I have just submitted my Design Studio Integrated Technology C (DSIT C) report. This is the second component that makes up the MArch2 Technology module, and thus concludes my Technology studies on this course.
Compared to the DSIT B component from last semester, this had a much freer brief. Essentially, the brief was to pick one technological element of our project and study it in detail. I elected to conduct a study of the construction process of my process: growing bamboo, cutting it, bracing it, applying fabric formwork, casting on top of it, and then striking the formwork.
Extract from the first chapter, looking at the mechanical properties of bamboo and finding the most appropriate species to use
Keith Andrews was particularly keen on two things that we should do, regardless of what our focus was on – to directly engage with the industry within which we were investigating, and to carry out our own testing, ideally physically, or otherwise through computer simulation.
In terms of industry engagement, I have had discussions with a number of structural engineers. Of particular relevance was my conversation with Chris Matthews, as he has experience of working with bamboo, and this definitely had a large impact on that area of my research.
As for undertaking my own primary research through testing, I was well positioned, as this has been my methodology for studio as well as technology for much of the project. The COVID-19 lockdown of university was a small setback in this regard, but I managed to get four full days in the workshop in the last week that it was open, as I was anticipating the closure of the facilities. I then also managed to conduct some tests from my flat, after I bought 10 kg of plaster from the workshop when I found out that they were definitely closing!
I've covered most of the physical models in earlier blog-posts, as I was doing them, so I won't recap those here. I also carried out some virtual tests in Grasshopper which went alongside some of these.
I structured the report in chapters of chronological order of the stages of the construction process, and then the final chapter brought all of these elements together and also covered the striking the formwork method. This final chapter brought the process together through two main methods. One was the 1:10 physical model of a column, and the process of creating that and striking the falsework and formwork, which has already been detailed in an earlier blog-post. The accompanying method to this was a series of phased sections, shown in the animation below.
Construction process section sequence
Reflection
I have found carrying out DSIT C to be a really enjoyable experience, probably one of the favourite components of this masters.
I definitely feel like taking a very physical testing based approach was a good decision. The different fabric material tests are beautiful 1:1 studies, and the tensioned models have been useful for thinking about what sorts of vaulted spaces can be created. Finally, the 1:10 column model is going to be a useful object to have to photograph and then feed into my final drawings and visuals.
Most importantly, doing this detailed study has led to me fully resolving the construction system and process for my project. The main parts of this are demonstrated in the section sequence above, and further detail on how each of these individual steps occurs can be found in the main DSIT C report.
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