STONE: Chalmers Architecture Material & Detail 2013

STONE Material & Detail 2013

STONE Material & Detail 2013

4

MATERIAL & DETAIL

STONE Material & Detail 2013 / 2014

MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL

2

MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL

3

FOREWORD / FREDRIK NILSSON

STONE / DANIEL NORELL & JONAS LUNDBERG

FOREWORD

STONE

The studio Material & Detail at Chalmers Architecture addresses both central and urgent aspects of architecture. The choice and treatment of materials as well as detailing have always been important in the expression and experience of architecture, but aspects of materiality and craft as well as the specific kinds of thinking involved in the production of architecture have become urgently important to investigate in contemporary architectural practice. New demands, but also new possibilities are constantly emerging, calling for critical explorations of contemporary trajectories as well as historical and traditional knowledge and thinking.

The work in the studio has explored the specific architectural thinking through models of different kinds, and consciously moved in the interface between the digital and material by the use of projective geometry, computer models and physical artefacts. This architec2

MATERIAL & DETAIL

tural thinking is closely connected to, or even dependent on, the material practice relying on specific crafts and mastery of different kinds of tools, both analogue and digital.

Practical experiments have been combined with conceptual investigations of architectural notions and historical studies of material processes, leading to theoretical development and articulation through different media and forms of practice. This designerly kind of research explores the elements of material thinking through making, reflection and critical discussion, to document and develop architectural knowledge and ideas.

The outcome and result is a set of artefacts: an intriguing piece of material, spatial installation exhibited outside Röhsska museet at Vasagatan in central Göteborg and this book. All seen as contributions to an ongoing research process and inviting you to participate in the further exploration of the triggering details and

materials of architectural thinking as well as the expression and experience of architecture.

Enjoy!

Fredrik Nilsson

STONE documents a twelve week intense odyssey of the world of Stone, the precocious material and its associated tools and innate design opportunities. The design and research work is carried out by a small group of Master Students supported by multi-disciplinary industry experts in the Material & Detail Studio at Chalmers Arkitektur.

periment conducted by students, teachers and industry experts on how matter and geometry fuelled by emerging instruments of design, fabrication and production can inform design.

This basic design research emanating from material practice, aims to be a stimulating learning experience but also to nurture innovation and the discovery of new architectural horizons.

STONE can be used as a handbook and a starting reference point when one wants to build with stone, by using wire cutting machines as the means for cutting stone. STONE covers the process from the beginning to end of the design studio, from research, to exploration, to design, to fabrication and finally to the actualization of a full scale stone installation titled “Fauna”.

The Swiss engineer Heinz Isler once stated “One does not actually create the form; one lets it become, as it has to according to its own law” but at the same time he also paraphrased the lessons he received from Lardy, his professor, which Isler regarded as more important than his own technical knowhow:

The pedagogical model of the studio is an open ended design exploration and learning ex-

“a) that we have a sense for esthetics b) that we have the right to use it c) that we are allowed to mention our opinion d) and that we can find and express it in our projects.”

As in Isler’s quote above suggests, a form becomes what it has to be according to its own law arising from the material itself conditioned by its design, fabrication and production. The content of STONE and the Material & Detail Studio originate from an idea that any formal material output is driven by its own internal logic which is conditioned by its disciplinary context, the material type, the design, fabrication and production tools utilized. The design content is directed by the subjective pursuit of quality and aesthetic expression.

The overarching objective is the search for new design horizons and architectural opportunities. The pedagogy can also help demystify the transformative capacity of architecture and design in the actualization of a “live” full scale project with a distinct sense of quality and aesthetic.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

5

2 Foreword 4 INDEX & Book Introduction 6 Real things, not prototypes 8 Material De-Evolution of Digital Tooling

STONE 12 20 24 26 32

The history of stone cutting Types of stone Material and mechanical properties of stone Stone tooling Surface finishes

PHASE 1 34 Projective geometry 36 Sidedness 50 Posture 64 Figure 76 Niche 92 Porosity

PHASE 2 112 Design 114 Studio workflow 116 Figure 4.0 144 Dematerialize 168 From A To Ă– 186 Satellit

PHASE 3 208 Realization 210 Finalized design 214 Fabrication 224 Assembly 240 Installation photos

4

MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL

7

REAL THINGS, NOT PROTOTYPES / DANIEL NORELL

REAL THINGS, NOT PROTOTYPES / DANIEL NORELL

Real things, not prototypes In 2008, architect Greg Lynn famously pointed out that the robotic future that most young architects dream of has arrived without anyone noticing it.¹ Steel, glass, aluminum and, yes, even stone, is never cut on site these days.

These and other materials are instead cut, shaped and even constructed by computercontrolled machines. Like Lynn, this studio challenges the idea that new materials and new methods of construction must be invented to realize the visions of us architects.

Working with digitally fabricated prototypes has since at least the late 1990’s been standard practice among technology-driven architects.

Part of the reason for this is no doubt methodological in nature since designing and fabricating a family of subtly different objects has become only marginally more laborsome than doing the same thing with identical copies. This effectively turns any scale model or object into a prototype since it can be evaluated against the 8

MATERIAL & DETAIL

background of its family of variations.

But there is also another, more ideologically charged aspect of architecture’s recent infatuation with the prototype. Exhibiting a full-scale object, building component or installation and calling it out as “a prototype” for something leaves the visitor in a state of anticipation for the arrival of that something - the real thing.

In this way, the experience of the thing on display itself is, in the best of cases, heightened by a promise of a brighter future in which new opportunities may arise. In other cases, it has simply become a way of justifying what is essentially design research by invoking the prototype with its connotations of industrialized production.

In this studio, students work with design and production technology and industry partners in order to realize a full-scale architectural installation. They go from open-ended design research in the beginning to basically establishing a fully

functioning office organization towards the end of the semester. The road towards the opening is paved with countless computer files, models and mock-ups. The installation in itself, however, is site-specific to some extent and open to the public. As a thing, it does not hold any of the promises that a prototype does. It is just there, to be used, experienced and interacted with.

Curiously, calling something out as a “thing” might open up new avenues of material thinking. A thing, according to a recent book by influential political theorist Jane Bennett, has a material agency and life in its own right.² Things are typically less clearly defined than everyday objects with a specific use. As things, they have the power to become objects of discursive thinking. Wildly different phenomena such as stem cells, fish oils, electricity, metal and trash have, Bennett argues, a transformative power of their own that is not tied to anyone’s anticipations.

This is how I like to think about Fauna, the installation designed by this year’s students in the studio. The precisely cut stone blocks that make up the piece showcase an engagement with manufacturing, but, perhaps more importantly, an interest in the power of things.

Their proportions and postures turn them into mysterious characters or creatures that suggest an agency that goes beyond the research that has been invested in them. The design and manufacturing principles behind them are certainly powered by technology, but unlike the prototype, they act in the world here and now, without making any promises about the future.

Making use of the objects, materials and technologies that surround us in order to create new things may, as strange as it may sound, be a fruitful way to speculate about alternative futures.

Daniel Norell

REFERENCES 1. Greg Lynn, “Robots,” in Greg Lynn FORM (New York: Rizzoli, 2008), 252-253 2. Jane Bennett, “The Force of Things,” in Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things (Durham: Duke University Press, 2010), 1-19 MATERIAL & DETAIL

9

MATERIAL DE-EVOLUTION OF DIGITAL TOOLING / JONAS LUNDBERG

REAL THINGS, NOT PROTOTYPES / DANIEL NORELL

MATERIAL DE-EVOLUTION OF DIGITAL TOOLING “Architecture is probably the one kind of creative form that most people don’t understand, because they are around it all the time they kind of think that they get it. Its creative component works at a more profound level and is a little less detectable. I like to think of it like the soundtrack in a movie. The soundtrack controls the way you feel about the movie although you are never quite paying attention to it. You are always giving credit to the actor or the cinematographer; but It is really the music in the background that tells you how to feel. That is what architecture at its best can do.” – Jeffrey Kipnis In order to teach and experiment with design and the medium of building in order to advance architecture as a discipline, a return to materiality and the craft of instrumentality are considered integral to develop new scores, content and knowledge.

Digital architectural praxis and pursuit of digital limits often promoted by academia and conjectural ¹ architectural practice , is at a crossroad. Discourse on the creation of geometry is, and has been, preoccupied with the generation, representation and lately, with the fabrication, production and replication of the complexities typically found in nature. This digital discourse is marginalizing itself from mainstream architectural practice, building industry and society itself. It’s questionable if new architectural horizons are being discovered by centering our design experimentation on the process of design as research, or if digital discourse in this case merely proliferates itself² .

A paradigm shift towards matter, Digital Pragmatism³ and Hybrid Making4 is putting renewed emphasis on the relevance of the material output itself both as a learning tool and a vehicle to search for new conjecture arising out of the discovery of digital craft and opportunities as opposed to exploring digital limits.

8

MATERIAL & DETAIL

“Teachers are not judges, but propagate their own knowledge, point out the road to new horizons and learn with the students in previously unexplored fields.” - Frei Otto The Material & Detail Studio at Chalmers Arkitektur is based around the pedagogical model proposed by prominent figures such as Frei Otto and Heinz Isler promoting experimentation and search for unexplored fields of design research. This is aiming for an architectural outcome conditioned by the material, tools and techniques as well as the craft, aesthetic and qualitative agenda of the designers. The pursuit of matter as the driver for design engenders a richer learning content for student experimentation and translation between the design and the subsequent actualization process. The target is output in full scale, as it is mediated by various consultations, design, fabrication and production tools and techniques. Digital praxis has the capacity for a relatively seamless transition between design, fabrication and production resulting in an increasingly integrated workflow across the design and actualization process. Hybrid Making refers to design limitations and constraints of a complete work of art or ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’5 arising from team work, the consultation process with multidisciplinary industry experts, industrial fabrication processes and work for actual clients. The

design opportunities resulting from this making process are often leading to an unexpected design output in this case “Fauna” with a clear design identity, quality and a sense of aesthetic with the potential to open unexplored fields of design.

There is no question that technology arising from the novel use of tools can be a driver in a creative design process. However, it is critical, that the material manipulation underpinning the rise of the tool is integral for conjectural design content and material output to emanate from the process which is exactly what Material & Detail Studio attempts to discover.

The act of building is slow but academia and conjectural architectural practice evolve with rapid pace. The research on fabrication of the Material & Detail Studio allows students to explore how form is intrinsically liked to matter via mechanical or material processes. “Fauna” being the output of the Material & Detail Studio is both an object, an assembly, a material finish, a space and a statement of intent and effect as much as a test of a design that can be experienced in 1:1 scale. Whether sensorial, ideological, structural, performative, economically viable, new or outmoded, material meaning is in constant flux, being refined and redefined by the designed forms, the processes

and culture that perpetuates it. Material is similarly predicated on the notion that it is simultaneously matter and meaning arising from the perpetually changing empirical or theoretical contexts. “Materiality is not only synonymous with structural and aesthetic categories, but is also aligned with evolving concept of matter” (Materiology, 2008).

