Architecture, Structures and Construction最新文献

This article presents a retrospective analysis of the practice-based research project Burned & Bundled – Unfolding the Will of the Material (2022–23), which explores the tectonic potentials of reed as a sustainable building material in present construction industry. The project resulted in creating full-scale building elements displayed at the exhibition Reset Materials – Toward Sustainable Architecture at Copenhagen Contemporary 2023. The research project was driven by the imperative not to use materials that are depleting resources or affecting ecological systems negatively. Thus, reed was investigated due to its relevance as a biogenic material. The tectonic and cultural dimensions of reed applied for construction have been emphasized, aiming to uncover both the opportunities and challenges associated with using the material in present-day architecture. The experiments included traditional craft techniques such as sowing and bundling in combination with prefabrication methods, resulting in innovative façade panels and structural arches. In addition, application of natural fire retardants to the facade panels, was conducted in collaboration with the Danish Institute of Fire and Security. In sum, the research highlights reed's potentials in contemporary building practices. The article situates this research within the broader context of architectural theory, particularly examining the development of a traditional craft within the contemporary construction industry – the evolution of a craft. When designing and experimenting with reed as a contemporary material rather than a relic of the past, the project contributes to a renewed understanding of reed’s relevance in sustainable architecture, advocating for its tectonic and tactile re-integration into present-day building culture.

This paper asks how digital workflows can help enable stone reuse that can give a low-carbon, resource efficient form of construction which carries forward elements of material culture. The potential is considered for this process to inform and enable an evolved architectural language and aesthetic of structural stone that relates to the provenance of the stones used. The focus of the paper is on the development of a workflow, design and production of a prototype structural stone trabeated portal cut from building stone from an historic demolished house at St Leonard’s Hill, Berkshire. The stereotomy of the historic stones is nested from the quarried blocks that they were originally cut from, and the stereotomy of the prototype portal blocks is the next step in this sequence of nested stone (re)cutting and (re)use. In this way, as the stones cycle through the built environment, all possible future stereotomy is nested within their current forms, and as these forms diminish, so the horizon of all possible future forms narrows. This is something considered in the nesting and cutting of the stones for the prototype, with some stone faces freshly cut and some left uncut, carrying forward their past form and character. This can be understood as fitting within the broad tradition of spolia with, in this case, both resource efficiency and cultural heritage being considered in the design of the stone recutting and reuse.

The construction industry is a major contributor to global CO₂ emissions, necessitating sustainable alternatives for building materials. Additive manufacturing (AM) using wood-based composites offers an eco-friendly solution for thermal insulation applications. This study explores the thermal and mechanical properties of wood powder–carboxymethyl cellulose composites fabricated via liquid deposition modeling (LDM). Six formulations incorporating industrial wood waste from beech and oak, with varied particle sizes, were developed to evaluate their extrudability, structural stability, and insulation efficiency. Material characterization included thermal conductivity testing via the transient plane source method and compressive strength assessment following ISO standards. Results indicate that particle size and wood species significantly influence material properties. Finer wood particles yielded higher compressive strength, whereas coarser particles exhibited lower conductivity, enhancing insulation performance. The best-performing formulation (B2: beech wood, medium particle size) demonstrated a balanced thermal conductivity of 0.188 W/m·K and compressive strength of 3 MPa. To assess large-scale buildability, a 3D-printed block component (200 × 350 × 220 mm) was fabricated. A refined formulation with reduced water improved print stability, demonstrating the viability of LDM for producing rigid, lightweight insulation blocks. This research establishes a foundational understanding of AM wood composites for thermal insulation, offering insights into material formulation, printability, and structural behavior. The findings underscore the potential of bio-based AM in sustainable construction, paving the way for scalable applications of wood waste in energy-efficient building systems. Future work will focus on optimizing binder composition, refining printing strategies, and exploring reinforcement techniques to enhance mechanical properties while maintaining thermal efficiency.

