Circular City (RSA)
Amar Gudhka
Contents
Brief
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Research 10 Pavilions 10 Materials Structure Build Newspaper Rolls Rolls Joining Systems
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Structure Development Spans & Parabolas Pentakis Dodecahedron Construction Development
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“Design the built environment for flexibility and zero waste” Brief Design a structure or other element of the built environment that can be easily disassembled or reconfigured to meet different functional requirements and helps to eliminate construction waste.
Scope For the purposes of illustration only, the following would all be viable responses: – a modular house that can be reconfigured to suit different spatial needs over time – a prefabricated workspace that can change according to different usage patterns – a pavilion that can be quickly assembled and dissembled for use at festivals and other temporary events for a range of activities – a textile installation that can be rearranged to change the character of a space or building – a bus or other transport shelter that can be erected in various locations with differing site requirements ... and many others are possible.
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Background
Current levels of raw construction material usage in the UK are unsustainable. The problem is particularly acute for certain key materials where demand far exceeds current sustainable supply levels. Like many developed countries, the UK economy is highly dependent on several “at risk” materials and resource security is rapidly rising up the agenda for government and business alike. Current manufacturing and waste management practices mean that valuable construction materials and resources end up in landfill or, where recycled, often result in damage to the environment and loss in potential value. Around 420 million tonnes of materials are used by the UK construction industry each year, and approximately 120 million tonnes become waste. Construction and demolition waste forms a significant contribution to landfill. Waste can account for a massive 2-3% of construction cost, impacting significantly on profit margins. The UK construction industry is responsible for 32% of landfill waste whilst the production and transportation of construction materials are estimated to use 6% of UK energy. Designers, engineers and architects consciously or unconsciously determine approximately 80% of a product’s environmental impact through their design decisions. This brief asks you to design an element of the built environment that can be adapted, reconfigured, or disassembled to accommodate more than one activity or use with the overall aim of reducing construction waste and the need for raw materials. To address these challenges around resource and energy efficiency and waste reduction new policies are being introduced, such as the requirement to have a Demolition and Site Clearance Materials Management Plan and yearly increases in landfill tax. Nonetheless, a big shift in thinking is required to improve our resilience to material shortages and create better, future proofed structures – houses, workplaces, community buildings, etc
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The path of ‘green’ or ‘sustainable building is well trodden. The focus here is set on reducing construction waste through best practice by designing in adaptive reuse from the outset. In addition, it offers an opportunity to employ innovative and sustainable construction materials and products and to think about overall energy performance of buildings and other structures. As part of your research, you should consider the following as much as possible: – material durability and lifespan – need for material maintenance – use of renewable and/or recycled construction materials – usability and functionality – waste output from reconfiguration or disassembly – cooling needs and possibilities for passive cooling – carbon footprint – low VOC paints and materials – lighting requirements – water consumption – insulation requirements – overall footprint of the material supply chain Consider that a typical new build house of 80sqm creates 15.36 sqm of waste material or five skips (9.6 tonnes) in its construction. This costs £6715 per house (£5439 in the cost of lost materials alone) (source BRE). England built 128,680 new houses in 2010 (communities.gov) that’s 1,976,500 sqm of waste in 2010. An additional 26 million tonnes of demolition waste is created each year, mostly hardcore. This is made up of concrete, aggregates, glass, bricks and blocks. The building industry has been quick to increase recycling rates and re-use where possible. The current recycling rate of demolition waste is 80% and although high, hides the fact that the it is usually low grade recycling value that sends a good brick or a concrete foundation into rubble.
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Burnham Pavilion The first of two temporary pavilions for Chicago’s Millennium Park, UNStudio’s Burnham Pavilion resembles a sleek polycarbonate dance platform, illuminated in brightly colored lights after dark. The pavilion is supported by two swooping central structures, giving the illusion of a floating platform.
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DIY Reykjavik Pavilion The DIY Reykjavik pavilion is a temporary installation designed by Arnaldur Scram and Simon Stigsby of New York-based design firm Shift. Constructed with one thousand aluminum triangles, each varying in size, shape, fold, and configuration, the pavilion was designed and processed through a variety of 3D software, laser-cut then folded and riveted by hand. Aluminum was deliberately chosen due to its unique structural challenges, its abundance and recyclability. 13
Earthquake’s Homeless The central feature of Ming Tang project is the development of a temporary shelter for the homeless people, a kinetic structure that exhibits characteristics of umbrella and folded fans, with the potential of arranging themselves into various contexts and dwelling requirements. Ming Tang named it as Bamboo + paper House, a self reconstructive structure for instant installations. The Bamboo house used traditional local material and implemented geometry elements in a way that would allow structures to transform and reform themselves. It is composed of paper fibers, water, and cement can be used for a variety of construction applications. The light weight paper house can be pre-assembled in the factory, folded into a small package, loaded into a truck for transportation.
