RESUMEN
Due to the high amounts of waste generated from the building industry field, it has become essential to search for renewable building materials to be applied in wider and more innovative methods in architecture. One of the materials with the highest potential in this area is natural fibre-reinforced polymers (NFRP), which are also called biocomposites, and are filled or reinforced with annually renewable lignocellulosic fibres. This would permit variable closed material cycles' scenarios and should decrease the amounts of waste generated in the building industry. Throughout this paper, this discussion will be illustrated through a number of developments and 1:1 mockups fabricated from newly developed lignocellulosic-based biocomposites from both bio-based and non-bio-based thermoplastic and thermoset polymers. Recyclability, closed materials cycles, and design variations with diverse digital fabrication technologies will be discussed in each case. The mock-ups' concepts, materials' compositions, and fabrication methods are illustrated. In the first case study, a structural segmented shell construction is developed and constructed. In the second case study, acoustic panels were developed. The final case studies are two types of furniture, where each is developed from a different lignocellulosic-based biocomposite. All of the presented case studies show diverse architectural design possibilities, structural abilities, and physical building characteristics.
RESUMEN
As the use of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymers (NFRPs) become increasingly popular in the built environment, steps in established workflows, including molding and transportation, continue to impose constraints on what is possible in the material's fabrication process. This research builds on previous studies of moldless fiber composites using tailored fiber placement (TFP) as a fabrication method. By integrating compliant folding mechanisms into the flat preform to give shape to the final desired geometry this research replaces all dependencies on molds and formworks during the resin curing process with programmed formal deformations. The desired geometry is digitally simulated from its two-dimensional state into its resultant three-dimensional state and then subsequently structurally analyzed. The flat pack components are material efficient and can be transported flat to the site for their final assembly into their programmed geometry. This form is locked into its bent active state through the use of a simple drawstring that can later be removed to revert the form back into its flat state. This method is demonstrated through the digital fabrication of a stool where flat-packed elements can be deployed into elegant solutions that embody structure, material, and form simultaneously.
RESUMEN
The building industry needs to innovate towards a more sustainable future and can do so through a combination of more renewable material choices and less wasteful fabrication processes. To address these issues, a hybrid material and fabrication system was developed using laminated timber veneer and natural fibre-reinforced composites (NFRPs), two materials that are leveraged for their potential of strategic material placement in additive processes towards programmed material behaviour and performance. The main contribution is in the hybrid fabrication approach, using thin, bent laminated veneer as an embedded frame for coreless filament winding of NFRP, which removes the need for temporary, wasteful formwork that is typically required to achieve structurally performative bent timber or FRP elements. Integrative methods are developed for the design, simulation, and fabrication of a rocking chair prototype that illustrates the architectural potential of the developed fabrication approach.
RESUMEN
There is an essential need for a change in the way we build our physical environment. To prevent our ecosystems from collapsing, raising awareness of already available bio-based materials is vital. Mycelium, a living fungal organism, has the potential to replace conventional materials, having the ability to act as a binding agent of various natural fibers, such as hemp, flax, or other agricultural waste products. This study aims to showcase mycelium's load-bearing capacities when reinforced with bio-based materials and specifically natural fibers, in an alternative merging design approach. Counteracting the usual fabrication techniques, the proposed design method aims to guide mycelium's growth on a natural rattan framework that serves as a supportive structure for the mycelium substrate and its fiber reinforcement. The rattan skeleton is integrated into the finished composite product, where both components merge, forming a fully biodegradable unit. Using digital form-finding tools, the geometry of a compressive structure is computed. The occurring multi-layer biobased component can support a load beyond 20 times its own weight. An initial physical prototype in furniture scale is realized. Further applications in architectural scale are studied and proposed.
RESUMEN
Biomimicry is an interdisciplinary approach to study and transfer principles or mechanisms from nature to solve design challenges, frequently differentiated from other design disciplines by its particular focus on and promise of sustainability. However, in the biomimicry and biologically inspired design literature, there are varying interpretations of how and whether biomimetic designs lead to sustainable outcomes and how sustainability, nature, and mimesis are conceptualised and engaged in practice. This paper takes a particular focus on the built environment and presents a theoretical overview of biomimicry literature spanning across specific fields, namely architecture, philosophy, sustainability and design. We develop upon conceptual considerations in an effort to contribute to the growing calls in the literature for more reflective discussions about the nuanced relationship between biomimicry and sustainability. We further develop a 'Biomimicry for Sustainability' framework that synthesises recent reflective deliberations, as a possible direction for further theorisation of biomimicry, aiming to elaborate on the role of biomimicry as a sustainable design methodology and its potential to cultivate more sustainable human-nature relations. The framework is used as a tool for retrospective analysis, based on literature of completed designs, and as a catalyst for biomimetic design thinking. The objective of this paper is to serve as a point of departure for more active and deeper discussions regarding future biomimetic practice in the context of sustainability and transformational change, particularly within the built environment.
RESUMEN
Under normal conditions, the cross-sections of reinforced concrete in classic skeleton construction systems are often only partially loaded. This contributes to non-sustainable construction solutions due to an excess of material use. Novel cross-disciplinary workflows linking architects, engineers, material scientists and manufacturers could offer alternative means for more sustainable architectural applications with extra lightweight solutions. Through material-specific use of plant-based Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites (NFRP), also named Biocomposites, a high-performance lightweight structure with topology optimized cross-sections has been here developed. The closed life cycle of NFRPs promotes sustainability in construction through energy recovery of the quickly generative biomass-based materials. The cooperative design resulted in a development that were verified through a 1:10 demonstrator, whose fibrous morphology was defined by biomimetically-inspired orthotropic tectonics, generated with by the fiber path optimization software tools, namely EdoStructure and EdoPath in combination with the appliance of the digital additive manufacturing technique: Tailored Fiber Placement (TFP).
RESUMEN
Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRPs) are increasingly popular building materials, mainly because of their high strength to weight ratio. Despite these beneficial properties, these composites are often fabricated in standardized mass production. This research aims to eliminate costly molds in order to simplify the fabrication and allow for a higher degree of customization. Complex three-dimensional shapes were instead achieved by a flat reinforcement, which was resin infused and curved folded into a spatial object before hardening. Structural stability was gained through geometries with closed cross-sections. To enable this, the resource-saving additive fabrication technique of tailored fiber placement (TFP) was chosen. This method allowed for precise fibers' deposition, making a programmed anisotropic behavior of the material possible. Principles regarding the fiber placement were transferred from a biological role-model. Five functional stools were produced as demonstrators to prove the functionality and advantages of the explained system. Partially bio-based materials were applied to fabricate the stool models of natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites (NFRP). A parametric design tool for the global design and fiber layout generation was developed. As a result, varieties of customized components can be produced without increasing the design and manufacturing effort.