
sand blinding layed to provide flat surface
fibre-c ground mat layed
fibre-c ground cross profiles being assembled and spaced (in progress)
completed 1:10 scale model delivered to site as construction reference

Here's a few photos from the first half week of progress.

recent progress

2008-02-11T18:55:00.000Z

In advance of the work on site, we've built a 1:10 scale model to do a final check on the fit of all 850 peices. The model uses 3mm thick mdf, which is about twice the thickness of the real elements so the real structure will look even more delicate than the model.....but it will still come to around 30 tons of concrete and 7 tons of steel.

Many thanks to Alan Jinsoo Kim and Aditya Chandra for their assistance with the assembly of the model.

rieder production photos...

2008-02-10T10:46:00.002Z

here's some images sent over from Christine Schmidt at Rieder, documenting the production and delivery process for our first shipment (1 of 3) of water jet Fibre-C panels which are now on site and being assembled. as always...more to come.

take a look...

we're back...

2008-02-09T13:48:00.001Z

it's been a while since we've posted, but definitely not for a lack work. the pavilion has undergone some major changes...and is finally on site, along with a number of design/production tasks being taken on in parrallel (some of the tasks indicate the design changes). we're now getting quite a bit of help from some of the current AA DRL phase one and phase two students, without whom this would not be possible. time is running out and we have pushed the opening of the pavilion back to 13 March 2008 to coincide with the release of the DRL10 book.

Here is a list of the current on-going processes (in no particular order):

1. site work

leveling of site with sand blinding (done)
laying ground mat (done)
laying ground cross-profiles (in progress)

2. 1:20 laser-cut prototype model

laser-cutting of profiles (done)
assembly of components (in progress)

3. temporary works

site fencing (done)
scaffolding (being ordered)
design of jigs supports (in progress)
erection of jigs

4. fabrication of fibre-c elements

cutting of profiles (done)
delivery of profiles (group 1 of 3 delivered)

5. fabrication of rubber gaskets

extrusion of gaskets (group 1 of 4 done)
punching of holes (group 1 of 4 done)
delivery (group 1 of 4 done)

6. fabrication of steel structure

cutting of steel profiles (in process)
off-site assembly of steel profiles
on-site erection of steel structure

7. construction documents

cutting sheets (done)
assembly diagrams (done)
gasket details (done)
revisions (in progress)

8. coordination

IN PROGRESS

as you can see, we still have a lot of work to do.

in the meantime here are the latest images of the version being built.

LOTS more to follow...

how to build a pavillion in 9 easy steps...

2007-12-05T14:20:00.001Z

Here is the lastest plan of attack for the on-site assembly of the pavilion, based in large part by what we learned from our failures with the plywood mock-up, and on the phased production schedule of the Fibre-C profiles which we have agreed with Rieder.

1. Cross Members of Floor deck are layed in place

2. Primary Deck, Bench, and Wall profiles inserted into deck.

3. Lower wall Cross Profiles inserted.

4. Plywood framed jig support erected

5. Primary Global profiles are lifted into place via crane and positioned on jig support.

6. Top Cross Profiles are placed, locking entire roof structure together, and splicing the roof to the walls.

7. Horizontal Bench Profiles are inserted

8. Bench Cross profiles are placed forming the horizontal surfaces of the bench and counter areas.

9. COMPLETION!!!

Sure looks easy...doesn't it? We've still got a lot to figure out, but the wheels are in motion...as always, more to come...

structural bending tests...

2007-11-29T16:44:00.001Z

as Fibre-C has been developed as a cladding material, not a structural material, we have had to have some tests done. In particular, because the tests that have been done by Rieder in the past, have only tested it's structural capacity perpendicular to the layout of the fibres, while we will be loading the forces in the axis of the fibres.

So today we began the structural bending tests at the labs in Aachen, Germany. According to AKT the tests have been going well...we have no bending failure and no problems with buckling or shear failure. AKT will provide some numbers on capacity of the profiles and further analysis.