In making an analogy with de-evolution of digital music to recapture a distinct digital sound, this time architecture might need to go through a de-evolution of the digital tools pursued and deployed. This favors the paradigms of Digital Pragmatism in order to use the medium of building in rejuvenating digitally inspired architecture in the plight for conjecture. This argument is based on the assumption that invention comes about via the recombination and hybridization of existing practice with new materials, technology, tools and techniques. True innovation conversely arises from how those inventions are turned around in new forms of material practice and manifested in built form. Just as in digital music, the advent of new instruments and tools only provides a potential for creation of new content but have no relevance to the development of new architectural horizons on their own. This is why a return to matter as research for digital praxis is essential to help discover new architectural ho-

rizons and drive architectural innovation which besides the pedagogical value is the underlying objective of the Material & Detail Studio.

Architects have been considered Master Craftsman and the architecture produced has been thought of as a complete art work or ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’. Recently there has been a resurging interest in the architect as a Master Craftsman and the trade of being an architect often disenfranchised by digitally based architecture.

Hybrid Making forges a stronger link between digital practice and the architectural industry by acknowledging that all disciplines, including Architecture, could be enriched by conversation with one another. In this way the Architect becomes one craftsman amongst many others but commonly remains the only generalist driving an aesthetic agenda in an increasingly specialized industry. Digital Pragmatism in this case attempts to work with a more normative parameter set searching for the innate opportunity embedded in the tool, technique and ultimately digital craft relating to a broader idea of architectural practice in search for innovation.

The Material & Detail Studio is using the medium of building in attempting to rejuvenating materially based digital praxis in the context of the ‘live’ projects being the key pedagogical outcome. The aim is to use the Hybrid Mak-

ing of “FAUNA” as the material output of the studio as a forum for conversation between the different fields of design to take place in the formation of a trans-disciplinary team formed around the Material & Detail Studio. The hope is for students in the studio to develop digital craft enabling them to move competently between modelling, simulation and actualization in a more materially intelligent manner. To aid Digital Pragmatism and Hybrid Making to produce new building culture and conjecture, the scope and ambition are expanded across both international and disciplinary borders.

Jonas Lundberg

¹ Conjectural practice is a term defined by Jeffrey Kipnis to refer to an avant-garde unproven design tendency or proposition. ² This research can still very well be critical for the discipline but its relevance for the architectural discipline itself is questionable. ³ Digital Pragmatism refers to normative parameters informing a sense of digital craft using a tool for its appropriate use.

4 Hybrid Making is the title for the DADA 2012 conference referring to multidisciplinary collaborations in the making process.

5 Gesamtkunstwerk in German refers to a complete work of art.

REFERENCES 1. Daniel Kula, Materialogy: The Creative Industry’s Guide to Materials and Technologies (New York: Birkhauser, 2008) MATERIAL & DETAIL

9

STUDIO LIFE

10

MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL

11

STONE / HISTORY

Ancient stone cutting tools.

Pillar and beam-construction. Stonehenge, ca. 29001400 BCE.

Dressed stones was used for the construction of the step pyramid in Saqqara, ca. 2630 BCE.

The history of stone cutting In the vicinity of Gothenburg lies an intriguing hill, Kinnekulle, relatively unchanged after 250 million years, despite the relentless wind, rain and the surges of ice ages. The secret lies in its special composition of stone, a material that mankind has used for its reliant properties to create shelter since ancient history. There are many durable building materials, but only stone can challenge eternity.

BIRTH OF STONEMASONRY In ancient history, stone was used in the creation of tools and weapons, but it was mainly untreated. The shapes of the tools were close to the form of the original stone, only reshaped by polishing or wear. Flint brought a new approach to stone cutting because it made it possible to cut the stone with a sharp object and give it a geometric shape for a specific purpose. The technique was refined with tools of 12

MATERIAL & DETAIL

metal, copper and bronze and finally of iron.

A great architectural accomplishment in Western Europe was the building of megalith constructions made of large stone blocks. One well known example is Stonehenge in Salisbury Plain, England, built between ca. 2900 to 1400 BCE. It shows how early civilizations could organize work and material to create ceremonial monuments. The stone blocks weighed up to twenty tons and some were transported over 300 kilometers. The place consists of stones placed in circular shapes and a heel stone set outside.

EGYPT - THE FIRST ASHLAR MASONRY The first techniques of large scale stone cutting were developed in Egypt between 2700 and 2200 BCE. They were used for the construction of the tomb for Pharaoh Djoser in Saqqara, ca. 2630 BCE, by architect Imhotep.

The monument stands to this day because, in-

stead of using the common square mud blocks, they used stone and metal tools to make ashlar, masonry with stones dressed on each side to become square. The base of the step pyramid in Saqqara measure 121 by 109 meters and is 60 meters high. It consists of sex steps and has an exterior dressed with limestone. Surrounding the rectangular shaped complex stands a wall that is ten meter high and 1.6 kilometers long.

This was the start of a long time of stone building resulting in the famous sets of pyramids and temples during the Pharaonic dynasties. One is the biggest stone buildings ever made; the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza. It is one of the three large pyramids built in Giza ca. 2550-2460 BCE. The pyramid rises 146.5 meters up from the ground and its base is a square with the side 230 meters. The primary building material is limestone but the Pharaoh’s chamber is constructed of red granite. The softer limestone was quarried by metal saws

The twelve angle stone, an example of the precision of the Incas masonry, ca. 1300 AD.

The Greeks decorated their beam and pillar-constructions in stone, from ca. 600 BCE.

while the harder granite was pounded repeatedly along seams with tools of even harder stone.

Most of the stone was local but the granite and some limestone were transported a long way.

GREECE - ARCHITECTURAL ORDER , HARMONY AND IRON TOOLS Greek architecture gradually organized the three orders of classical architecture. Wooden constructions were translated into stone, utilizing iron tools for the first time.

Stone cutting was driven by the development of religious and urban architecture. From the sixth century BCE stone buildings, both civil and religious, emerged the first order, the Doric. This was followed by the Ionic and the Corinthian order.

A well-known temple is the Parthenon in Athens by the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates, built 448-432 BCE. It is a Doric temple with Ionic attributes, such as slender columns.

It has a rectangular plan with eight by seventeen columns and is built of Pentelic marble.

The Greeks built permanent buildings for theatrical shows. The theater was semicircular and carved out of a hillside. It was designed

INCA - WITH TIME AS A TOOL Dressed stone was taken to its limits in the Inca civilization around 1300 AD. They discovered one of the most effective tools for work with stone; time. With abundant resources of time, they could dress enormous granite stones and make them fit together perfectly in a three dimensional puzzle using tools made mainly from diabase, a type of stone which is more shock resistant. They are early examples of masonry structures that are reasonably earthquake-proof, because they are often mortar free, have interlocking joints and are sometimes reinforced with copper clamps fitted within the wall.

Parts of the buildings were made on site like a sculpture.

with focus on acoustical aspects in order to ease the experience for the audience. In front of the theatron lay the circular orchestra (the stage) and behind that was the skene and the proskenion (backdrop building) situated. One well-preserved theater is the one at Epidauros, probably designed by the architect Polykleitos.

The lower 5000 seats was built 350 BCE and the upper 9000 seats was added in the second century BCE. There was a special section for dignitaries since the seats closest to the orchestra were extra comfortable with backrests.

Archaeological research of iron tools used by the Greeks shows that scissors, hammers and especially the polka were tools adapted to the curvilinear technique. The use of these tools suggests that parts of the buildings were made on site after the erection, like a sculpture.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

13

STONE / HISTORY

Ancient corbelled arch.

STONE / HISTORY

Roman semicircular barrel vault.

Ancient corSemicircular cor- Semicircular Semicircular That is a contrast to the corbel arch where the ROME -Ancient STANDARDIZATION Ancient corbelled barrel vault courses are laid on top on and offsetted to each Working with a good control of lift technology, other, until they meet at the top. through belled the military practices, Rome has left barrel vault belled barrel vault arch The Romans also developed concrete. Its lasting evidence of its control of stone archi-

arch arch

tecture. They invented the arc, the vault, the dissemination of cutting stone technique and the construction over vast territories.

The Romans were skilled engineers and developed many construction methods. They learned how to create big spans to make large interiors using the arch, the vault and the dome.

Using these constructions the structural loads are mainly compression loads, which makes stone a great building material. Instead of using corbeling the Romans built true arches, which is the basis for the vault and the dome.

The true arch consists of voussoirs placed in a curved line and with a keystone at the top.

Before the keystone is placed the structure must be supported by a framework, though it isn’t stable before all the parts are in position.

14

MATERIAL & DETAIL

plasticity along with its strength makes it a great material for developing new architectural designs. They used it for wall construction, where they filled molds with rubble and concrete. In the beginning the walls were quite unappealing so they dressed them with mosaic, stucco and marble. The construction became more refined when the uncoursed rubble was replaced with pyramid-shaped stones embedded in the wall and later pie-shaped tiles. The Romans big empire also made it possible for them to use a wide range of building materials from far away, instead of only local material.

That can be observed, for example, on all the different marble veneers they used.

Concrete was the main building material in the construction of the temple Pantheon

Roman segmented circular vault.

The development from Greek hillside theaters to Roman freestanding arenas.

The Romans spread stone cutting and applied it to local stone, resulting in a standardization.

Segmented Pointed gothic Flat arch Catenary vault Segmented Pointed Flat arch vault in Rome, built 118-128 BCE. The emperor plexity of these buildings stonemasons formed monuments promoted the practiceCatenary and Catenary transtheatergothic and the amphitheaters. They made Segmented Pointed gothic Flat arch vault vault Vault Hadrian is said to be its architect. It has a circuguilds and the art of stone cutting, stereotomy, mission of basic actions primarily related to freestanding complexes with vaulted structures

vault vault

lar cella fringed by an entrance in the form of a big portico. The cella, 43.3 by 43.3 meters, consists of a cylinder crowned by a hemispherical dome. It has a memorable interior with light coming from the circular aperture (oculus), 8.2 meters in diameter, at the top of the coffered dome. The interior is clad in marble veneers except from the dome where the concrete is exposed. Structurally the building is based on arches and vaults, mostly hidden visually from the visitors. Pantheon has given inspiration to many succeeding architects and is considered to be one of the most influential buildings in Western architectural history.

The Romans applied the axiality and geometric regularity used by the Greeks in their planning and they developed the architectural orders into the Tuscan and the Roman. The Greek theater was explicated into the Roman

removed the need of natural hillsides. The Vault that Vault amphitheater is an accomplished oval or circular arena which design we use yet today.

A well-known example of the amphitheater is the Colosseum in Rom completed 80 BCE. It could enclose some 50 000 people and the oval plan measures 155 by 187 meters. It was made of masonry with concrete and cut stone.

The exteriors structural arches were dressed with travertine. Under the arena floor was a complex underground structure with passages and rooms for the gladiators and the machinery.

The developmental process of the Roman Empire and its conquests on the road included many craftsmen who accompanied the legions and learned how to control the local materials of the conquered territories. The standardization of the urban plan and the Romans major

the art of cutting blocks. This standardization allowed them to gain speed in the construction process. In this way cities were built in two or three years, and had monuments of great magnitude.

THE MIDDLE AGES - THE ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE As the Roman Empire diminished, the knowledge of concrete was lost, but the use of stone in buildings had spread across Europe. Supported by the clergy who spread the faith and educated the population, the use of stone in construction became more and more refined into what we now call the Romanesque style.

Stone was the preferred material of abbeys, churches, cathedrals and cloisters and it was those constructions that pushed the development forward. To master the geometrical com-

was born.

