Flexible Formwork: A Textile-Centric Approach: Investigating pattern influence on the deformation behavior of weft-knitted textiles under hydrostatic loading

Traditional methods of building with concrete are materially wasteful, highly polluting, and often structurally inefficient. The vast global consumption of concrete plays a large role in the construction industry’s negative effects on the environment, necessitating a significant change in the way we design and build with concrete. The fluid...

Reclaimed Concrete Use in Double-Curved, Compression-Only Structures: Design and Evaluation

Cement production is responsible for 8% of the anthropogenic CO2 emissions [1]. Reducing this share will be a strenuous task as the global population and urbanization rates are increasing and, therefore, the need for concrete will remain high [2], [3]. Simultaneously, despite the alarming statistic, a vast majority of demolished concrete...

Flexibly formed concrete: Exploiting the deformation behaviour of weft-knitted formworks caused by concrete pressure

To reduce the construction industry’s negative influence on global climate, emissions related to concrete consumption need to be addressed. This implies reducing the amount concrete used, by creating material-efficient structures. One of concrete’s main advantages is that it can be moulded into virtually any shape. Despite the fact that modern...

counterAKT: Design of a two-component passive dynamic sunshade combining shape memory alloys and knitted textile

To lessen our influence on the environment, we are moving towards solutions that can meet our needs of shelter, nutrition, mobility, communication, and health with little to no energy or resources. In the construction industry, adaptive façades have gained attention for their capacity to adapt to changing conditions. These façades can modify...

3D knitting for transformable, load-bearing structures

This research-through-design explores 3D knitting for load-bearing, transformable structures using a Material-Driven Design approach. 3D knitting is a low-waste textile production method that allows for highly adaptable designs and an iterative design process. Current literature is studied in various domains, exhibiting the knowledge gap on...

Development of a novel thermal insulation system for building envelope application

The building sector is responsible for 38% of global energy and process-related greenhouse gas emissions. In recent decades, a rapid increase in energy consumption in buildings has been witnessed, making energy reduction a pressing issue. Thermal insulation systems, that can operate dynamically in response to changing transient conditions, by...

Balancing design and circularity: Optimizing the reuse of steel elements in the design of frame structures

The steel sector is responsible for 4-5% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Reusing structural steel elements can potentially decrease the need for the production of new steel. However, designing a load-bearing structure with reusable elements poses challenges to the design process. The starting point of the process is different...

A computational study on the application of efficient dual structural systems for achieving desirable comfort levels in timber high-rise structures

A Quantitative Comparison of the Material-Use for a Form Found and a Conventional Concrete Pedestrian Bridge

Concrete is the most used building material in the world. Its success can be linked back to its mouldability, durability and low cost. Unfortunately, current conventional concrete pedestrian bridge designs do not benefit from these key features and still require bulky shaped cross-sections, whereby part of the concrete does not contribute to the...

Structural Solar Textile: Design & Analysis of Woven Solar Cell-Integrated Textile For Textile Architecture Application

Efficient utilization of energy generation techniques is gaining more prominence in the design and engineering of built structures. One of the most established techniques used is through solar energy-harnessing via photovoltaic technology. In this research, integrating photovoltaics is further explored in the textile architecture domain to...