At the confluence of design by nature and structural design

Abstract

The main objective of this graduation is to find a new structural principle that is emulated by the design by nature. Observing, analysing and transforming the natural design principles and laws could derive a new application in the field of structural design. There are many concepts, approaches and directions to translate biology to architecture. The way to get from biological observations, to physical phenomena, describing these mathematically in the hope to come up with an integrative innovative structural principle for architecture is done through different levels of mimicry.

The observation phase led to a categorisation of biological processes into physical phenomena. It is a necessity to mention that firstly, the twelve phenomena are definitely not the only twelve and secondly, these twelve are not in a specific order or hierarchy. Some phenomena overlap others. To come up with a proper design direction based on natural examinations, a transformation methodology is proposed based on partial mimicry. Every level has its unique grade of abstraction. In the end, after having walked through all the separate levels of the methodology, the derived information will form the basis for the design direction. There are various ways to interpret the methodology. Looping, skipping, going back a few steps or even starting at a totally different level can therefore often be very useful, resulting in more in depth concepts.

The combination of the physical phenomena ‘minimal surface’ and ‘fractals’ formed the basis for my design concept. These phenomena were translated into architectural forms; the anticlastic ruled surface and the branching structure. An anticlastic ruled surface is a negatively double curved surface that can be described using straight lines. This is called a ‘hyperbolic paraboloid’ - in short ‘hypar’. The branching structure is based on the natural fractal of a tree. A split of the main ‘trunk’ is called an iteration. A branching structure defines itself by having one, two, three or even four or more iterations.

Using nature as inspiration combined with mathematics enables us to come up with structurally rational designs. These rational designs are because of its simplicity appropriate for smart solutions on detailing as well. Besides, the research on the structural performance of natural dendriforms contributed to the sustainable development in such a way that material usage was minimized. Ludwig Glaeser rightfully state in his book on the work of Frei Otto that by applying his minimal theories to support elements and space frames, Otto arrived at lighter structures by reducing the buckling lengths of their compression members. This reducement of buckling lengths is also applied to branching structures.

The design development was done one the branching connections, the assembly of the structural components and the water management of the structure. After having elaborated on these facets briefly, the next step was the building method. There are basically three stages when it comes to the building method. The prefabrication off-site, the transportation to the site, and the assembly on-site. For the stage of assembly a so called ‘method statement’ with building sequence is visualised. Finally, the detailling was done, incorporating the design functionalities and the desired design freedom.

There is still a lot to gain from our observations towards nature and phenomena that are all around us. With both of the selected phenomena separately several structures are built and have been proven to work. However the final product of this graduation project; ‘an anticlastic surfaced roof supported by a fractal-like branching structure’ has never been done before and therefore the main objective proposed in the beginning is achieved.