The pointed arch marks the transition from the Romanesque era to the Gothic era. This technique allowed large openings in the walls and a much more efficient use of stone. The load bearing system of a Gothic church could be described as a stone skeleton draped in glass and thin stone voussoirs, the stones in between the ridges of the vault. The early Gothic structures mostly consisted of symmetric and repetitive building parts. As masons became more skilled at stereotomy, they could plan the cutting of stones by using layout drawings on paper, so called �traits�, which showed the orthographic projection of the complex stone structure. There are cases where they used fifteen projections for one curved surface.

The fan vault was part of the late Gothic style known as the perpendicular, because the MATERIAL & DETAIL

15

STONE / HISTORY

STONE / HISTORY

A late Gothic vault is composed of ribs, keystones and webs, curved masonry voussoirs that fills the web between ribs.

Ancient corbelled arch

vault appears rather flat, almost perpendicular to the wall. It is arguably one of the most complex stone structures. It is often so thin, that if scaled down to the size of an egg, the stone would be thinner than an eggshell. The ribs, the curved lines through which the forces seem to act, are of equal curvature and rotated at equal distances around a central, vertical axis, forming a conoid shape in which all or most stones are uniquely shaped. To manage this incredible puzzle, the masons developed sign languages, called ‘Masons marks’ which was carved into the pieces describing the position of the individual piece. This geometry was only possible by developing stereometry from two dimensional projections to three dimensional ones. This was so hard that it is estimated that only one in ten masons actually grasped it.

16

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Mason’s marks, describing the stone position and who made it.

Ancient corSemicircular belled barrel vault Semicircular Segmented arch - NEW MATERIALS XIX CENTURY

Ancient corTHE RENAISSANCE AND THE BAbelled vaultofSegmented Semicircular The beginning the nineteenth century wasvault ROQUE - ARCHITECTURAL CHANGEbarrel marked by the development of new ways of The Renaissance was a time for return to simarch pler forms based on Roman architecture and transporting. This made the movement of ma-

barrel vault

the rediscovered writings of Vitruvius. The arch and semicircular arches was developed into flat arches allowing square openings. The castles and palaces were the site of expression of a functional architecture but often still decorated.

The Baroque architecture style was a development of the Renaissance. It was more theatrical and dramatic and they experimented with light and form in the designs. A famous baroque building is the chateau of Versailles in France, from the seventeenth century. The exterior is classical with inspiration from the Roman architecture but the geometries are simpler. It is a construction with square openings using flat arches instead of circular vaults. The baroque details are grandeur, with a refined and detailed décor made of stone.

vault

terials, for example sand and stone, easier.

In the middle of the nineteenth century stone was replaced more and more by the rediscovered concrete and by the new material steel.

Since then the cutting stone technique has mostly been reserved to older buildings and their renovation.

An exception is the construction of the cathedral Sagrada Familia in Barcelona that began in the end of the nineteenth century. Its architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) developed the structural system of Gothic architecture in its construction, which is based on a special technique; the catenary model. This is a system of threads suspended and held down by weights to create shapes. The roof and walls are made of sheet of paper. The threads represent the

Medieval pointed Gothic vault.

Classic flat arch.

Segmented Pointed gothic Flat arch vault Vault Pointed gothic Flat arch

Vault gothic Pointed Vault

structural elements, as columns and arches.

The weights are pulling down at the places where the loads are the heaviest. Then forces in tension are instead forces in compression and show the pressure on the vault.

The Italian mathematician and engineer Giovanni Poleni (1683-1761) had defined the funicular curve as the ideal form of a building that exclusively seeks strength. The rope then assumes a form with pure tension. When you reverse the form it becomes pure compression loads. The inverted funicular curve is the most favorable for construction vaulted shape. The results of his research were translated directly into the construction of the Sagrada Familia.

In this system Gaudi unified mechanics, geometry and structure in a logical architecture where each element is made with less material use. He created a architecture that is the expression of forces who work together.

Bucket Vault

Flat arch

Nineteenth century catenary vault.

Catenary vault

Catenary vault

XX AND XXI CENTURY New technology brings new construction methods, with higher level of precision. Diamond enhanced tools has created a new dawn for stone architecture.

Gille Perraudin is a french architect that works with stone. He uses the stone of ‘le gars’ to build his projects. In this stone he finds a new way to make ecological architecture. It allows for a really quick implementation; where a house could be completed in one month. He stakes the stones and puts a small joint between them. Then they require no finishing. Perraudin uses the local resources and he only builds in that region to limit the transport of materials.

The recycling of Perraudins stone is as energy saving as possible. The stone can be reused as many times as desired. The removal is simple and it only needs a minimum of processing for reusing. Perraudin is considering his constructions as a quarry or at least a stock of stone for

Catenary vault

the next generation.

THE FUTURE OF STONE Resource scarcity and sustainable development are factors that have recently renewed the interest in stone constructions. Today we have the possibility to develop stereotomy further than ever, making it digital and employing form finding and digital fabrication using CNC wirecutting technology with diamond enhanced saws. Freeform masonry vault design is the next logical step, a step that has already begun in the finalizing of Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

17

STONE / HISTORY

STONE / HISTORY

Change of scale through the time.

The stone is taken from the mountain and used for the construction of a building. Then in the next centuries someone else may use the building as a quarry; sustainable thinking.

REFERENCES Baroque architecture. (2013) www.wikipedia.org (2013-12-11).

Ochsendorf, J. (2011) Form and Forces. [YouTube]. https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-tG68WvNDM‬ (2013-12-05)

Berger, J-F. (2009) Taille de pierre. http://www.jean-fred.org/ taille-de-pierre/ (2013-12-10)

Somervill, B. A. (2009) Empire of the Incas. New York: Chelsea house publishing.

Brun, J., D’ascanio, L., Lacaille, C. and Vigneron, A. (2012) Sagrada familia; Systemes constructifs de Gaudi. PDF from a presentation at Ensag.

Vadrot, O. (2012) Gilles Perraudin. Dijon: Presses du réel.

Evans, R. (1995) The Projective Cast. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Fazio, M., Moffett, M. and Wodehouse, L. (2008) A world history of architecture. 2. ed. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Wastenson, L., Frizell, B. and Werner, M. (ed.) (2003) Sveriges nationalatlas. Västra Götaland. Gävle: Kartförl.

Available onlinet: http://friatlasgis.sna.se/sna/webb.atlas?book=X

Fletcher, B. (1905) A history of architecture on the comparative method. 5th ed., rev. London: Batsford.

‘King’s College’, An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of Cambridge. (1959) British history online. http://www. british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=128395 (2013-12-05) Rippmann, M. and Block, P. (2011) Digital Stereotomy. http:// www.block.arch.ethz.ch/brg/files/IABSE-IASS2011_Rippmann-Block.pdf 18

MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL

19

STONE / TYPES

Weathering, erosion, transport, deposition

Heat and/or pressure

SEDIMENTARY

IGNEOUS

THE ROCK CYCLE

METAMORPHIC

MAGMA Intrusion or eruption

Types of stone Stones can be classified into three different rock classes with regard to their formation process: sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. Each rock can also be transformed by geological processes into a rock in the other two families.

SEDIMENTARY Sedimentary stones are formed through the deposit of various organic residues. For example, on the sea floor the deposits deform under high pressure and heat. In this process stone evolves and over the course of time the different deposits and different layers are combined and form new layers of stone. Due to these different layers, the stone has a direction. The individual layer itself is strong, but it’s not necessarily strongly connected to the other layers.

20

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Sandstone This type of rock can be found all over the world. The structure is based on small pieces of sand, which are bound together with various materials. These materials make the differences in the individual kinds of sandstone. The main material is quartz and it contains small amounts of clay, lime and iron.

In architecture, it’s mainly used as material for walls or facades. The visible layers of this stone have often made it desirable for aesthetic reasons.

Limestone The limestone makes up 10 % of all sedimentary stones. It is an important building stone, used for example in cement. Limestone is mainly found in former flat water areas.

The structure is porose, compact and fine or coarse grained. The stone forms from shells of animals in the water that builds up on to the

bed of flat waters. The shells often get fossilized and incorporated into the structure of the stone. With low pressure from the layers above the minerals are compacted into limestone. The main minerals are calcite, which is equivalent to 95%, dolomite and aragonite.

Chalk This kind of stone has a very fine texture with a color of white to light yellow or gray. The structure is made out of fine grain. It’s porose and likely to break.

Organic materials like algae, shells and ammonites fall to the sea floor and are overlapped by sediments. The sediments press the water out of the organic material that is then solidified by different binders. The deposits are often near coast lines, consisting of the minerals calcite, quart, pyrite and flints.

II. IGNEOUS This type of rock is formed from molten magma, which comes to the earth surface through volcanic activity. The liquid material reaches the surface, it cools and solidifies just under earths’ crust (plutonic) or above it (volcanic).

The igneous group also has a layered structure, however not for the same reason as the sedimentary ones. Igneous rocks get their layers from the time parameter in which the molten material cools, which usually happens in waves.

Granite Granite is a type of stone that reaches deep into to subsurface and makes up for almost 45% of the subsurface stone. The stone is found in areas where mountains form due to tectonic movement.

The structure of granite is built up by many mineral pieces which stick together. It is acid and is a plutonic type of igneuous stone. The

Burial and extreme heat

main minerals are alkali feldspar, quartz, mica and hornblende. The stone is mostly brightly colored and the color is decided by the different mineral compositions. The whiteness, for example, is produced by the feldspar.

The structure of granite is usually compact and massive. The crystals are not in an order, but they can stick together in crystalline clusters or in a whole layer. This can affect the look and mechanical properties of the stone to various extents.

Due to its hardness, granite is often used as flooring, stairs, paving or as countertops, but also as construction material and for facades.

In this studios’ work we use “Bohus Red Skarstad”, which is a red granite and originates from the northern west coast of Sweden, in Skarstad, Bohuslän. The stone consits of 31% of quartz, 31% of potassium feldspar, 31% of plagioclase and 3% of biotite.

Metamorphic

Sedimentary

Igneous

Amphibolite Gneiss Hornfels Marble Novaculite Phyllite Quartzite Schist Slate Soapstone

Breccia Chert Coal Conglomerate Dolomite Flint Iron Ore Limestone Oil Sand Oil Shale Rock Salt Sandstone Shale Siltstone

Andesite Basalt Diorite Gabbro Granite Obsidian Pegmatite Peridotite Pumice Rhyolite Scoria Tuff

Basalt The structure of basalt is extremely fine, therefore the rock appears as a solid surface with no visible variations, as for example, in granite.

The stone has a direction due to eruption or slagging.

Typically the crystalline structure manifests as perfect pentagons or hexagons. These are created in the thermodynamic process while the liquid is cooling down. The main minerals are feldspat, augite, hornblende and pyroxene.

In comparison to granite basalt cools off faster.

The liquid material flows fast, what makes the layers thin and wide.

The stone is used in the building industry as part of materials, but not as a design element.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

21

STONE / TYPES

STONE / TYPES

Sandstone (geology.com)

Sandstone (geology.com)

Sandstone (geology.com)

Hallindens Granit: Grey Bohus Tossone

Pumice Pumice is an extrusive igneous rock, which means that it’s formed from erupted magma.

That is why the stone can be found in areas with volcanic activity.