In the meantime, here's a video from the testing labs posted for us on youtube...you'll see a big crack begin to appear eventually, but no structural failure!!

plywood mock-up v1.0

2007-11-28T23:47:00.000Z

The first plywood mock-up test is complete, with a lot of help from Yusuke and some of the Phase One students at the AADRL. Many thanks to Brian Houghton, Abhishek Bij, and Rajat Sodhi for their assistance.

Below you will see some photos documenting the process. The fabrication of the profiles was done on the 3-axis CNC machine at the AA's Hooke Park facilities designed by Frei Otto in the 1970's. The assembly was done at the DRL's John St. studios.

While it wasn't successful in standing, it was definitely successful in teaching. This is what we learned:

1. Cutting. The translation of line types from rhino to the CAM cutting programme caused the shape of the profiles and notches to change in places. This must be carefully reviewed and solved before any final cutting.
2. The internal corners of the notches must be controlled – if the corners are rounded with a 5mm radius it will reduce the fit of the profiles and any silicone gasket. It a rounded corner is chosen here to reduce stress build up in the working joint then the gasket must be modified to deal with the curvature
3. Assembly. The cross profiles on the floor deck should be moved to the outside of the primary profiles. This will give the structure contact with the ground over the full width of the edge and more importantly it will provide a stable jig to fit to insert and align all of the tilted primary profiles. The cross profiles on the ground should be constructed as a mat that is fully bolted of fixed together to help provide full dimensional control of the assembly.
4. The assembly sequence should involve erecting a number of primary rings in the centre and either side of the shell and then infilling with the remaining profiles. This will help maintain overall dimensional control and ensure everything fits.
5. The tilting of the rear primary profiles in the opposite direction to the front will provide a more efficient structural solution and provide balance to allow easier assembly.
6. The joints at the splices on the side walls and floor should be much deeper – approximately 60-80mm
7. The numbering of pieces and referencing of specific joint correspondence needs to be further developed. At least one joint at the end of each profile needs to be marked to match a corresponding joint in the other direction.
8. Another plywood mock-up of the same area should be made before Christmas after the above changes are incorporated into the design. This should be made of high quality beech ply and assembled in Hooke park.
9. Wear gloves next time to avoid splinters!

FEM Analysis...

2007-11-23T18:01:00.000Z

AKT has run an initial FEM analysis on the roof structure, and well...we've got a bit of work to do.
Though significantly lighter than conventional concrete, the Fibre-C is still concrete, and the self-load of the material is a bit more than our geoemtry can handle at the moment. Basically, with the tilt/lean of the roof structure, the self-load of the structural material, and the non-continouous nature of the structure....our notch joints are taking a hell of a load. The moment forces that these joints are taking is very high. We are also experiencing high stresses and deformation in the profiles due to bending in their weak axis. AKT has told us we need to reduce the stresses by a factor of about 6 (no kidding...my stress factor has got to be +100 these days).

We've got a few options for reducing these stresses, but it looks like it's going to be a combination of them all:

1. Decrease the tilt angle of the roof structure. By reducing the angle by 15 degrees we gain a factor of 2. We also lose some of the dynamic formal movement and drama of the structure.

2. Introduce bracing, especially at the sides of the pavilion. This could be done by infilling flat sheets of fibre-c stiffeners between profiles at various locations. This could also detract from the visual and structural purity of the pavilion.

3. Add more primary ribs at the side faces. This might alter the visual effect of the moire pattern, but could also be interesting if done as a gradient of spacing. I also find it interesting to architecturally express where the structure is performing the most.

4. Increase thickness of material at primary ribs to 13mm, and decrease thickness of material at secondary profiles to 10mm (reducing the self-load).

As I said, we've got some work to do. All of these decisions need to be looked at before we can make a call on them. We need to maintain our design concept, while finding a structural solution that suits. But in particular...we need to so so ASAP!

