My name is Evan, i'm a colleague of Kyle's and an MSc candidate in the Emergent Technologies and Design Programme at the AA School of Architecture. I've been doing a bit of work with form-active tension systems and hope I can pose a few questions for you to think about while developing your membrane structure:
1. Material behavior - How does the material chosen behave when stressed? For a form-active tension system to work, the surface should be effectively at zero tension - all forces in the system are spread evenly throughout, and the surface is free of folds, creases, etc. The behavior of a membrane system is specific to its parameters, especially the material of the membrane. The only way to find this out is by physical experimentation. And keep in mind, material does not scale linearly, so you want to play with membranes at a comfortable scale, but test the material system 1:1.
2. Connecting the membrane to a compressive member - I assume the membrane is being anchored by posts somehow, but how do the two components meet? Your drawings show a bungee cord connection, but how does the elasticity of the cord affect the overall tension in the system? How do two elastic materials co-exist in a system where stresses are carefully calculated? How can you keep the system at minimal tension if you cannot calibrate the vectors of forces at the connections?
3. I would urge you all to push the configuration of the system. Membranes are extremely interesting, and there isn't a great deal of work out there being done with them. Why connect four corners to four points? What would happen if two membranes connect to each other? how does that point get negotiated in space, and how can that inform the vector forces at other connection points? There is a huge amount of research that can be done on form-active tension systems, and it could be very valuable to experiment with these systems.
You should take a look at Frei Otto's work [books IL23, IL24, IL25]. He has done extensive research in form-finding, including minimal tension surfaces. It could inform your work and give you a good starting point to push your research. Also look at the numerous stadia built with membrane roofs, the work of Heinz Isler, and the recent installation at the Frac Center in Orlean by Ocean North. I've also added a few images of work being done in the EmTech programme with form-active tension systems and how they may be applied [they led to a cable-net bridge construction in patagonia, chile] to get you guys started.
Feel free to contact me with any questions at evanlgreenberg@gmail.com
Good luck!
best_
evan
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment