Matthew Pratt | Bartlett Unit 20 | Year 4

Geometry and Resolution of Fibrous Systems Matthew Pratt Unit 20

Transient Geometry of Landscape and Sky

Geometry and Resolution of Fibrous Systems The project began with an examination and appreciation of the silk carpet. A system rich in complexity of fibres across a multitude of scales and resolutions; from the macroscopic behaviour of the individual fibres, up to the woven Islamic pattern of the threads, to the resulting intricate and lightweight carpet, acting as a landscape for this fibrous activity.

This lead to an intensive testing of fibrous environments across a range of scales, each testing the transient geometric condition between 1D, 2D and 3 Dimensionality.

The relationship between the ground and the ceiling was a significant architectural feature found in studies and visits to both Islamic and Christian Architectures. This relationship of

ground and ceiling was explored in the project both symmetrically and asymmetrically, Further studies then moved to the scale of the individual fibre, looking at both the geometric and material properties of the individual fibre. This structural exploration generated ideas of bundling, weaving, and bending as a means of achieving structural stability.

The idea of bending sheet material was explored thoroughly in application to the brief of a church mosque in the Kigali, Rwanda. Material performance became an important consideration in the low tech/high intelligence ambition of the design. The resulting building considered local aspects of material such as compacted earth, as

well as religious precedent of Gothic architecture. Here the relationship between floor and ceiling was expressed more distinctly as a heavy stepping contoured landscape, providing a platform for the light, ethereal roof to sprout and extend towards the Sky, and towards religious orientations of both Mecca and the East.

Final studies looked towards the transition between surface and strand, and how sheet to form can create a morphological geometry blending layers of quantity and porosity. Next steps will focus more on fibrous interplay of weight and mass, found in nature.

Matthew Pratt Unit 20

200µm

200µm

Kisladag, Turkey

Muruntau Khazakstan

Mines

Kounrad, Khazakstan

Capital

Shaft

Base

Fibrous Symmetry Exploring rotational symmetry to produce interlocking columns

Church Mosque Exploring Formal language in the context of a typical church and mosque plan

Muscle Fibres

Fractal Fibrosity Exhibiting a repeating fibre cross section that displays at every scale.

Omni-directionality Experimenting with directionality of the fibres within the field

Omni-Directionality Turbulence patterns control gradual differentiation in strand orientation

Arrayed Pipes Direction of pipes centres around nodes of activity

Radial Gradient Densification pattern of Arrayed Pipes, creates varying levels of porosity

Bend Introduction of the bend to utilise the flexibility of the strand

Gothic Tracery Reference to gothic tracery whereby interesecting single gothic arcs create the gothic arch

Christianity

Mecca

Religious Twisting Gesture Twist in column bend direction, creates an aesthetic link between the two religious orientations between the direction of Mecca, and the traditional Layout of easterly facing churches

Angular Roofs Further directionality expllored in the roof Directions

Interlocking Twist Rigidity to the structure by addition of opposing direction of structure

Interlocking Twist Paper model testing the rigidity to the structure by addition of opposing direction of Fins. Model also tests light shadows filtered through the pattern of the structure

Weaving Geometry Development in plan of Weaving gesture to emphasise the curvilinear geometry of the columns

Site The project is located in Kigali; the capital City of Rwanda.

The city has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962.

The city is built in hilly country, sprawling across about four ridges and the valleys in between.

Minbar Mosque

WC Muslim Entrance Main Entrance

Mosque overďŹ ll space

Wudhu Foyer

Communal space

Christian entrance

Teaching space

Shared Park Church overďŹ ll space

Church

WC Sacristy

Church Needs to provide space for around 50 people. the space should be flexible to allow for weddings, christening, and will also be a useable space for Choral singing, and live music

Mosque Needs to provides space for Salah, for 20-30 people. with expansion potential for friday prayers

Shared Park The ambition of the project is to bring as much of the external environment into the programme, and have a space that can be shared by both muslism and christians.

