Reusing Timber Formwork in Building Construction: Testing, Redesign, and Socio-Economic Reflection

In 2018, the construction sector was responsible for 39% of the worldwide energy and process-related carbon dioxide emissions (Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction et al., 2019). This is partly due to the embodied carbon, which represents the carbon emissions related to building construction and material production (LETI, 2020). While...

Terra–ink additive earth manufacturing for emergency architecture

In recent years, natural disaster and military conflicts forced vast numbers of people to flee their home countries, contributing to the migration crisis we are facing today. According to the UNHCR, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide reached the highest level since World War II. Post-disaster housing is by nature diverse and...

Success factors in the realization of large ice projects in education

There has been a long tradition in making ice structures, but the development of technical improvements for making ice buildings is a new field with just a handful of researchers. Most of the projects were realized by professors in cooperation with their students as part of their education in architecture and civil engineering. The following...

Form-finding and construction of ice composite shell structures

By using inflatable moulds and then spraying cellulose-water mixture, one ice dome and two ice towers were built in Harbin in December 2016. During the whole process, form-finding of the inflatable moulds as well as the construction of these ice composite shell structures are very important for the final results.<br/>The mould for the ice dome...