The grains are fine and the surface is smooth and glassy due to the short time of cooling.

Pumice is a very porose type of stone, with pores generally making up about 80 % of the mass. These pores are formed by gas closed into the stone during its creation. Its porosity makes it a light stone and it even floats on water. This, for instance, makes it easy to transport.

The color differs from light to dark over yellow and red. The main minerals are feldspar and iron-magnesium minerals.

Pumice is used in different construction materials, for example as an additive in concrete.

22

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Hallindens Granit: Red Bohus Skarstad

METAMORPHORIC Metamorphic stones are formed through preexisting sedimentary or igneous stones that have been modified by heat, pressure and/or chemical processes.

There are two basic types, foliated and nonfoliated metamorphic rocks. Foliated metamorphic rocks usually have a layered or banded appearance. Foliation is caused by the parallel orientation of platy minerals in the rock. This property gives the rock the ability to break smoothly along planes of foliation.

lower crust. In Acasta, northern Canada, the oldest Earth rocks can be found, which are more than 4 billion years old. Its color is primarily grey, but also rose, brownish or greenish and it has a slight shimmer.

Gneiss is basically consisting of abundant quartz or feldspar minerals, which constitutes the light color. The darker colors are produced from titanite, biotite, pyrite, muscovite, hornblende, garnets, cordierite, sillimanite, ilmenite, epidote, apatite and magnetite. At the breaking point the rock appears light in color.

Gneiss Gneiss can be classified as a foliated metamorphic rock. Its structure is medium to coarsegrained. If gneiss would continue to metamorphose, it would turn to migmatite - a mixture of metamorphic and igneous rock - and eventually recrystallize into granite.

Gneiss represents the largest part of earths’

Slate Slate is a fine-grained stone and belongs to the classification of foliated metamorphic rocks.

It is composed mainly of clay minerals or micas - which are sheet silicate mineral - depending upon the degree of metamorphism.

It can also contain abundant quartz and small amounts of feldspar, calcite, pyrite, hematite

Basalt (geology.com) Sandstone (geology.com) Sandstone Basalt (geology.com)

GneissPumice (geology.com) Gneiss (geology.com) Pumice Pumice Gneiss (geology.com) (geology.com) (geology.com)

and other minerals.

Its color is mostly in a range of shades from light to dark gray. It also occurs in shades of green, red, black, purple and brown, depending on the amount of iron and organic material in the stone.

Slate (geology.com) Slate (geology.com) Slate (geology.com)It is popular for a wide variety of uses such as roofing, flooring and flagging because of its durability and attractive appearance. Due to its foliation, it’s possible to produce very thin sheets of slate.

Slate can be found worldwide.

Marble Marble is a non-foliated metamorphic rock.

It forms when limestone is subjected to the heat and pressure of metamorphism. Before metamorphism, the calcite in the limestone is often in the form of lithified fossil material and biological debris. During metamorphism, this calcite recrystallizes and the texture of the

Limestone (geology.com) Sandstone (geology.com) Limestone Basalt (geology.com) (geology.com) Basalt (geology.com) Basalt (geology.com) Limestone (geology.com) LimestoneSandstone (geology.com)

Gneiss (geology.com)

Gneiss (geology.com)

Basalt

Limestone (geolo Limeston

Pumice (geology.c

Pumice (geology.com)

Pumice (geology.com) (geology.com) Slate (geology.com) Marble (geology.com)Gneiss Marble Gneiss (geology.com) Pumice (geology.com) Marble (geology.com)

rock changes. Generally it consists of mineral calcite and usually contains other minerals such as clay minerals, micas, quartz, pyrite and iron oxides.

Slate (geology.com) Marble is a common rock worldwide.

Wellknown locations are Spain, Pas de Calais in France, Fichtelgebirge Slate in the (geology.com) Bavarian Forest, Odenwald in Germany, to name a few.

Basalt (geology.com

Mar

Marble (ge

Slate

Basic Knowledge of Stones. http://www.indian-stones.com/aboutstones/ (2013-10-17).

BGS Rock Classification Scheme. (2014) http://www.bgs.ac.uk/ bgsrcs/home.html (2014-01-17).

List of rock types. (2013) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_ of_rock_types (2013-10-15).

Metamorphic Rocks. (2013) http://geology.com/rocks/metamorphic-rocks.shtml (2013-10-18).

Sandsteinbrunnen aus aller Welt. http://www.sandsteinbrunnen. at/sandstein_info2.html (2013-10-16).

Steine und Mineralien. (2013) http://www.steine-und-minerale. de (2013-10-17).

REFERENCES Bergartslära. http://www.sgu.se/sgu/sv/geologi/berg/bergart_s. htm (2013-11-06).

Types of Stone & other Facts. (1990) http://www.modernmarble.net/Typeofstone.html (2013-10-17).

Hallindens Granit. http://www.hallindensgranit.se/(2013-1126).

Pictures: Hallindens Granite: own source other Stones: http://geology.com MATERIAL & DETAIL

23

stone / material properties

Granite Steel Pinewood [N/mm²] 400 350 300 250 200 150 100

Material and mechanical properties of stone When working with stone, or any material for that matter, it is crucial to consider its material and mechanical properties. Not only is it a criteria for designing structure and space which can stand and be resilient, but it should be a deciding factor in the concept design of an architectural process.

Understanding the behavior of a certain material liberates the design process and gives new inputs to what it might do.

Natural stone is arguably the most archaic, and iconic, building material in architectural history, but the properties which has made it an important material resource through history are the very same that create a challenge for anyone who seeks new ways of controlling stone and using it to create space and structure.

24

MATERIAL & DETAIL

VARIATION & CHEMICAL RESISTANCE The traditional use of stone as an aggregated, modular building system reveals the most prominent mechanical property of most stone; its compression strength. However, in the multitude of types of stone there is great variation, in terms of compression as well as all other material properties of architectural interest.

The durability of stone is commonly sought after. However, in a comparison between two types of stone which have equal resistance to for instance physical force, one can be much more sensitive to acid erosion than the other.

Limestone and silicate bound sandstone can serve as an example, where the former is sensitive to acid erosion while the latter is not, yet both are used in similar contexts. When choosing between different types of stone in a project this example shows the importance of knowing how it will react to its new natural

and human situations, e.g. acid rain, cleaning products, road salt, and pollution.

TOUGHNESS Considering granite as a mechanical element it fulfills many expectations on behavior in that it’s a hard, dense and durable type of stone.

As we have seen, granite could be considered a natural composite material and is made up of different proportions of minerals. This composition decides all properties of the stone. A term which is not commonly used by geologists, though is relevant when looking at applying stone as a structural material or architectural surface, is hardness or toughness.

A quite unscientific term, toughness relates to the stones ability to sustain its initial form, e.g. if cut in a block that its edges or surfaces does not shave off or break due to brittleness or aren’t easily scratched or carved into by other physical objects or chemical processes. In

50 0

granite compositions the appearance of quartz, which is the hardest mineral existent in granite rock, is relative to the toughness of the stone.

POROSITY The ability for a stone to absorb water is defined by the porosity, which is relatively low in all types of stone compared to other materials. In granite, the absorption is about 0,1 % of the mass of the stone. An applied aspect of that is the stone’s resistance to frost breaking.

ENDURANCE Besides the compression strength of stone, there are a few other aspects to consider in regarding the endurance. While the ability to absorb compressional force is arguably higher than in any other material, the flexural strength of stone is on the other side of the spectra meaning that stone is a rigid material and will crack without bending. Stone is an aggregated

material in its natural state. An important aspect of this is the occurrence of weak zones. These occur where the composition of minerals is different, where the directions of the crystalline structure is in conflict or where alien matter is pocketed, like air, soil or fossils.

Weak zones affect the structural integrity of a stone object and should be considered.

DIRECTION Natural stone is created from the accumulation of more or less parallel layers of material over time, which gives it an inherit material direction.

This direction of the bed, or the grains of the stone, is crucial when regarding the cutting of stone. Thus, similarly to wood, stone cleaves more easily when cut along the direction of the fibers. However, since the grains in stone are horizontal, it can’t be cleaved along its natural curves directly in the mountain, but has to be rotated once it’s extracted.

Compressive Strength

Flexural Strength

CONCLUSION By the use of modern design tools, the limitations of working with stone doen’t have to be taken in to account to the same extent.

While in the past, properties like the structural direction of the stone where crucial to the design process, today there is less need to calculate on the mechanical premises of the material. However, this can also have negative implications, where the imagination of the designer surpasses the actual possibilities of what the stone can do.

REFERENCES Johansson, Kurt. Natursten - som bygg- och anläggningsmaterial.

StenForsk, Kristianstad, 2011.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

25

STONE / TOOLING

Stone tooling Using the method of sawing for tooling stone is an ancient principle, dating at least to the construction of the pyramids of Egypt. Interestingly, what was cutting edge then is yet again so today: wire-cutting.

There is no real change to the basics, but where the constructions of by-gone eras were cut in straight lines from rock with leather string and sand as medium, industrial tooling utilizes metal wire mounted with diamond segments capable of motion in X, Y and Z direction.

The in between saw the development of the frame saw, where a straight blade is attached to a movable frame, and the introduction of the circular diamond blade in the 1960’s, which had immense implication to the efficiency of the stone cutting industry.

What is common to all methods of sawing is the use of the tools’ motion in combina26

MATERIAL & DETAIL

tion with some kind of wearing medium to cut through the stone. The motion is primarily circular in one direction - circular blade – straight in one direction – diamond wire-cutting and chain saw – or straight in two direction – frame saw. The wearing medium is usually of one of two types: loose – quarts or steel sand – or solid, as in the case of the diamond segments in the circular blade and the diamond mounted wire. In the case of solid medium, it is always embedded in a binding medium that holds it in place and reduces in parallel to the tear of the segments, exposing new, sharp segment edges.

Sawing through stone is either done by cutting through the material in one cut, full cut, or in several shallow cuts, step cuts. The former is common for cutting thick plates and hard mineral, such as granite, while the latter in thin slices and soft material such as marble.

Application of water is used in the process in order to cool down the stone, reducing the

probability of cracking, transporting the surplus of stone dust resulting from the tool cutting the stone and, in the case of loose medium usage, holding the medium in place.

A special case is high pressure water jet, where the features of water are used as motion, medium and transportation in one process.

Sand is used as an abrasive material in the jet.

In the following pages, brief definitions of the processes of wire-cutting, frame sawing and sawing with a rotating circular blade are presented.

DIAMOND WIRE-CUTTING The method of cutting is based on the one way movement of a steel wire, threaded through beadlike cylinders separated by metal distances.

During the cutting process, the wire is kept in constant rotation around its own axis in order to keep the tear of the diamonds even. An unevenly torn medium would result in an uneven cut.

Wire-cutting is very flexible and is used in quarries for the extraction of blocks, for slicing them and for refining the product with figurecutting. The construction of the saw can be made relatively small (for a stone tool) and the ability to figure cut in three axes has increased its usability, as well as the diamond wire’s ability to cut in granite.

The current state-of-the-art techniques of wire cutting involves machines installed with multiples wires, greatly increasing efficiency, as well as ones capable of cutting double curved surfaces.