Teaching Space This space should be flexible for about 10-15 people to sit in, and provide a space for teachings of religious practices between both chrstians and muslisms

Wudhu The cleansing ritual undertaken before a muslim enters a mosque. needs to provide foot taps for around 10-15 people

Brief : Church Mosque The Brief we have received from our client, is for a religious building to facilitate the religious practices of both muslisms and christians.

A highly contentious project, the ambition is to create a building that can weave these two religions together. The building must be open to the public, and those outside of religious doctrines, whilst still providing the privacy and sanctuary for all those who practicing their respective religions.

Main Stairs

Disabled Acces WC WC

Classroom

Plant Room Sacristy Wudhu Church

Female Prayer Room

Mosque

Pools

Pools

Mecca

Mecca Transept

Church

Christian and Muslim orientation Primary design move

Axial corridor divides two spaces, and connects internal and external environments

Grid define linking two spaces and pedestrian flow through the building

Ambition to weave the spaces

Woven plan defined

Adjusted and tweaked to suit programmatic function

Reference made to Rwandan stepped Landscape

Roof Geometry seeks the floorbundling the geometry towards the base.

Site Strategy and Organisation The ambition of the plan, is to have space that echoes the gesture of the traditional kigali woven basket, in which all spaces are threaded together, and accesibble to all, both muslim and christian. The main strategy is for a central corridoor that bridges both the internal and external environments, and also links the two wings of muslism and christians.

Variation To create variation across the design, density of both column and shading systems is varied across the site

Ground Floor Plan 1:300

Roof Plan 1:300

Sections 1:300

142

4m

Bending Radii of steel And important consideration to be made throughout the design is the ability of the steel to bend into the proposed radii. The difficulty is in finding a steel

∞

Curvature Using Grasshopper, It was possible to asses the geometry for high areas of bending stress and adjust the parameters, whilst also making sure the curve achieved the correct amount of curvature so as not to interfere with head room.

~1m

Elastic Region

Stress

Plastic region

Strain

Young’s Modulus Youngs modulus is the measure of elasticity off a material.

When subjected to enough force, the Steel will move from the elastic range to plastic deformation. It is important that the Force of the roof subjected to the Steel does not exceed this Yield limit, and that the material works within the elastic phase of the material

Internal Bending Forces It is the mass effect of all these small instances of force that will oppose the stiffness of the roof top beam

Structural Stabilisation To Stabilise the structure, the arrayed bent steel in the columns is arranged in two layers. Each layer is directed in an opposing direction to the other, and linked via two points of connection at the top and bottom, and a further two points of fixed connections along each of the fins length. This creates a continuous helical Structural line, which adds stability,

Rope Shading System

PTFE Fabric Roof

External Shading Fins

Enclosed Room Fins

Primary Internal Steel Fins

Enclosed Rooms Enclosed Room Ceilings

Fabric Clerestorey Windows

Compacted Earth Facade

Church

Pools

Mosque

Structural Axonometric Influenced by historical religious buildings variation has been a key consideration in the design.

External Rope Shading Devices To extend the Programme, external shading devices are used to blend the internal environment with the external.

The level of shade governed by each of the 25 pods can be varied based on the amount of nodes present in each of the patterns, and the resulting amount of rope connections that can be made.

Rope 20mm

Steel 5mm

Main Pod The Main unit used is designed to allow for a ptfe rood to be stretched between an upper beam. In certain places within the programme, An opening towards the centre of the pod allows for the collection of rainwater, to be used for internal and external evaporative cooling.

The Number of fins varies throughout the programme to achieve some variation, and respond to secondary levels of shading

PTFE Fabric

Steel 5mm

Partitioned Rooms At specific locations the geometry of the main unit spreads out to accompany the provision of insulated pods. These have various programmatic functions, for areas where a secondary level of privacy is required.