Here's a look at the revised wire model with spliced profiles and intersection nodes we sent over to AKT today for a quick analysis. In this version, we have reduced the tilt angle by 10 degrees on the front face, and 5 degress on the back.
On another note, once again we have also revised the bench geometry again. Don't worry, it won't be the last time. As you can see below, we are using the 3.6m x 1.2m standard sheet size of Fibre-C as the module for sizing our profiles.
In light of this, we have now lowered the height of the seatback/counter, so that it drops within the 1.2m width of the sheet material. this allows us to cut the entire bench profile in the primary direction, in one continous piece. this is a very minor change, but one which saves us huge amounts of hassle and detailing.

joint details

2007-11-20T13:53:00.001Z

We've made some progress on the joint detials over the last week. The two models we were looking at use silicone gaskets to provide a cushion between the interlocking profiles and here are the two mock-ups back from the RP lab. Thanks to Jeroen for all his help.

After a design team meeting, we've decided to go with the second option because it can deal with a variation in angles in two planes; it acts as a rotational stiffener once in place, and it will provide a locking resistance against vertical shear.

The assembly process has been reduced to a minimum - a pair of gaskets will be bonded to the notches on the primary concrete profile in advance. On site, the cross profile will be inserted and then the remaining pair of gaskets can be mechanically fixed with one pin each to lock the joint together.

bench in progress...

2007-11-19T09:11:00.001Z

more revisions to the bench profiles. the original competition entry had the profiles revolving with the geometry of the bench, however this poses problems with how we slot the bench profiles with the deck underneath. now, we are continuing the primary profiles of the roof and floor into the bench. for the cross-members we are looking at taking the sections in one direction for the vertical surfaces of the bench (horizontal sections) and another for the horizontal (seating) surfaces of the bench. we still need to work on the density and spacing of the profiles, but i think we now have the principle in place.

as the deadline approaches and the complexity of joints is exposed, we are basing many decisions on the infamous "KISS Principle".

however, as usual, all sections are completely planar, but never parrallel...

more from theverymany...

2007-11-19T08:14:00.000Z

here's a few more images from Marc Fornes of theverymany, and his entry into the DRL10 pavilion competition. Marc is doing some fascinating generative geometries in RhinoScript. This entry explores the use of a Danzer Tile, which is an aperiodic tiling system. Check out his site for more. As seen in previous posts, Marc has generously been supplying us with coding support to help us automate the process of producing the documentation for our pavilion.

more joint options

2007-11-18T18:46:00.001Z

work in progress...

2007-11-18T01:36:00.000Z

the bench profiles are slowly beginning to take shape....here are some screen shots from today's progress...

moving towards mock-ups...

2007-11-16T10:58:00.000Z

A few options on joint details. We have a range of 30° on the angle of intersection for each joint. We are proposing that there are then 6 details, each of which can acommodate a variation of 5°. Rieder is confident that their material is strong enough, and their fabrication process acurate enough, that we could do a concrete on concrete joint, with no gaskets or fixings. AKT is not confident about this approach. Not only do they want the gasket, but they also want a mechanical or adhesive fixing. Above is a range of options showing a range of 6 variations each on a gasket-less variable notch detail, and two rubber gasket details.

AKT is also proposing a series of details, which we will post later.

All of the details will be tested through AKT.

In parrallel, we are producing a 1:1 scale plywood mock-up to test fitting and assembly. Here's some images of the 3D model of this mock-up. Yosuke will be coordinating a team of the current DRL phase one students to fabricate and assemble this mock up.

Once again, special thanks to Marc Fornes of theverymany for his assistance with providing the Rhino scripting tools to notch and unroll these surfaces!!

the 58 unrolled profiles for the mock up, notched and ready to be cut...

a few words from our sponsor...

2007-11-14T10:39:00.000Z

Yesterday afternoon we had a meeting at the offices of Zaha Hadid Architects (pavilion sponsor), with event organizers Patrik Schumacher (ZHA/AADRL) & Yosuke Obuchi (AADRL), structural engineers Hanif Kara, Oliver Bruckermann, & Jugatx Ansotegui (AKT), & our material sponsor Wolfgang Rieder (Rieder Co.).

