IAAC Blog » practise fabrication

PRACTISE FABRICATION // LIGHTWEIGHT STRUCTURES 1:1 // day 4 to 6

admin — Thu, 22 May 2014 07:00:43 +0000

Practise Fabrication // Lightweight Structures 1:1 Seminar, development continues….

PRACTISE FABRICATION // BRICK WORKS THIN-TILE VAULT // day 6 & 7

admin — Wed, 21 May 2014 20:35:22 +0000

On the last scheduled day on the site, a big effort was made to finish the first layer of bricks, in order for the pavilion to obtain structural integrity and the steel rods to be removed. The weather slowed things down, as varying humidity conditions affected with the behaviour of the fast-setting concrete mixture, while at times rain made it impossible to work on the site. Students and stuff put a lot of effort, while becoming acquainted with this unique catalan technique. Once more, the day ended with a big barbeque. The pavilion is not yet complete, which means more visits will be paid to the site until the completion of the structure.

PRACTISE FABRICATION // BRICK WORKS THIN-TILE VAULT // day 4 & 5

admin — Mon, 19 May 2014 20:44:49 +0000

Days four and five of the Brick Works Thin-Tile Vault Seminar – both days on the site at the Valldaura Self Sufficient Labs – kicked off with a collective effort to finish mounting the Laser-cut cardboard pieces that were used as guides for the construction process. These were attached to the wooden formwork. The steel frame and foundations were then set, and the cardboard guides removed, to give way to the beginning of the brick laying phase. Thin bricks are starting to be laid, held in place with the help of the steel rod structure, and fast setting concrete. Once the first layer of bricks is in place, the metal substructure will be removed, and two more layers of bricks will be placed, finally leading to the completion of the structure in question.

PRACTISE FABRICATION // ROBOTIC MICRO CARPENTRY // day 1 & 2

admin — Sun, 18 May 2014 20:00:25 +0000

The Practise Fabrication // Robotic Micro Carpentry Seminar, led by Tom Pawlofsky – ETH – with Alexandre Dubor and Sofoklis Giannakopoulos, explores the KUKA robot as a multi-tool, micro factory.

The aim is to give an introduction to robotic fabrication, focusing on setting up processes and tools to be used with the robot. The students are learning and practicing how to teach and offline program the robot’s movements and tool-paths. In fact the first couple of days of the workshop have been dedicated to the student’s understanding and manipulation (manually moving the robot) of the Kuka Robot.

The ambitious objective of the Seminar is to mass-produce wooden chairs, where the robot will handle all steps, from shaping the elements to applying the connections, with the aim of integrating digital planing and production into traditional craft.

PRACTISE FABRICATION // LIGHTWEIGHT STRUCTURES 1:1 // day 1 to 3

admin — Sat, 10 May 2014 13:28:05 +0000

The Practise Fabrication // Lightweight Structures 1:1 Seminar, led by Silvia Brandi and Rodrigo Rubio, with the collaboration of Pepe Ballesteros (Prototipolab) and Maria Kupstova, is focused on the digital fabrication of lightweight 1:1 scale spatial installations, based on the expertise of Experimental Structures, and the further development of some concepts proposed in Public Space Capsules Seminar from Term 2.

The aim of the Seminar is to realize lightweight spatial installations (embedding textile materials) that are demountable, digitally fabricated, and eventually performative.

The students have formed 4 different groups, each one working on a different structural prototype implementation. In these first 3 days of the seminar each group worked their concept design, testing the structural capacities through the production of small scale prototypes.

The course counts on the collaboration of the company SERGE FERRARI, an international producer of flexible composite materials and membranes of high performances for architecture, who will provide the material for the construction.

PRACTISE FABRICATION // BRICK WORKS THIN-TILE VAULT // day 3

admin — Fri, 09 May 2014 09:58:20 +0000

Day three of the Brick Works Thin-Tile Vault Seminar – and second day on the site – kicked off with a collective effort to finish the wooden formwork. Once finished, the wooden formwork was carried and installed to the site, a process that required a lot of manual labour. Laser-cut cardboard pieces that will be used as guides for the construction process were then attached to the wood. The concrete foundations were laid, always keeping in mind the protection of the soil, as the site is situated in the heart of the Collserola natural park. Sheets of plastic were introduced before the concrete was poured, in order to prevent contamination.

After a full day of hard work, students and staff set up a sunday barbecue in the Masia terrace, while the sun was setting behind Montserrat.

Most preparations are now over and construction with bricks can start in the next session, a week from now.

PRACTISE FABRICATION // BRICK WORKS THIN-TILE VAULT // day 2

admin — Wed, 07 May 2014 13:04:11 +0000

Day 2 of the Brick Works Thin-Tile Vault Seminar was and intense and productive day at the Valldaura Self-Sufficient Labs.

The day started out with recycling wood for the formwork necessary to accomplish the structure, that was later assembled. The group of students and tutors also dug the soil for the foundations, then laying out the plastic protection for the soil.

Construction will start on Day 3, so stay tuned for the next steps.

PRACTISE FABRICATION // BRICK WORKS THIN-TILE VAULT

admin — Mon, 05 May 2014 08:00:52 +0000

IaaC, in collaboration with Map13 Architects: Marta Domenech, David Lopez, Mariana Palumbo, and BLOCK Research Group, ETH Zurich, are happy to announce the inauguration of an intensive, 2 week-long workshop where a team of 27 Students will design and contruct a thin-tile vault in our forest campus in Valldaura.

Advanced digital tools along with traditional century-old Catalan masonry techniques will be deployed in the process, with students seeking to re-engineer, compute, and eventually construct a Vault in the forest.

IaaC is also furthering this research investigating in the field of advanced robotic fabrication techniques towards the implementation and automization of these complex catalan vault forms.