Form-Finding

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Expanding Bending-Active Bamboo…

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Conference Paper: Peer Reviewed

Expanding Bending-Active Bamboo Gridshell Structures’ Design Solution Space Through Hybrid Assembly Systems

by Ma C. Y., Chan Y. Y. and Crolla K.

ABSTRACT | This paper discusses the development and testing of a novel design method for the low-tech construction of bending-active bamboo gridshell structures. It expands this typologys current design solution space by combining and building up on two common production methods for light-weight shell structures: 1) the lay-up method, typically used in bamboo architecture in which members are added one at a time, and 2) the flatbed method, in which a prefabricated equidistant flat grid without shear rigidity is propped up and deformed into its final doubly curved shape. The novel methodology expands the systems design solution space by incorporating singularities within the grid topology and by layering multiple separate grids. This allows for spatially radically different building geometries without loss of implementation workflow efficiency. A demonstrator design project, tested through a large-scale prototype model, is described to illustrate the possible spatially engaging architectural design opportunities presented by the novel approach.

KEYWORDS | Bending-active structures; Bamboo architecture; Shell structures; Low-tech fabrication; Form finding

DOWNLOAD | http://papers.cumincad.org/data/works/att/caadria2021_333.pdf

CITATION | Ma, Chun Yu, Jennifer Chan Yan Yu and Kristof Crolla, “Expanding Bending-Active Bamboo Gridshell Structures’ Design Solution Space Through Hybrid Assembly Systems”, in A. Globa, J. van Ameijde, A. Fingrut, N. Kim, T.T.S. Lo (eds.), PROJECTIONS – Proceedings of the 26th CAADRIA Conference – Volume 1, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Online, Hong Kong, 29 March – 1 April 2021, pp. 331-340

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SmartNodes Pavilion – Towards …

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Conference Paper: Peer reviewed

SmartNodes Pavilion – Towards custom-optimized nodes applications in construction

by Crolla K., Williams N., Burry J., Muehlbauer M.

ABSTRACT |Recent developments in Additive Manufacturing are creating possibilities to make not only rapid prototypes, but directly manufactured customised components. This paper investigates the potential for combining standard building materials with customised nodes that are individually optimised in response to local load conditions in non-standard, irregular, or doubly curved frame structures. This research iteration uses as a vehicle for investigation the SmartNodes Pavilion, a temporary structure with 3D printed nodes built for the 2015 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture in Hong Kong. The pavilion is the most recent staged output of the SmartNodes Project. It builds on the findings in earlier iterations by introducing topologically constrained node forms that marry the principals of the evolved optimised node shape with topological constraints imposed to meet the printing challenges. The 4m high canopy scale prototype structure in this early design research iteration represents the node forms using plastic Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM).

KEYWORDS |Digital Fabrication; Additive Manufacturing; File to Factory; Design Optimisation; 3D Printing for Construction

DOWNLOAD | http://papers.cumincad.org/cgi-bin/works/paper/caadria2017_031

CITATION | Crolla, Kristof, Williams Nicholas, Burry Jane, and Muehlbauer Manuel. “SmartNodes Pavilion – Towards custom-optimized nodes applications in construction”. in P. Janssen, P. Loh, A. Raonic, M. A. Schnabel (eds.), Protocols, Flows and Glitches, Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) 2017, Hong Kong, pp.467 – 476

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Building Indeterminacy Modelling …

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Conference Paper: Peer reviewed

Building Indeterminacy Modelling – Computational Design And Low-Tech Construction Of A Hong Kong Bamboo Grid-Shell

by Crolla K. and Fingrut A.

ABSTRACT | This paper discusses the ‘ZCB Bamboo Pavilion’ as a case study for the computational design and building information modelling of structures where both applied materials and available craftsmanship are highly unpredictable in terms of accuracy and precision. The ‘ZCB Bamboo Pavilion’ is a thirty metres spanning, light-weight, and bending-active gridshell, completed in Hong Kong in September 2015 as a public event space. It is built from unprocessed bamboo poles, hand tied together according to traditional Cantonese bamboo scaffolding craftsmanship, and covered with tensile fabric.

The paper begins by describing the geometrically complex and structurally high-performing project, and illustrates the low-tech context in which it was realised. Built from flexible components, the pavilion’s tectonic system is a diagrid shell structure that folds down into three large hollow columns. It was developed using physics simulation engines and physical model prototyping. The bamboo used has widely varying geometric, dimensional, and performative properties, and the scaffolding industry, on whose principles it was based, does not use conventional architectural drawings for its intuitive construction, creating a highly indeterminate and complex field of operation.
Next, the paper discusses the building information modelling protocols put in place to respond to indeterminacies. It discusses the digital design models, the abstractions, and the assumptions that were strategically applied when developing the singular digital design proposal. The paper examines ways in which the digital modelling environment played an ongoing role in design as new refined data was added to the system. It then covers the construction documentation and annotation information that were used for onsite approximation.
The paper then discusses Hong Kong’s building code and architectural practice with respect to indeterminacy. The ‘ZCB Bamboo Pavilion’ highlights how conservative local building cultures can move towards more effective incorporation of natural materials. The paper concludes by discussing the necessity for digital design practice to proactively operate within a field of real-world indeterminacy. Risk, probability, and ambiguity are to be strategically balanced out against idealized digital set-ups and design priorities.

KEYWORDS | High-tech versus Low-tech; Protocol for Error; Bamboo Architecture; Bending-active Gridshell; Form-finding; ZCB Bamboo Pavilion; Participatory Action Research; Reflective Practice

DOWNLOAD | http://www.see.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/seeit/icccbe2016/Proceedings/Full_Papers/049-181.pdf

CITATION |Crolla, Kristof, and Fingrut Adam. “Building Indeterminacy Modelling – Computational Design And Low-Tech Construction Of A Hong Kong Bamboo Grid-Shell”, Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computing in Civil and Building Engineering (ICCCBE 2016), 8 pgs., Osaka, Japan, July, 2016, 389-397

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Dragon Skin Pavilion. In ed. by …

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Book Chapter

Dragon Skin Pavilion. In ed. by Anderson Lee (ed.), “Learning From Tri-Ciprocal Cities”

by Crolla K., Delagrange S., Keskisarja E., and Tynkkynen P.

ABSTRACT |The Dragon Skin Pavilion was a proposal for an architectural art installation that explored the spatial, tactile, and material possibilities offered today by revolutions in digital fabrication and manufacturing technology. It inspired passers-by to revaluate and reimagine what defines the space we live in today if tomorrow’s technologies were combined with industries of the past. The installation was a highly experimental temporary structure, designed from 163 unique pieces of post-formable plywood, a new environmentally friendly material.

KEYWORDS | Dragon Skin Pavilion; Hong Kong Shenzhen Biennale; CNC; Building Simplexity; Post-formable Plywood; Affect

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Dragon Skin Pavilion. In ed. by Anderson Lee (ed.), “Learning From Tri-Ciprocal Cities.pdf

CITATION |Crolla, Kristof, Delagrange Sebastien, Keskisarja Emmi, and Tynkkynen Pekka. “Dragon Skin Pavilion”. In ed. by Anderson Lee (ed.), “Learning From Tri-Ciprocal Cities”, Hong Kong: ORO Editions, 2014, pp.150-152