We learned quite alot from Wolfgang regarding the possiblities of Fibre-C as a material, and he has generously committed his staff to helping us develop the design. The enthusiasm and insight of everyone involved has been fantastic.

We wiill post more results from the meeting soon, as we will be producing a series of 1:1 mockups of joint options for structural testing (AKT), a 1:1 plywood mock-up to test fitting of panels (AADRL), and a 1:1 Fibre-C mockup for fitting and assembly tests (Rieder Co.).

In the meantime here's some info and images documenting the process of fabrication for Fibre-C panels, sent over this morning by Maria at Rieder.

" fibreC, which is also known as “concrete skin” and has won international architectural awards - is a concrete panel reinforced with glass- fibres which combines the advantages of concrete and glassfibres in one product: it is as solid, moldable and durable as concrete, but thanks to the glassfibres also thin-walled, fireproof and light-weight. Like a skin of concrete, it allows the construction of slim elements with a tensile strength. The extremely thin concrete slabs contribute to the new language of shapes."

"The high consistence of fibreC results from the reinforced glassfibres."

"A special extrusion process incorporates layers of glassfibre into a concrete matrix; in the top layer and underlayer the fibres are undirected and scattered, in the medium layer they take the form of roofings (fibre bundles). The omission of steel reinforcement allows the construction of “slim” concrete elements which are highly stressable despite being extremely thin-walled. The result is an extremely thin slab with 0.31“ to 0.39“ thickness, which is very light-weight, yet has a high flexural strength. The slabs can be dyed in different colors before being hardened for 28 days."

"By using genuine natural stone with iron-oxide pigments, our products resemble natural colors to the smallest detail; the result is “technological marble“ without coating. The process using iron oxide pigments fulfills our sustainability requirement. The authentic colors of concrete skin blend perfectly into the existing landscape and communicate with nature and the environment. One of the most fascinating colors is “liquide black“, a deep rich black produced with unique copper stone, where genuine oxidized copper dots sometimes gleam through the surface."

Profiles will be cut by CNC water-jet machines from standard 3.6m x 1.2m fibre-C panels.

We have also gone ahead and specified a color for our sheets...we are using the Ivory color with a Ferro (sanblasted) finish, as highlighted above. We wanted to use the rough finish as it truly expresses itself as concrete. The rough finish will also help us by providing friction at the joints. The polished finish is really nice, but comes across as a solid surface application (i.e. corian). There will be slight variations in the colors of individual panels as they all cure differently:

"Vivid structures with an interplay of changing color shades and somecloud effects, rather than dead and clinical surfaces, are characteristicof fibreC. Differences attract and are understood as what they are– a typical characteristic of a natural building material."

crease angle plug-in for rhino...

2007-11-14T01:47:00.001Z

here's some screenshots from today's progress....

we have begun laying out the standard 3.6m x 1.2m fibre-c sheets against our geometry. the lenght of each section is determined by this sheet size. at the moment, we are going with the 3.6m length, as it makes for a lighter element that can be handled by hand. however, AKT is suggesting that we move to the 5m sheet...that means we would require a crane for assembly, as the weight of each individual profile would be over 25kg, which is the legal limit in the UK for builders to lift by hand...BUT it offers greater structural optimization as we would greatly reduce the number of splices required in joining discontinuous members....
we have also created an intersection network for AKT to analyze, as well as documenting all of the angles of intersection for all of the planes (thanks to the crease angle plugin for Rhino). as you can see below, no two angles are the same...although many are within very close range to one another.

we'll have more on some ideas regarding how we can deal with these angle variations soon...AKT has a few options they would like to explore, and we are developing a couple as well...

another DRL10 pavilion...

2007-11-12T16:32:00.001Z

this one from Alvin Triestanto...

have a seat...