RAME SAW The method is based on the back-and-forth motion of a frame mounted blade, its length exceeding the total length of the cut. The most common motion of the frame saw is horizontal in one plane, using a solid medium, where it is in constant contact with the stone. Some frame saws utilize a pendulum motion with sand as loose medium, where the friction of the sand wears a cut in the stone as the blade swings.

Since the blade is not in constant contact with the medium, though, this makes the method considerably less efficient. However, it has been an enduring technique in the cutting of granite, as it is a hard material and more difficult to work with for the diamond blades.

CIRCULAR BLADE The circular blade is utilized in the cutting of blocks, with diameters up to 3,5 m. It always uses a solid diamond medium as wear which is mounted on the periphery of the blade. The blade rotates with its peripheral surface inside the block, dividing it into smaller slices in the direction of the blade. Either the blade is moving in relation to the block or vice versa, with the stone on trolleys.

In order to keep the slices stable, the block is not cut all the way through. To achieve even greater stability, the lower part of the block can be moulded in plaster.

The trace, or void, the saw leaves behind as it cuts is called a seam. The seam of large blades with a diameter of 3.0 m is approximately 15 mm wide, which implies a considerable amount of waste material if smaller pieces are to be produced. If, for instance, floor tiles are cut a vertical-horizontal saw is used instead, where MATERIAL & DETAIL

27

STONE / TOOLING

STONE / TOOLING

polisihng medium water

water

head

head

segment

polishing felt

Honing

Polishing

Axial milling

multiple smaller blades are working simultaneously on the surface of the block. They are working fast and leave a small seam behind, approximately 8 mm on a blade with a diameter of 1 m.

granite, it brings out the color and structure of the material.

Polishing works by the same principles as honing and the same equipment is used, but results in an even smoother surface. Instead of a honing segment, a felt disc is used in combination with a polishing medium and reduced water distribution.

Curved surfaces must be worked by handheld tools but plane surfaces are usually honed and polished in automated serial processes where multiple heads are tooling the stone simultaneously. As the process involves rotational motion and usually orthogonal blocks, additional measurements must be added to all sides as the head can not reach corners. Honing and polishing are therefore often placed before refined edge cutting in the chain of production, given that the piece of stone is larger than the diameter of the head. Heads, in turn, can consist of one large and fixed or several small

and movable rotating parts. The latter can cover large areas with small diameters but the construction of the machine on which they’re attached is more complex and space consuming.

HONING AND POLISHING Honing is the process of evening a surface from rough to smooth by friction and appliance of pressure. In industrial stone tooling this is achieved by the rotating motion of a head, to wich diamond segments are mounted by a binding medium. Since rock is initially very roughly cut, the transmission to evenness is iterated in several steps. Water is constantly distributed through the head over the honed surface, as redundant stone material equals scratching and friction increases heat.

A honed surface is very resistant to contaminants and may be crafted to very precise measurements. Also, especially in the case of 28

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Heads for hand-held bushhammers

MILLING Milling is a technique for semi-rough evening – or reducing thickness - of surfaces and for creating profiles and edges in the material. The tool itself can vary in appearance and use but is based on the rotation of diamond mounted discs.

In axial milling, the wearing medium is mounted on the peripheral surface of the disc, functioning as a comparably thick saw blade or a wheel. These mills can be mounted on the place of the blade in circular saws. A radial mill – or bowl mill – has the segments placed on the discs’ planar surface, functioning rather like honing or polishing, and can usually be mounted on such kind of equipment. For milling of curved edges – for instance on gravestones – a radial mill is used with a planar, cylindrical disc.

CUT, PLANING, DIAMOND DRILLING Cutting is a method for dividing stone by means of hydraulic pressure and the edges of two juxtaposed blades, one fixed and one movable. The pressure placed on the stone between the edges cracks it along its natural direction of cleaving, creating a raw surface. Stones for street paving are commonly produced in this way.

Diamond drills are used to produce apertures in stone, varying in diameter between 4 – 1000 mm with no obvious upper limit of depth.

Planing is used to reduce or even the surface of limestone. A fixed metal blade, between 100 – 200 mm wide, scales the stone as it moves beneath it in the same manner as wood is planed. This baeutiful technique is occurring only in Sweden and the United States for no apparent reason. As the width of the blade is limited, a line occurs in the surface of a stone planed several times.

BUSH HAMMERING AND FLAMING Bushhammering originates from the craft of making the surfaces of roughly cut stone blocks planar, using a hammer that leaves a distinct pattern in the surface of the material.

Nowadays, most bushhammering is an automated process applied to already sawed and even surfaces – i.e. it’s a matter of aesthetic surface treatment.

The hammerhead is covered to varying degree and size of pins or teeth - creating the pattern – graded in roughness from 1 to 5, 5 being the most smooth. Semi-automatic bushhammering, mounted on podium or handheld, are driven by air pressure and have interchangeable heads, varying in pattern and grading. The largest podium mounted machine is called ‘Sputnik’. The heads are rotating across the surface, reducing the probability of stripedness in the pattern.

To handle large areas of a planar surfaces, MATERIAL & DETAIL

29

STONE / TOOLING

STONE / TOOLING

Wedging

for the most part automated machine processes are utilized. The stone slates move along a line, refined by rotating sets of multiple hammerheads.

The edge where roughly chiseled and hammered surfaces meet (edge plane to surface plane) is usually chiseled once more to refine the edge. The process is driven by hydraulic pressure and is very effective, but it’s important to note that for curved surfaces the hand held bush hammering tools is the only way to work!

Flaming is a way of achieving a surface texture that is similar to that of raw cleft stone.

The surface is rapidly heated by a flame, that is in constant motion over the surface not to crack it with water as a cooling medium. In comparison to the raw cleft surface, the flaming is a controlled process.

30

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Totth axe

WEDGING In wedging, holes are drilled on a line inscribed in the stone in which wedges are subsequently placed. As pressure is applied to the wedges – for instance by a sledge hammer – they are pushed deeper into the stone and invoke tractive tension in the material. As the tension becomes larger than the strength of the material, the material cracks. By applying more pressure, the crack in the stone is spreading and separates the block from the source material. The exact moment when the crack is expanding within the rock is very distinct, and the sense of hearing has traditionally been important in quarry work.

The technique can be used both for separating blocks from solid rock and for subdividing blocks into smaller parts.

In addition to this mainly industrial approach to stone cutting, some ways of handcrafting stone are further described: SPLITTING The stones are cut into nearly straight blocks at their vertical joints at app. 3-5cm depth.

This results in an irregular surface with bumps of app. 5 cm height. These bumps are called ‘boss’. If the material can be split faultlessly the outcome will be slabs without boss but with slight irregularities which will produce shuttering joint extrusions when they are put together.

The extrusions can be blasted with a wedge.

DRESSING The split surface is treated with a pointed chisel until a roughly even surface arises. This is done perpendicular to the surface.

BUSHHAMMERING After sharpening the surface it can be refined with the bushhammer. The bumps are reduced to a height of 2mm. This method is applicable for hard stone.

TOOLING WITH THE STONE AXE With the stone axe small, short cuts can be executed perpendicular to the face. The blade leaves long and thin recesses.

SLOTTING With the app. 2-5cm broad slotting tool and a pneumatic drill parallel, straight or curved line structures can be achieved. Between these line structures ridges of arbitrary breadth remain.

This method is applicable for soft stone or marble.

Slotting

CHARRING The scarifier is 3-20cm broad and has a smooth cutting edge. It is hammered with a wooden bludgeon or a pneumatic drill. A hard stroke (which is used for hard stone) results in a sharp, broken edge and a soft stroke (which is applicable for soft stone) causes a concave structure.

GRANULATING The tooth axe’s row of teeth is perpendicular to the handle. Therefore the stroke cannot be dragged but has to be applied either perpendicular or until a pitch of 75°. The result is a brisk, fine or roughly structured surface.

PLANNING Handheld planing is conducted with an app.

20-26cm long wooden planer with steel blades of different inclination. Machine planed surfaces are smooth but have recesses. The distance between the recesses can be varied. The planed

Charring

surfaces are usually grinded in the end. This method is only applicable for soft stone.

GRINDING The grinding is performed within a few steps with ever finer abrasive grain. (From grain no.

240 no more grinding marks are visible anymore). The finer the grinding the better the visibility of the structure and the color of the stone is accentuated.

POLISHING Natural glossiness and best color is shown when the surface is refined with tin ash and a felt wheel. Outdoors the glossiness of chalk and marble fades during time but prehistoric rock keeps is over many years.

REFERENCES Johansson, Kurt. Stenteknik. SFI, Stenindustrins forksningsinstitut, YFIND, Yrkesnämnden för fabriksindustri, 2010 MATERIAL & DETAIL

31

Stone / Surface finishes

Raw cleft

Bushhammered

Flamed

Diamond sawn

Ground

Polished

ished, however clay slate and sandstone cannot.

Carbonate stone has some problems with thaw salt and need the right finish if it is to be used outdoors. When applying finish with high mechanical pressure one also needs to take the minimal stone thickness into account to avoid undesired cracks.

It is often easier and much more economical to treat large stone surfaces. Large and flat, or even slightly curved, surfaces can easily be bushhammered or flamed. If the stone has a complex shape the manual labor involved will dramatically increase the cost of the finish. If the stone has a high degree of curves it might be close to impossible to use techniques that involve hammering, especially if the stone is not thick enough. Flaming and polishing can be used in most scenarios, flaming in particular is often well suited for complex shapes since it can be done by hand using a torch.

AFTER TREATMENT It is often tempting to provide the stone with qualities that are not inherent to the stone itself, such as making a surface that is easier to clean. It is generally better to pick proper stone with the qualities you seek than to alter its qualities with chemical surface treatments. For anti-graffiti treatment it is better to use onetime treatment that needs to be reapplied when washed. With permanent treatment comes the risk of permanent alteration the appearance of the stone. There exists a wide variety of different resins and other sealing chemical today, most are not necessary unless faced with extreme environments.

lichen can be applied to create interesting patterns. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art opened a rooftop sculpture garden in 2009, where the walls are built with porous gray lava stone and the designer collaborated with a lichenologist. The intention is to have the lichens grow and transform the walls over the next twenty years. For a quicker approach, with the right mix of fertilizer and moss, you can paint a texture or pattern on stone known as moss graffiti. This could of course also be used in order to add patina.

have attractive reflective properties, but are very slippery. These are therefore not appropriate for flooring in a wet environment. Rougher surfaces, such as flamed, water/sand blasted or honed, are non-slippery, but are hard to clean.

Brushed and laser treated surfaces are a compromise with average slipperiness and sufficient cleanability.

Surface finishes VERSATILITY Stone is one of the most versatile building elements, with properties ranging from the pure constructional, into the aesthetic realm. Besides how it can be worked into to the most wonderful of forms, you can also add a rich variety of properties by working its surface. The stone will greatly change its characteristics depending on what type of finish one would settle for.

These finishes can be added for aesthetic reasons but often overlooked are the functional aspects the different kind of finish brings with it. It is possible to drastically enrich the stone durability, increasing or decreasing its water absorption, or safety in terms of grip or sharp angles. There is also the possibility to enrich its functions when it comes to the perceived environment, sound dispersion, reflections and absorption.

32

MATERIAL & DETAIL

HISTORY Working with the stones surface an architect or designer can also chose to use its inherent history to convey a message: be it by the fossils it may contain, by inscribing text or pictures.