The Pods feature an ETFE roof which allows for light to reach into the spaces. The compacted earth walls, create a thermal and sound barrier to the other spaces

PTFE Fabric

Steel 5mm

Compacted Earth

Compacted Earth Walls As a counterpoint to the light weight and visual appearance of the roof and columns, for the facade and interior walls a local technology to Kigali of rammed earth is proposed. This environmentally friendly material has a variety of properties that make it a good choice for insulating the main space.

Compacted Earth

Architectural Components

Concrete

Top Fabric Connection

PTFE Fabric

Central Ring

Roof to Floor Tension Cable

Bottom Fabric Connection

Bottom Fabric Connection

Inner Clockwise Steel Fins

Inner to Outer Fin Connection

Outer Anti-clockwise Steel Fins

Steel Base Plate to Concrete Foundation

Water Channel

Pod Axonometric Structural Organisation

12 mm x 110mm Bolt 100.00

Top Formed Steel Fabric Connection

20.00 12.00

16mm Bent Steel Tube

3.00 3.00

1.5mm PTFE-coated glass-fibre fabric

16.00

3.00

3.50

Bottom Formed Steel Fabric Connection

Internal Fin External Fin

110.00

94.00

Top 8mm Steel Beam

5.00

3.00

5.00

8.00

3.00

5.00

5.00

Rubber Seal

Top 8mm Steel Beam Intenal Fin

12.00

External Fin

20.00

12.00

12mm Bolt Connection

Fabric Connection PTFE Fabric Central Ring Inner to outer fin connection 5mm Steel

Roof to Floor Tension Cable

Outer Anti- Clockwise 5mm Steel Fins Inner Clockwise 5mm Steel Fins

Fabric ceiling Bottom Connection

8mm Steel Base Plates Water Channel

400mm Ground floor build up

Rope Shading Pattern External shading devices are used to blend the internal environment with the external. The level of shade governed by each of the 25 pods can be varied based on the amount of nodes present in each of the patterns, and the resulting amount of rope connections that can be made.

3D Details Selection of 3d Details

Delivery System Due to the unrolled nature of the steel fins, large amounts of steel will be able to be delivered in each lorry. Careful consideration has been made to the maximum dimension of the steel section, with the largest being 10.5 metres. A typical lorry has a cargo length of 15.65

2-STEP FILTER

PLANT ROOM

Wudhu

Rooftop Collection Solar-Powered Water Pump

Evapourative Pools Underground Cistern

Rainwater Collection During the Rain season, the Roof profile funnels water into channels which guide the water to external pools. These Pools Assist with evaporative cooling. The overflow from these pools is channelled further to an underground Cistern. The water from here is mechanically pumped back to the plant room where it is processed and filtered.

Excavation of the ground for the concrete foundation and underground services

Casting of concrete floor plates with recessed hole for Steel fin base plates. Pad foundations laid for perimeter steel fins Earth Collected from the site along with concrete, is poured into plywood framework and compacted. Steps repeated until wall height made to full height. Top 200 mm cast in concrete. Internal and external bracket for roof installed.

Shipped steel fins positioned and bolted into the respective positions within the base plate

Roof sections placed in position and raised to correct positions with he use of scaffolding.

Steel fins are bent and bolted into correct position

Fabric roof and Clerestory windows placed into correct positions on site. Rope shaded structures assembled

Construction Sequence

Exterior External shading devices produce a gradual transition between internal and external

Interior Lighting Porosity and Quality of light are an important consideration

Surface to Strand Transient geometric condition between 1D, 2D and 3 Dimensionality

Material Elasticity Slitting the material to expand from the 2 dimensional to the 3 dimensional

Sheet to Form Testing the applicability of slitting the surface to produce Form

Point to strand Paper Model Exploring singular point directionality, observing the evolution from central point to strand

Front

Back

Surface to Strand Exploratory Model Nickel Silver model exploring the transition from surface to strand to volume. The model begins to examine the material properties of elasticity vs. plasticity

Strands

Gradient Transition

Porous

Surface

Points to Strands Conversion between Rasterisation and Sliting

Strand to Strand Desnification Achieveing Gradient through Densification of the Fibre