A memory made of material

The model is the building that we architects build. We vary its qualities to test the building we seek to represent. But, what happens when the object of investigation turns into the model itself? Based on active bending behavior, this project aims to question the traditional way from where the model impacts the design process.

A conical hybrid structure, made up of sheet fabric and bicycle spokes flexed on it, has found its balance after joining the corresponding membrane segments together and accommodating its lower perimeter on the ground. This prototype of 6 kg of weight and 1700 liters of volume corresponds to the second fabric tensegrity ever built and the first one made with fringed bars and conical vaults. The hybrid material that composes it is obtained by prestressing the sheet fabric with a bicycle spoke rig, acting as compression arches - the first instance of active bending - acquiring flexural resistance in two orthogonal directions. Then, by matching the segments of the cutting pattern, the surface is erected with vaults that tend to to conical shapes - the second instance of active bending. The next prototype, that test a livable scale, weighs 25 kg, covers a volume of 50m3 and is built using 52 fabric quadrants of 2m2 and 1012 fiberglass rods. Advocating the validity of a physical and material approach in the formulation of an architectural project, the research that led to this rich and complex result, paradoxically began with the most simple possible for the material behavior it pursues: a rod flexed on itself. In this way, by simplifying the model, the variables at stake became visible, so that it became possible to produce iterative variations with ease as the exploratory development from them began. Architectural program today si apparently an inescapable paradigm. However, this project is based on a disciplinary field that today recalls a critical discipline position. The possible projects developed are translations of existing commissions, with whom this project seeks to speculate. Retractable structures, translucent membranes, moving shells that exploit the qualities of its forming system as an enclosure and roof that dye its interiors with a diffuse and dim light. Not only their structures remain, but also the remembrance of the atmospheres built under their roofs and the time invested on their production. At the end there is a memory enriched by carefully observing and working with material.