In renaissance and baroque architecture surface finish was a common tool for accentuating and enhancing form. In the classicist facade order the treatment shifts from using rough cleft on the rustic bottom floor to smoother surfaces higher up and finely chiseled details on the upper parts of the facade.

CONDITIONS It is important to keep the inherent properties of the stone in mind when choosing. The stone industry usually defines stone in categories of hard and soft. The material strength determines which finish can be applied. Most granite-like silicate stones and most carbonate stones, such as marble, limestone and travertine, can be pol-

GROWTH Besides these more conventional treatments there are a few less common but interesting alternatives. It is possible to introduce organic and living textures to the stone, moss and

SAFETY Problems with safety might occur when one tries to combine the esthetic and practical values of stone without proper consideration.

Two practical qualities that are hard to combine are easy cleaning and low slipperiness. Fine polished surfaces that are easy to clean always reveal stone texture and color intensity better,

COMMON FINISHES Common finishes for different types of stone available today are: Granite: rough cleft, flamed, bush hammered, honed, polished.

Slate: natural cleft, honed, polished.

Limestone: natural cleft, planed, flamed, bush hammered, honed, polished, chiseled, tooth chiseled.

Marble: bush hammered, honed, polished, chiseled, tooth chiseled.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

33

Phase 1 Projective geometry Phase 1 was aimed at getting into experimental and rigorous drawing techniques related to projective geometry, boolean logics and the cutting of solids, and different ways of designing apertures through oblique projection of curves or figures onto solid objects.

Work was carried out with focus on using solid modeling in Rhino and enhanced geometric control through operation parametrization in Grasshopper.¹ This was coupled with fabrication techniques and a continuation of exploring projection with particular focus on apertures².

The modeling exercises explored design qualities through concepts such as porosity, sidedness, posture, figuration and niche, themes through which the design explorations are presented in this chapter.

34

MATERIAL & DETAIL

FOOTNOTES: 1. Grasshopper is a parametric software plug-in for Rhino 3D and was foremost used to simulate the actual cutting of stone, but also to parametrically control the projective geometry to assist in achieving a iterative design process.

2. An aperture is an opening, often to view or for literal passage, through a surface – the discrete moment at which there is a visible passage from one side to another.

- Greg Lynn, “Apertures” MATERIAL & DETAIL

35

Sidedness Ways to make two sides of the volume appear different from each other. Careful consideration of the angles of a projected differential volume onto a solid will allow for a directionality in the processed object that can open for many programmatic and experiential possibilities. For example, how to use sidedness to respond to the different scenarios on the site or how to create visual deception by making an aperture appear flat from one side and deep from another.

36

MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL

37

Phase 1 / Sidedness

Phase 1 / Sidedness

38

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Figure 4.0 / Marcus H책kansson / Multiple projections, breaking down the block in order to rearrange. / Using the negatives to create a new shape.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

39

Phase 1 / Sidedness

Phase 1 / Sidedness

40

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Dematerialize / Johan Siim / Exploring sidedness through depth versus flatness: Carving the colume to create exterior sidedness. / Carving out the volume to create interior sidedness.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

41

Phase 1 / Sidedness

Phase 1 / Sidedness

42

MATERIAL & DETAIL

From A to Ă– / Denitsa Dineva / The positive and negative object have self-balanced, eye catching and characteristic profiles from each possible point of view from which they are approached.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

43

Phase 1 / SIDEDNESS

Phase 1 / SIDEDNESS

44

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Satellit / Simon Gotthard / In explorating sidedness using the technique of lofting, a controlled geometry on one face of the solid is lofted to a less controlled geometry, creating apertures through it.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

45

Phase 1 / SIDEDNESS

Phase 1 / SIDEDNESS

46

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Satellit / Simon Gotthard / The natural surface finish of the stone block is contrasted to machine cuts, which creates different textures depending on their scale.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

47

Phase 1 / SIDEDNESS

Phase 1 / SIDEDNESS

48

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Dematerialize / Jenny Folke / A stone block that can be assembled in many different ways, like a building block.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

49

Posture Explorations on how an object stands in relation to its surroundings or to itself, how it may defy gravity or appear to look tilted.

Experimenting with posture is a constant tension between cuts in steep angles and the mass of the material. Awareness of viewpoints, hidden lines and angular visual effect are also key.

50

MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL

51

Phase 1 / Posture

Phase 1 / Posture

52

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Figure 4.0 / Marcus H책kansson / Two curves at oblique angles, creating a sense of movement. / Slicing and rotating the shapes, deforming the initial block.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

53

Phase 1 / Posture

54

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 1 / Posture

Satellit / Tabea Wackler / The interesting intersection of a straight line and a curve is the main focus of this design. By adding parallel pipes, the upper surface gets resolved.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

55

Phase 1 / Posture

Phase 1 / Posture

56

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Satellit / Ola N Ederborn / By projecting geometrical shapes along a spiral-like curve, the resulting object becomes a monolithic structure which has a seemingly impossible posture.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

57

Phase 1 / Posture

58

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 1 / Posture

Satellit / Ola N Ederborn / A spiral is divided into several shards, projected from different angles but in such a way that the spiral shape is maintained where the projections enter the block.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

59

Phase 1 / Posture

Phase 1 / Posture

60

MATERIAL & DETAIL

From A to Ă– / Sophie Wiedemann / Smooth and obliquely angled curves reshape the block, disturbing its rigid rectangular structure and creating different appearances as you move around it.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

61

Phase 1 / Posture

Phase 1 / Posture

62

MATERIAL & DETAIL

From A to Ă– / Anders Nilsson / Simple intersections of curves, carving out a piece of rock balancing on three points: a tip-toe installation in a no-hands posture.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

63

Figure The use of recognizable figures and symbols to alter, diffuse, enhance, or create legibility in the solid block. As such, creating a different spatial output than the features present in the initial state of the block.

The figural approach makes a direct relation to the historic way of stone working, especially in looking at traditional sculpting out of solid blocks of stone.

64

MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL

65

Phase 1 / Figure

66

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 1 / Figure

Figure 4.0 / Hugo Jutler / Bench with support carved out of block with remaining shell serving as signpost.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

67

Phase 1 / Figure

Phase 1 / Figure

68

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Figure 4.0 / Hugo Jutler / Letters projected to block in slight angles and distortion.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

69

Phase 1 / Figure

Phase 1 / Figure

70

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Figure 4.0 / Hugo Jutler / Repetition of apertures on hollowed out monoliths.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

71

Phase 1 / Figure

Phase 1 / Figure

72

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Dematerialize / Robin Karlsson / Negative and positive sides of age and gender as they merge together. / When 2d becomes 3d, you can sit in the face of art.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

73

Phase 1 / Figure

Phase 1 / Figure

74

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Satellit, Figure 4.0 / Tabea Wackler, Anna Tomschik / From one side the surface of the block bears a sign of a clear arrow, from the other side an abstract pattern based on triangles.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

75

Niche The rigorous exploration of creating spaces inside a wall, potentially for programming, but also for testing structural and compositional limits. There are various ways of looking at the syntax of a niche – e.g. as an offset aperture or a spline carving into a solid’s surface.

76

MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL

77

Phase 1 / niche

Phase 1 / Niche

78

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Figure 4.0 / Mantas Nainys / Gathered around: a splitting manner that creates objects with pace and at the same time suggests a circular arrangement, evoking interest.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

79

Phase 1 / niche

Phase 1 / Niche

80

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Figure 4.0 / Mantas Nainys / Mimicking living world forms to accommodate character to the block.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

81

Phase 1 / niche

Phase 1 / Niche

82

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Figure 4.0 / Mantas Nainys / Approach of mystery and monumentality, exploring benefits of symmetry and niching.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

83

Phase 1 / niche

Phase 1 / Niche

84

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Satellit / Ola N Ederborn / Different geometrical shapes are projected from various angles, some aligned to meet at a certain point in the block, carving out niches and shelvings.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

85

Phase 1 / niche

Phase 1 / Niche

86

MATERIAL & DETAIL

From A to Ă– / Sophie Wiedemann / Rectangular cuts hollow the volume while keeping its initial shape. The precise intersection at the edges plays with the perceived thickness of the material.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

87

Phase 1 / Niche

88

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 1 / niche

From A to Ă– / Anders Nilsson / Exploring niches and cavities through the intersections of curves and the relationships of thick and thin.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

89

Phase 1 / NICHE

Phase 1 / NICHE

90

MATERIAL & DETAIL

From A to Ă– / Denitsa Dineva / By the contrast of small and large scale niche apertures an intriguing interior space is achieved, enriched with details and the diverse play of light and shadow.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

91

Porosity Ways to subtract several intersecting volumes from a solid so that its reference datum partially or completely disappears and to create directed openings that respond to specific sight-lines across a solid.

Porosity is a focus which deals with tactility, physical or imaginative. This means the stone’s surface can be sharp but appear soft, or appear brittle but be hard as a rock.

92

MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL

93

Phase 1 / PoRosity

94

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 1 / Porosity

Satellit / Hannes Okruch / Similar to a cloud, the geometry has a dense centre and outfading borders. The centre is vertex point for smaller apertures, creating a sequence of changing porosity.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

95

Phase 1 / Porosity

96

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 1 / Porosity

Figure 4.0 / Marcus H책kansson / Exploring directional porosity through oblique angles, mixing circles and curves.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

97

Phase 1 / PoRosity

98

MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 1 / Porosity

Figure 4.0 / Anna Tomschik / Intersection of two rectanglular patterns generates interplay of porosity and sidedness. What is providing perspective from one angle divides space from another.

MATERIAL & DETAIL

99

Phase 1 / Porosity

Phase 1 / PoRosity

100 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Dematerialize / Jenny Folke / The apertures create see-through in several directions. The gap generates apertures in layers.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 101

Phase 1 / Porosity

Phase 1 / PoRosity

102 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Dematerialize / Antonin Gros / Creating effects by dematerializing the block, though keeping its main features.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 103

Phase 1 / PoRosity

104 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 1 / Porosity

Satellit / Hannes Okruch / Assumed Equality, how a solid can appear similar from the outside, pierced with identical holes, while having diverse apartures, differently connected through the inside.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 105

Phase 1 / Porosity

Phase 1 / PoRosity

106 MATERIAL & DETAIL

From A to Ă– / Anders Nilsson / Creating space and porosity through two operations: one complex using multiple simple cuts, one simple using a single complex cut.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 107

PHASE 1 / 3d-PRINT MODELS

108 MATERIAL & DETAIL

PHASE 1 / RENDERS

MATERIAL & DETAIL 109

PHASE 1 / RENDERS

110 MATERIAL & DETAIL

PHASE 1 / RENDERS

MATERIAL & DETAIL 111

Phase 2 / DESIGN

Phase 2 Design To develop a stone installation applied to a site.

The research done in phase 1 was further developed within phase 2 into a complete architectural proposal, located on a site within Vasaallén in the city center of Gothenburg, opposite to the entrance of Röhsska museet. The main point of departure was to use the technique of projective geometry on the mass of stone in order to create an architectural installation in front of the museum, interacting with the urban context and engaging people passing by. Four teams from the studio developed one design proposal each, of which one was chosen to move forward to production in phase 3.

Crit day showing pin-up of the competition proposal From A to Ö.

Designs were evaluated on the grounds of the following criteria:

2a. Volume: The amount of raw material available, in this case approximately 3 m3 of granite rock.