The construction industry faces persistent challenges related to inefficiency, high energy consumption, and environmental impacts, necessitating innovative approaches to sustainable building practices. These challenges are further amplified in off-site construction (OSC) manufacturing of free-form components like façade panels, which demand extensive coordination, labor, and time due to their complex geometries and unique designs. This research addresses these issues by integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM) and robotic fabrication to develop a parametric methodology for optimizing façade designs in OSC. The methodology incorporates generative design to evaluate and select façade solutions based on minimizing solar radiation and façade area, while adhering to energy efficiency and sustainability criteria. A mock-up case study was used to validate the approach, utilizing BIM to generate a Building Energy Model (BEM) for energy performance analysis. The findings demonstrate significant reductions in solar radiation through the selected façade designs, highlighting the methodology’s potential to improve environmental performance. By incorporating digital fabrication and robotic manufacturing, the methodology mitigates the challenges of producing free-form components, streamlining production, reducing labor intensity, and enhancing accuracy. This research contributes a scalable framework for sustainable façade design and fabrication, advancing the efficiency and adaptability of OSC workflows.

Natural stone, recognised as one of the oldest, most resilient, and sustainable materials, has been largely overlooked in Switzerland’s transition to ecological construction methods. Current usages in architecture, often limited to facade cladding or interiors, generate considerable CO2 emissions due to intensive processing and long transport routes; however, if used in an unprocessed state, stone could achieve a markedly lower CO2 footprint. Despite its high compressive strength, only a minimal portion of the 300′000 m³ of Swiss stone extracted annually is used in load-bearing structures, with nearly 50% classified as residual waste. This research introduces two architectural strategies aimed at utilising the environmental potential of Swiss natural stone as load-bearing material. The strategies are based on observations in Swiss quarries and are introduced in this paper in four case studies, which were developed during two design studios at the ETH Zurich, Department of Architecture. The aspects extraction, processing, transportation, installation and disassembly are addressed in all four case studies. The first strategy employs large-format, minimally processed blocks, while the second incorporates residual ‘waste’. Both strategies focus on improving the efficiency of quarry operations while leveraging the ecological and aesthetic advantages of natural stone to its fullest potential.

Carefully extracting reinforced concrete (RC) elements from soon-to-be demolished structures and reusing them directly as load-bearing elements in new buildings is an emerging circular low-carbon resource-management strategy. As floor construction typically accounts for a large share of a building’s upfront carbon footprint, designing floors with reused RC elements is a promising, yet little explored, approach to lower a building’s embodied carbon. This paper presents the concept, design, construction and assessment of a new load-bearing floor system for an office building made with reused saw-cut RC pieces and reused steel profiles. The system reuses the existing properties of widely discarded construction materials – RC and steel – and is dismountable. To demonstrate the system’s technical feasibility and assess its structural and environmental performance, a 30-m² prototype – FLO:RE – is designed, built with elements reclaimed from local demolition sites, tested and finally dismantled. Reclaimed material property testing and prototype load testing confirm the structural-design safety. A Life-Cycle Assessment shows unprecedentedly low upfront embodied carbon, with results as low as 15 to 5 kgCO₂e/m², i.e., 80–94% reductions compared to conventional new RC flat slabs. This research demonstrates the untapped technical and environmental potential of reusing saw-cut RC elements in bending in structurally performant floor systems. Through this novel ultra-low-carbon solution, the study supports the efficient use of existing resources and calls for considering soon-to-be demolished RC and steel structures as potential mines of suitable quality materials ready to be reused locally.