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Living Pavilion The Living Pavilion, designed by Ann Ha and Behrang Behin,is a low-tech, zero-impact structure that makes use of reclaimed milk crates as a framework where a green wall can be grown. The pavilion’s construction has been kept simple and modular. Relying on commonly available materials for assembly, the pavilion will provide a shaded area away from direct heat, which will be kept cool by the evaporation from its planted surface.
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Zero Emission Pavilion This glowing green pavilion made of seasonal wood cuttings was built for the third annual Climate Week in Hamburg, where it embodied the event’s ethos in an eye-catching architectural installation. Berlin-based partnerundpartner was asked to design the pavilion as an example of a sustainable temporary structure that utilized Cradle to Cradle design principles. Accordingly, all of the materials that made up the structure were either returned or recycled after it was taken down. Seasonal wood cuttings from nearby forests were used to create the exterior of the pavilion, which glowed green at night, and except for the transport of the materials, the entire building was operated with zero emissions.
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“There has been a huge increase in the numbers of free newspapers being left on trains; typically 9.5 tonnes are picked off trains each day now, compared with 3 tonnes in the past,” said Tube Lines. The Guardian, 10 December 2007.
“From 6 October, six stations on the Underground network will trial specially designed recycling bins featuring both the Metro and London Underground logos, along with the slogan “Recycle your newspaper here” 3 October 2008.
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Newspaper roll joining Testing different ways of joining each of the newspper tubes together. Using screws required drilling a hold through each tube joint, and although this didnt affect the material strength the tightening of the screws meant that the tubes became deformed at the roll ends.
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Joining newspaper rolls Using a smaller tube insde the original rolls as a join system faired much better than the use of screws. The joints were much stronger due to the lack of deformation at the corners, thus giving the overall structure increased strength.
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Sci-Tie, Sci Solutions Ltd There is a substantial gap in the market regarding biodegradable cable tie products. Current manufacturing techniques is holding this aspect of the design back. Biodegradable plastics do not flow as well as normal plastics in injection moulding and is preventing manufacture by this method. Sci-Tie’s design and method is the only one in the world capable of creating a biodeagradable cable tie on a mass production. Sci-Tie’s have many advantages over their non-biodegradable competition including the fact that the biodegradable cable tie that does not degrade until entering the soil, the ability to connect many together and to have a locking texture on both sides. 33
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Strength Testing There is a substantial gap in the market regarding biodegradable cable tie products. Current manufacturing techniques is holding this aspect of the design back. Biodegradable plastics do not flow as well as normal plastics in injection moulding and is preventing manufacture by this method. Sci-Tie’s design and method is the only one in the world capable of creating a biodeagradable cable tie on a mass production. Sci-Tie’s have many advantages over their non-biodegradable competition including the fact that the biodegradable cable tie that does not degrade until entering the soil, the ability to connect many together and to have a locking texture on both sides. 35
Geodesic Dome A geodesic dome is a spherical or partial-spherical shell structure or lattice shell based on a network of great circles, also knows as geodesics, on the surface of a sphere. The geodesics intersect to form triangular elements that have local triangular rigidity and also distribute the stress across the structure. When completed to form a complete sphere, it is a geodesic sphere. A dome is enclosed, unlike open geodesic structures such as playground climbers.
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Eden Project Eden’s designers attached pillows together to form geodesic domes. In this sort of structure, many flat panels, formed into triangles, pentagons, hexagons or other polygons, are pieced together to form a curved surface. The design is remarkable because none of the individual pieces are curved at all, but they come together to form a rounded structure. Each pillow is attached to a web of interlocking steel tubes. Each dome actually has two web layers, one with hexagonal and pentagonal panels and one with triangular panels. The total Eden structure uses 625 hexagons, 16 pentagons and 190 triangles.
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Importance of Shadows One of my favourite architects is Sir Norman Foster, and my proposed structure wanted to emulate some of his ideas. I wanted to experiment with the use of shadows to create a space, by using a spaceframe structure with no coverings so that the frame creates the shadows. A great example of this is The British Museum, where the donut shaped roof creates an intricate shadow lattice with its triangular spaceframe structure.
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Pentakis Dodecahedron This structural idea was based on the deconstruction of a Pentakis Dodecahedron the make a tent-likke form. When unopened the ball structure is very strong - the structural stength is in the corners and every corner is joined up to a minimum of 5 struts,hence increasing the overall strength. However by opening up the structure this rigidity and strength is greatly lost. Although the structure can stand up there are several vertices which bend into itself, deforming the structure and loosing its intergral strength.
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