- Design quality - How well the design makes use of stone as a material - Feasibility, possibility to realize the design within the amount of material and machine time that is given.

2b. Sequencing: The sequencing of cutting, cleaving and other means of shaping the stone. In what order should the initial block of stone be cut in order to arrive at the required number of pieces for a certain design?

The design proposals of phase 2 were constituted of the six parts below.

2c. Time and cutting speeds: It is important to calculate the cut surface in order to plan, and optimize, the time spent in the manufacturing mode. It is likely that the number of sequential cuts must be limited since there is a start-up time for each cut.

3.Subdivision and assembly An important parameter to be considered was how each design proposal could be manufactured in several pieces, assembled and secured to each other on site. The teams were also to take into account material efficiency and waste in order to use most of the stone block.

2d. Minimum block sizes and size of wire: The wire-cutter cannot be used on blocks that weigh less than 100 kg. The wire has a diameter of minimum 10 mm, meaning that small holes are difficult to achieve and that there will be a material loss where the wire is cutting.

Note that cutting a large block into a few smaller pieces has implications on the manufacturing process as well as the assembly process.

1.Research from phase 1 Each team continued the research into projective geometry and Boolean logic, considering the themes explored in the prior face, at the same time trying to define a common trajectory of work for the teams’ design proposal. This was also complemented with extensive case studies shared within the studio to in fluence the design process.

2.Raw material and manufacturing In phase 2 each team expanded their knowledge of the possibilities and limitations of stone as a material for manufacturing. The following parameters were to be taken into account while working with stone in this manner:

112 MATERIAL & DETAIL

2e. Internal cuts: When cutting a hole that is internal to a block, the wire must enter the block in some way. It is possible to drill a hole and then insert the wire, depending on the depth of the block.

Otherwise, the wire has to slice the block in order to get to its interior.

2f. Finishing: Different means of finishing, including the work time required. When moving from a computer design environment it is important to remember that the unworked, natural stone already has a strong texture which can be utilized. The smooth object finish, inherent to computer design tools, is another step of processing, thus not the preexisting state.

4.Purpose and program The purpose/program of the studio was to create an installation made of stone in front of the main entrance of Röhsska museet.

Although loosely defined, the program was to address the following requirements:

4a. Functional requirement: The installation should work well during wintertime and provide opportunities for seating and playful exploration. It should provide horizontal surfaces in such a way that drinks can be served during the opening.

4b. Spatial definition: The design ought to create a well-defined space at the busy strip of Vasagatan in front of the museum. This is important for the experience of the installation, but also for security reasons due to the proximity to the street.

4c. Visual interest: The spatial and visual engagement of visitors approaching from many different directions and distances, drawing inspiration from design qualities of phase 1.

5.Site and context Design proposals were to make a direct relationship to the main entrance of the museum and the location in Vasaallén, i.e. the tree-lined strip called Vasaallén in-between the bicycle path and the street opposite the entrance. The projects were to be studied as part of the context and how they could enrich the urban experience of the large site area, adding to both spatial definition and visual interest.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 113

Phase 2 / workflow

Studio workflow Mimicking stone cutting workflow with models From the start the design workflow within the studio has been focused on mimicking the way stone is cut in manufacturing; by using a wire-cutter that operates within two axes, the X and Z. This allows for an understanding of the material processing, from idea to finished project, and informs the design process to make it richer and to allow for the delivering of a realistic design proposal.

Normally one would first make a sketch, and then convert the sketch into a design proposal.

Then when being built the design is adjusted to fit the materials needed to build it. However, since we know that we are using stone in the format of one specific block and that it will be cut by a two axis wire-cutter, it is possible to understand and use the art of cutting stone while simultaneously working on design iterations.

114 MATERIAL & DETAIL

The methodology of processing a material like stone is unique in the way that solids are cut by projecting geometric figures on them.

This process is vital to understand and design, since each cut not only creates the piece of the solid which was intended to come out but it also creates negative shapes, the off-cuts. This integral result of using today’s stone working method holds great design possibilities and has been closely considered by using the method described above. As a result, all proposals in phase 2 were achieving almost 100% material efficiency through careful cutting design and reassembly of the stone pieces.

Digital models The way to mimic stone cutting within digital models is through projective geometry. The software used by the studio for 3D modelling is Rhino 3D. Rhino is a surface modelling software that can handle curves projected onto the

The foam cutting machine (left) is analogues to the stone cutting machine (right).

surfaces of a block. So what one is doing in the studio is creating curves that will cut through the block, defining how each curve is made, and where it will be projected onto the block.

How the pieces from the cut out block are assembled then defines the end result.

The second reason why Rhino is used is that it has a parametric plugin software called Grasshopper. Within Grasshopper one creates a parametric system of curve-to-surface projections. This means that a so called drawing machine is produced, where the machine can fine tune a design proposal through an iterative, experimental process. When the parametric drawing machine is set up, done through the programming language of Grasshopper, one then starts drawing by tweaking the parameters of all the variables in the design, e.g. the curves for cutting or the solid block dimensions, to get out a multitude of slight variations.

Analogue models Simply mimicking stone cutting in digital format and expect that it will be possible to fabricate and assemble without any hurdle will not work. To understand and see the digital model as a physical entity as well is crucial.

Physical models are vital in the understanding of how stone is cut with a wire. To mimic the procedure of stone, foam is used and cut by a hot wire-cutter. This is more or less as close one can get to a direct replica of stone cutting.

Foam of course is lightweight in relation to the heavy stone, and the wire-cutting through foam is more about melting the foam rather than sawing through it, but still the concept of creating cuts and volumes through this process is identical to the one in stone manufacturing.

Small sketch models were first made by using the manual foam cutter, normally used for making architectural models. This works to an extent because first of all the foam cutter is

small (1:100). The main problem, though, lies in that the hot wire is fixed vertically and to cut as the manufacturing machines would, one needs to move the foam through the wire, for example making precision in angles and continuous splines very difficult. However, as an intuitive and experimental sketch tool it works very well.

In other words it works well initially in the design process and successful models have been made within the studio, but when the needs to do large mockups (1:5) of the digital models arise - to get a better understanding of space and details - other technologies are required. The CNC hot wire-cutter allows one to cut foam directly fed by the projection curves made in Rhino. A .dxf file is exported from Rhino and fed into the software of the CNC hot wire-cutter. Since the studios hot wirecutter only uses two axes, the foam block must be placed in such a way to allow the wire to cut

in the specific angle one wants the foam block to be cut in.

Jigs are used to tilt the foam block in Z angle. The jigs are then placed on to the base of the cutting machine and rotated to adjust the X angle. By using this method we can produce a complex geometry just by tilting and rotating the foam block. At this stage the design studio operates very closely to the exact same fabrication methods used by the industry but although the CNC hot wire-cutter is a direct replica of the stone wire-cutter, issues of actual stone fabrication, such as the massive weight of stone and also its brittle nature, needed to be dealt with after the winning competition design proposal from phase 2 was announced.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 115

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

1.0 Figure

2.0 Figure

3.0 Figure

3.1 + 2.1 Bench

1.1 + 1.2 Bench

0°

90°

Figure 4.0 Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the site outside the entrance to the Röhsska museet, where Vasagatan meets Avenyn, is its mixture of visitors and passers-by. It is a destination for culture, shopping, clubbing and life in the fast lane. It also works as communications node for public transportation, a thoroughfare for bikers and general meeting point. This diversity of people and the public character of the place is what our project aim to reflect. Our installation is conceived as a collection of similar pieces but with differing “personalities”, expressed in posture and size, adding an abstract or slightly alien presence to the already unlikely crowd.

By a repetition of shapes and angles, and a formality to the geometry, we allow for variance while keeping a sense of common origin.

This also gives us a natural opportunity to play with specific interactions between the pieces depending on the position of the viewer, and in this way activates the site further. From certain 116 MATERIAL & DETAIL

points the objects frame a view, from others they reach for a common point. Inscribed to certain sides of the pieces are grooves which, from the specific viewpoint were the pieces combine to one bigger whole, align to create the words “silence” and “voice”, a comment on the willful obfuscation of the text and a counterpoint to the commotion and the attention grabbing of public signs and advertisement.

These aspects of the installation are ways to invite public exploration and interaction.

180°

270°

Concept diagram Opposite: Introduction to the team’s competition proposal

MATERIAL & DETAIL 117

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

CUTTING SEQUENCE: 1. First division

5,20 m2

2. 1.2 Division

0,16 m2

3. 1.0 Profile

5,06 m2

4. 1.0 Silence projection

0,45 m2

5. 1.0 Voice projection

0,49 m2

6. 1.1 Voice projection

0,26 m2

7. 2.0 Profile

4,58 m2

8. 2.1 Bench support

0,24 m2

9. 2.0 Voice projection

0,36 m2

10. 3.0+3.1 Silence projection

0,42 m2

11. 3.0 Profile

2,44 m2

#11

#12 #7

#1

12. 2.0 Holes (D=9cm) total:

19,65 m2

#10

3.0 1.1 #4 #5

#3 #8

3.1

#2 #2

1.2

#6

1.0

#9

2.1

2.0

118 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Diagram showing cutting principals of stone block through projective geometry

MATERIAL & DETAIL 119

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Starting block

120 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Dividing cuts

Profile cuts

Text cuts

Bench cuts

Diagram showing cutting sequence of stone block through projective geometry

Final arrangement

MATERIAL & DETAIL 121

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

1.0

0,45 m2 3.0

1.1

0,49 m2

1.2

1.0

5,06 m2

1.0 2.0 0,16 m2

1.1

0,26 m2

1.2

5,20 m2

122 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Stone block 1.0 Opposite: Initial stone block to be cut out

MATERIAL & DETAIL 123

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

2,44 m2 0,24 m

2

4,58 m

2

2.1

0,42 m2

3.1 3.0

3.0 2.1

2.0

2.0 3.1 0,36 m2

3.1

2.1

124 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Stone block 3.0 Opposite: Stone block 2.0

MATERIAL & DETAIL 125

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Framing

Self similar shapes

126 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Diagrams showing geometric principles Opposite: Perspective showing point of view where text becomes perceivable

MATERIAL & DETAIL 127

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

128 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Elevation of stone installation

MATERIAL & DETAIL 129

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

130 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Site plan of stone installation Opposite: Site in relation to the entrance of the Rรถhsska Museet

MATERIAL & DETAIL 131

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

132 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

View during night of stone installation

MATERIAL & DETAIL 133

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

134 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Close-up view showing point of view to reveal the text on the stone pieces Opposite: View from Vasaallen towards stone installation

MATERIAL & DETAIL 135

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

136 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Panoramic view of stone installation from VasaalleĂŠn

MATERIAL & DETAIL 137

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

138 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Foam model 1:5 of stone installation

MATERIAL & DETAIL 139

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

140 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Foam model 1:5 showing block with fitted pieces Opposite: Foam model 1:5 showing block with fitted pieces pulled out

MATERIAL & DETAIL 141

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

142 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Figure 4.0

Foam model 1:1 showing the cut out of text Opposite: Foam model 1:1 showing the cut out of text where the negative is pulled out

MATERIAL & DETAIL 143

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Initial sketch Sidedness - Röhsska museet Passive block side

1.

2.

3.

4.

2013 celebrates the buildings 100th anniversary.

