Digital Building Blocks: Tallinn Art Biennale pavilion a methodology for multistate structural design
- Submitting institution
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Royal College of Art(The)
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- vandeWorp1
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
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- Location
- Various, International
- Brief description of type
- Single output with contextual information
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2017
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This research rethinks structural design in terms of lifelong transformations and efficiency of elements. It showcases the first-of-its-kind multistate design using timber elements. The work provides a new framework for structural analysis that goes beyond standard design codes by resolving the reuse of structural components over multiple service lives.
The research defines not a standard static structural solution, but a range of possibilities with structural variations. Flexibility is enabled by the way elements form larger assemblies that can adapt their structural role within a larger system. These elements are not defined as beams or columns as in conventional structures, but as basic discrete elements designed to function in various clusters and respond to changing forces. These clusters inform the design of the “blocks” and assemblies as well as the domain the elements can be used in – i.e. spans and positions in the structural system.
Comprehensive structural testing provided insights into the required connection designs and verification of their performance to permit blocks to be easily repositioned and transfer different types of loading. Feedback loops using new digital tools and physical methods to assess the scale of the element, cluster and domain validated the uncodified element and the method of design. This resulted in three distinctly different pavilion configurations over time while reusing the same discrete structural elements. The process involved 30 design iterations and built on knowledge gained from 5 related earlier projects.
The project studies efficiency, which is typically based on the minimal use of materials over the expected lifetime of a building, but also considers the problems of growth, disassembly and rebuilding. The design is thus for an evolving sustainable LONG LIFE performance that extends beyond the static measure of single material use, developing a modular system that completely redefines the notion of structural economy.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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