2007-11-11T22:47:00.000Z

Lately the focus has been on tectonics, as we have been looking at the joints and the section profiles. These are major issues we need to develop with AKT so that they can get a proper structural analysis to us. In order to move ahead, we have been focused on the roof canopy. This weekend, we have looked at some geometry refinement on the bench, and incorporated a revised more controlled version of the bench into the new roof shell. we still need to define the section profiles of the bench, and more importantly, how those profiles will splice into those of the roof. in the meantime...here's a few screenshots of the latest bench 3D....more to come.

dpm pavilion

2007-11-11T14:00:00.000Z

Plan & Elevations

here's another of the entries from the DRL10 competition. This one brought to you by Shajay Bhooshan, Brian C. Dale, Luis Fragada, and Victor Orive Garcia. Check out their images below, and Luis' Blog - LiveArchitecture.

Aerial Perspective

Perspective

Panel Fitness Optimization through MEL Scripting

[C]SPACE discussion...

2007-11-10T13:27:00.001Z

recently posted on the front page and the discussion forum of one of our favorite architecture sites in the world, archinect, [C]SPACE is generating a bit of discussion...see what people are saying, and add your comments...

meeting of the minds...

2007-11-09T10:13:00.000Z

a photo from AAlog.net of our meeting yesterday with our structural engineering team and pavilion organizer Yusuke Obuchi. AKT is currently conducting analysis on the structural capacity of the pavilion and will also be conducting a series of tests on a few options for joint arrangements. From left to right Hanif Kara, Oliver Bruckermann, Jugatx Ansotegui, Alvin Huang, Alan Dempsey (photo taken by Yusuke Obuchi).

"DRL TEN Pavilion meeting at Adam Kara Taylor’s office on Farringdon St."

"The winning design team members Alan Dempsey (DRL ‘02) and Alvin Huang (DRL ‘04) met with AKT’s engineers Hanif Kara, Oliver Bruckermann and Jugatx Ansotegui and DRL’s Yusuke Obuchi today and discussed structural details of DRL TEN Pavilion. For more details on the pavilion, check out the pavilion blog: http://cspacepavilion.blogspot.com/"

rapid prototype of the pavilion skin...

2007-11-09T09:10:00.000Z

Immediately following the competition win, we were able to utilize the digital prototyping facilities at the AA to produce a Z-Corp rapid prototype of the pavilion "skin" for a quick geometry check. This "skin" is modeled as the topological volumetric form of the pavilion, and is materialised through the sectioning of the skin with a series of fanning arrays of planar cuts which produce the Fibre-C lattice. This allows us to produce a geometry of continuous complex curves, while utilizing conventional flat panels.

This model has already proved invaluable as a design tool for identifying areas of the geometry that need to be revised, as well as having a tangible piece for discussion with our structural engineers AKT.

with a little help from my friends...

2007-11-07T15:45:00.000Z

The Beatles got that one right. Here's a little help from our friend across the pond in NYC.

Many thanks to rhinoscripting guru Marc Fornes of theverymany for his coding assistance, illustrated below.

No, it's not arabic script, it's rhinoscript. 600+ panels, unrolled, nested and annotated...

a sample profile...we still need to optimize profile lengths to fit on a standard 5m x 1.2m or 3m x 1.2m Fibre-C sheets....and of course nest them for optimal material usage.
a sample of a script Marc wrote to generate a pattern for the segmentation of the surface based on subdividing the isocurves of our "host" surface.
another iteration of the same script. unfortunately, we can't use these scripts as we are now being asked to limit section profiles to be completely planar.

structural optimization...

2007-11-06T23:00:00.001Z

To optimise the structural performance, and reduce the possible range of tolerances on the joints, we are developing the pavilion as three distinct, but interwoven structures that will be spliced together:

1. Roof canopy
2. Seating
3. Deck

We have also modified the geometry and the sections so that all section cuts are now completely planar. This will help reduce the complexity and tolerances for assembling something with over 1500 joints. Still trying to get that number down too, without losing the density of the structure.