This paper explores the potential of traditional Spanish timber roofs as a structural system that blends framework carpentry with Islamic geometric patterns for contemporary construction. By integrating historical craftsmanship with modern engineering techniques, the research investigates solutions for spherical Lazo carpentry, where Lazo, or strapwork, designs fulfill both ornamental and structural roles. A key focus is the design, analysis, and fabrication of a four-meter-span Lazo pavilion, employing polyhedral projections to form modular spherical surfaces. Structural performance is evaluated through physical tests of materials and joints leading to an exploration of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the whole structure. The project also explores the construction and disassembly of the Lazo pavilion through defining the detailing of its different joints. The findings promise applications in spatial and shell structures, such as gridshells inspired by interlaced Lazo domes, providing a roadmap for designing structural Lazo discrete shells. Collaborating with architects, engineers, and master carpenters, this research enhances understanding across geometry, carpentry, structural mechanics, timber engineering, and architectural design while laying the groundwork for further exploration of this vernacular structural craft.

The use of recycled strap plastic fibers, derived from industrial packaging waste, offers a sustainable approach to enhancing the mechanical properties of concrete while addressing environmental concerns. This study evaluated the effectiveness of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) strap fibers, sourced from industrial packaging waste, in concrete mixes. Seven groups of specimens were prepared: one control group without fibers and six groups reinforced with fibers of aspect ratios 12.5 and 25. Each fiber-reinforced group was further divided into subgroups with volume fractions of 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1%. Mechanical properties were investigated using non-destructive tests, density measurements, and destructive tests for compressive strength, tensile strength, and modulus of elasticity. The results demonstrated that shorter fibers (aspect ratio 12.5) performed better than longer ones in enhancing mechanical properties, with 0.75% fiber volume fraction identified as optimal. Improvements of approximately 35%, 16%, and 26% were observed in compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength, respectively.

This article presents part of the master’s dissertation submitted to the Graduate Program in Built Environment and Sustainable Heritage (PPGACPS) at the School of Architecture of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil. The article discusses the state of the art in scientific documentation of architectural heritage and the Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) methodology applied to damage monitoring. The presented study aims to investigate an approach for using RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) as a tool for scientific documentation, in mapping, monitoring, and conservation diagnosis protocols for architectural cultural heritage. The case study involves monitoring a crack located on the roof of the Church of São Francisco de Assis, better known as “Igrejinha da Pampulha,” an iconic work of modern Brazilian architecture, located in Belo Horizonte, MG. The method involved photogrammetry techniques performed with RPA, analysis of digital images through binarization techniques and pixel recognition in Raster images. It concludes that the methodology can be effective for damage monitoring on larger scales. In the case study, the Ground Sampling Distance (GSD) ratio generated a 2 × 2 cm pixel, resulting in an error of two square centimeters in crack monitoring through matrix data analysis, which can be altered with a higher resolution camera and a lower flight height. The main result is a methodological proposal for monitoring cracks in the dome of the studied building. The main conclusion is that the methodology is effective, especially when applied to large-scale objects, such as dam monitoring. It is recommended that in future inspections, if the same equipment is used, the flight should be conducted at a shorter distance from the object of study. The study demonstrates the potential of digital surveying performed by RPA as well as the HBIM methodology as a form of documentation, extroversion, and management of architectural cultural heritage.

Concrete manufacturing heavily depletes natural resources, posing serious environmental challenges. At the same time, vast amounts of global waste are growing increasingly harmful to ecosystems. Recently, construction experts have sought to produce “green” concrete by incorporating agricultural and industrial waste, aiming to reduce the sector’s substantial environmental impact. Cement production, in particular, is an energy-intensive process involving high-temperature chemical transformations that bind raw materials. Replacing Portland cement with industrial waste can reduce environmental damage and foster social, economic, and ecological benefits, all crucial for sustainable growth. Moreover, the extraction of aggregates—mainly sand and gravel—accelerates erosion in river deltas and coastal areas, impacting marine and riverine habitats. Using alternative materials and substitutes can mitigate these effects, supporting ethical construction practices that lessen environmental strain. This review compiles 100 scholarly studies on waste-based concrete, categorizing 70 as using industrial materials and 30 as using agricultural resources. The findings evaluate waste material effects on concrete’s density, tensile strength, flexural strength, compressive strength, durability and slump workability. Results indicate that different types of waste influence these properties uniquely, suggesting a nuanced approach to green concrete development based on material type.