To do so, we are working on a structural pattern that will break the continuous spans of the sectional profiles shown in the images below into sectional lengths based on the standard dimensions of fibre-c panels (5mx1.2m and 3mx1.2m).

Here's a few screen shots of the revised roof geometry and sectional profiles:

a few of the other entries...

2007-11-06T12:21:00.000Z

here's a few images of some of the other entries to the DRL10 pavilion competition. The finalists are also showcased on the DRL10 site.

if anyone knows of any other entries out there, please share!!

pre-judgement day at the AA

Marc Fornes

Paulo Ernesto Flores/Feng Xu

Yeygeniy Beylkin/Elif Erdine Baskin/Margarita Valova

Danilo Arsic

Carine Cohen/Britta Knobel

Ahmad Sukkar

Cesare GriffaDavide del Giudice/Massimiliano De Leo

Lucio Santos

Richad Wang/Stephen Wang

geometry refinement....

2007-11-05T02:19:00.001Z

here's a few screen shots of the current exercises:

1. refining & rationalising the shell geometry
2. refining & rationalising the section planes

competition jury images...

2007-11-04T16:17:00.000Z

here's some images of the jurors from the DRL10 competition from AAlog.net posted from last week.

The competition was judged by:
Wolfgang Rieder, CEO, Rieder Co.
Dr Maria Pixner, Head of Innovations management, Rieder Co.
Hanif Kara, Principal, Adams Kara Taylor Associates
Brett Steele, Director, Architectural Association
Charles Walker, Architect, Zaha Hadid Architects

"From the original list of 28 entries that qualified for consideration for the competition judging, DRL staff narrowed the list down to three finalists. The announcement of a winning scheme that will be erected next February in Bedford Square will be made this weekend at AADRL.net"

"God is in the Details"

2007-11-04T15:15:00.000Z

"God is in the Details." - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Now I'm not religious, and I honestly don't know if Mies was or not. However, these words from the modernist master architect remind us that the purity and perfection of a design, lie in the beauty and elegance of it's details.

Here's a look at our first set of details from the competition stage. Not quite "God-ly", but we're working on them. The basic premise is that the entire pavilion is to be assembled by hand, with no mechanical fixings or connections. All joints are basic notch joints which slot into one another and are held together by flexing the sections into place. Neoprene gaskets are fitted in at each joint to compensate for tolerances and to help with friction.

which came first...the chicken or the egg?

2007-11-04T12:55:00.000Z

"Form Follows Function" ...or do function(s) follow form??
the continous form of the pavilion transitions from horizontal flooring...to contoured seating...to counter top...to wall...to roof...and back. as the form mutates...so does the user interaction with the pavilion.

it begins...

2007-11-02T12:23:00.000Z

Following the great news of the competition win, we now have to figure out how to build this thing. And do it within the very short time frame we have. And with a limited budget. and reasonable amount of material.

At the competition phase, we had 589 elements with over 7000 joints! We need to get those numbers down...and quickly.

7000 intersections = 7000 joints = 14000 neoprene shoes!!

So...we have started looking at reducing the density of the section profiles, and we are also looking at breaking the continuity of the cross sections as well. . Here's some images of the first version, with a material reduction of about 20%. This one is down to about 1900 intersections.

As you can see below, it's interesting to see how the density of the sections changes by your perspective. Both images are of the same density option, but are viewed from different positions.

[C]space wins the DRL10 pavilion competition!

2007-10-31T01:05:00.001Z

It's official, the [C]space pavilion wins the drl10 pavilion competition!
The official statement from DRL10: "Alan Dempsey (DRL 2002) and Alvin Huang (DRL 2004) are the winners of DRL TEN Pavilion design competition. The winning design was chosen anonymously from 28 entries by invited jurors and was selected based on the following points: constructability within a tight schedule and budget, simplicity and elegant form, effective use of material, pavilion as a continuous extension of furniture to roof structure."

The pavilion opening is tentatively set for opening on Friday 22 February 2008 in Bedford Square, London. Watch this space to follow the design development of this structure...

AADRL
AAlog
DRL10