Röhsska museet entrance Distance from proposal.

Street

Dematerialize

Block is cut out using a hexagon pattern.

Site

?

By dematerializing stone, it receives a capacity to become a dynamic and expressive entity.

Parts of the block are kept natural to articulate the massiveness of stone, while cut out parts let the block become fragmented; moving away from its rigid state towards a dematerialized one. The dematerialization is achieved by cutting out angled hexagonal projection lines onto the stone block that are then cut out by a CNC wire-cutter machine.

Contextual relationship The block is derived from the Röhsska museet entrance door and moves to the site within the alley. There it starts to dematerialize; moving from a rigid block towards a fragmented one. An aperture cut through the block guides views from the alley side towards the 1913 sign on the façade of the museum, celebrating the building’s 100th anniversary.

144 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Sidedness From the entrance of Röhsska museet the block is expressed as a monumental entity through a point perspective view. The fragmented side of the block offers a dynamic composition of misfit pieces, enhanced by the angled hexagonal pattern. This fragmentation contains opportunities for interaction that is directed towards passers-by from the alley.

Affordances Within the fragmented side of the block there are surfaces suitable for placing cups during an event and surfaces that afford sitting and leaning on, allowing passers-by from the alley to rest for a while. Children may use these surfaces instead in a more playful manner; such as for climbing and crawling. When not in use, these surface affordances become part of a larger whole, namely the block, and switch its purpose to become a sculptural piece.

Surface texture Two oppositional textured surfaces are applied to the block. One surface is rougher and relates to historical precedences of what a block typically is. The other surface is smoother, containing crisp edges enabled by the high technology of the CNC wire-cutter machine.

Final proposal Alley

Site between Röhsska museet and alley.

Glow in the dark Non-pigmented phosphorescent paint that glows in the dark is applied to the structure so when it becomes dark the block starts to glow, intensifying the hexagonal patterns; allowing for the dematerialized part of the block to become the main focus. But then during daytime the paint becomes invisible, letting the texture of the granite stone to become the dominant feature of the block.

Block derived from Röhsska museet entrance door.

Aperture view of 1913 sign from proposal.

Direct connection to proposal.

Initial sketch Sidedness - Alley Active fragmented side

Concept diagram Opposite: Introduction to the team’s competition proposal

MATERIAL & DETAIL 145

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

146 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Axonometric composite drawing

MATERIAL & DETAIL 147

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Stone block Weight = 10 530kg (3.9m3)

1// Projection hexagon pattern - cut 3

Projection hexagon pattern - cut 2

Projection hexagon pattern - cut 1

1.5m

Piece - F Piece - A

Cut 4 0.9m2 = 1h of cutting

2.6m

Piece - B

1m

Piece - D

Piece - E 2//

Cut 5 0.9m2 = 1h of cutting

Wire cutting sequence Total wire cuSSSme approx. 16h Part 1 Cut 1 - 8.9m2 = 9h Cut 2 - 1.7m2 = 2h Cut 3 - 1.4m2 = 2h Part 2 Cut 4 - 0.9m2 = 1h Cut 5 - 0.9m2 = 1h Cut 6 - 0.5m2 = 1h

Piece - D Piece - C

Pieces - total of 6 Piece A - 5800kg Piece B - 730kg Piece C - 870kg Piece D - 570kg Piece E - 1500kg Piece F - 590kg

Cut 6 0.5m2 = 1h of cutting

Piece - F Piece - E Piece - D

3//

Piece - C Cut 1 - 8.9m2 = 9h of cutting time (cut into smaller parts in part 2)

Steel plate base - L.3.7m x W.3.7m

Piece - C Cut 3 - 1.4m2 = 2h of cutting time Cut out for aperture (not to be used)

Cut 2 - 1.7m2 = 2h of cutting (to be attached onto the large piece (A))

Part 2 - wire cutting

Part 1 - wire cutting General information

Wire cutting sequence

Piece - E

Piece - A

Piece - B Attached piece 730kg

Piece - A

4//

Piece - B Piece - C Piece - D Centroid within the mass

Large piece 5800kg

Base

Piece - C Piece - F Standing piece 1500kg

Standing piece 870kg

5//

Piece - E Piece - F

Piece - D

Piece - E

Piece - B

Standing piece 570kg

3.7m

Standing piece 590kg

3.7m

Piece - F

Steel plate edge to be waterjet cut Anti-tilting stability - Piece A,B,C,D forms the main structure while E,F acts as an adhoc

Pieces - total of 6 (1large, 1 attached, 4 standing) Assembly sequence of pieces

148 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Procedural axonometric sequence of stone fabrication

MATERIAL & DETAIL 149

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Phase 2 / Dematerialize 2

+2.60 m

B

3

A

B

4

A

+2.60 m

1

north

0,5 m

150 MATERIAL & DETAIL

2,5 m

5m

0,1 m

Elevations 1:100 Opposite: Plan 1:100

0,5 m

1m

MATERIAL & DETAIL 151

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

152 MATERIAL & DETAIL

View B from Vasaallen Opposite: View from Rรถhsska Museum entrance

MATERIAL & DETAIL 153

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

154 MATERIAL & DETAIL

View C - aperture view towards the 1913 sign of the facade of the Rรถhsska museet

MATERIAL & DETAIL 155

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

156 MATERIAL & DETAIL

View D - view from Vasaallen during night showing the glow in the dark

MATERIAL & DETAIL 157

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

158 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Foam model 1:5 Rรถhsska museet side Opposite: Foam model 1:5 Vasaallen side

MATERIAL & DETAIL 159

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

160 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Foam model 1:10 showing final proposal and initial skecth Opposite: Foam model 1:5 with team

MATERIAL & DETAIL 161

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

162 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Foam model 1:5 showing block with fitted pieces Opposite: Foam model 1:5 showing block with fitted pieces pulled out

MATERIAL & DETAIL 163

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

164 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Foam model 1:5 showing first cut with the CNC hot wire-cutter Opposite: Foam model 1:20 showing placement of aperture based on the 1913 sign of the facade of the Rรถhsska museet

MATERIAL & DETAIL 165

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

Phase 2 / Dematerialize

166 MATERIAL & DETAIL

First cut of the 1:5 foam model Opposite: Cutting out the aperture from the 1:5 foam model

MATERIAL & DETAIL 167

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

8.5°

26.0°

25.0°

7.0°

From A To Ö We are in love with beautiful curves, creating exiting surfaces and embracing curious voids.

This we try to use to achieve an habitual object, one with interior spaces both around and within itself.

First of all we discovered that by wirecutting elegant curves into opposite directions, diagonal to the stable monumental block, a dance-like feeling of plasticity where tension is immediately derived. By cutting double the block we also gain the valuable mystical number of three pieces – just enough actors to tell all the stories in the world.

To enrich the uniqueness of each piece we introduce three different apertures, gaining a rich net of relationships and combination of sights and silhouettes.

What appears to be crucial in our design, though, is the logic of the initial two cuts: the middle piece derived after the cutting has the print of both its complimentary pieces - so it’s 168 MATERIAL & DETAIL

91.0°

64.5°

like a child piece of them. Naturally the tree members of the initial stone really lean on each other like protecting and being protected by each other .

The middle ‘child piece’ appears to be very special in that sense - not only having less in common with the initial geometry of the solid, but also having a void in itself - a void acting as the visual focus of the site. The circular aperture of the middle piece is unique also by the fact that it is the only one that possess actual inner space that you can directly interact with, sitting inside it.

This space gives a rich variety of feelings. It is dynamic - being a visual focus and very static – while also being the threshold and the connecting point between the exteriorly oriented areas – one for seating and one standing. The sitting area lodged under the tree gathers movement from Vasaplatsen while the more open area for standing and leaning gathers it from

Avenyn, acknowledging the motion in front of the site as one of its most important features.

45.5°

5.0°

Axonometric composite drawing Opposite: Introduction to the team’s competition proposal

MATERIAL & DETAIL 169

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

0.2

0.9

0.9

0.7

0.7

1.0

0.2

1.0

1.9

2.1

1.9

2.1

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

1.1

170 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Procedural axonometric sequence of stone fabrication

1.1

MATERIAL & DETAIL 171

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

172 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

Street elevation

MATERIAL & DETAIL 173

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

A

B

C

C

B

A

174 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Plan 1:100 Opposite: Plan 1:20

MATERIAL & DETAIL 175

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

176 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

GSEducationalVersion

Elevation 1:100 Opposite: Elevation 1:20

MATERIAL & DETAIL 177

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

178 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

View from Vasaallén Opposite: Detail view showing material texture

MATERIAL & DETAIL 179

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

180 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

Foam model 1:5 the Röhsska museet side Opposite: Foam model 1:5 Vasaallén side

MATERIAL & DETAIL 181

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

182 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

Foam model 1:5 showing block with fitted pieces Opposite: Foam model 1:5 showing block with fitted pieces pulled out

MATERIAL & DETAIL 183

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

184 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / From A to Ö

Sketch models Opposite: 1:5 foam model disassembled

MATERIAL & DETAIL 185

Phase 2 / Satellit

Satellit Following the process from the first phase of our design, we established a framework based on our earlier work. This framework incorporated our previous ideas of a fragmented block, a diffused cube that still remained somewhat intact and created new and altered spaces. In addition to the fragmentation of our installation, we wanted to establish two distinct sides, one more shut and one more open, inviting passers-by in. This, along with a high sense of usability, 100% material efficiency and minimising the number of cuts in the stone block, led to the basis of our framework.

With a set of guidelines in mind, we started analysing the site of the installation, looking for the apparent directions of movement and viewpoints. The aspect we felt was most obvious was the different speeds in which passersby experience the site, from relatively fast by tram or car to more moderate speeds by bike 186 MATERIAL & DETAIL

or by walking. Accordingly, ones experience of the finished installation would differ depending on how you passed the site.

We had earlier in the process experimented with highlighting the different textures of the stone, and this seemed to fit well with the notion of movement and how something is perceived from various distances. So this aspect became another important part of our idea, to experience different material dimensions as you move by the installation.

By combining all our thoughts and ideas, we developed a set of cutting rules, a way to divide the block by different means of cutting to achieve the fragmentation, the spaces, the material dimensions and the distinct sidedness of the installation. We applied the rules through model making, creating numerous experimental foam models, constantly adding slight alterations to the cuts by changing an angle or adding or removing a cut.

Through analysis of our models, and by going back to the original framework, we reached a design that we thought summarised our ideas and achieved all the qualities we were aiming to create.

Competition design proposal Opposite: Introduction to the team’s competition proposal

MATERIAL & DETAIL 187

Phase 2 / Satellit

Phase 2 / Satellit

1.472"

Each cut is designed to create space when the object is reorganised

The center space is made by a projected squiggly line which due to its scale creates a new texture within the structure

In order to create a continuous space with the reorganised cuts, specific lines end orthogonally to fit to the next

188 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Composite axonometric drawing Opposite: Final proposal showing cutting procedure

MATERIAL & DETAIL 189

Phase 2 / Satellit

Phase 2 / Satellit

4340 1590

350

1194

550

1200 mm

190 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Site plan Opposite: Axonometric contextual plan

MATERIAL & DETAIL 191

Phase 2 / Satellit

Phase 2 / Satellit

In an orthogonal elevation you can still clearly see the datum of the original slab

The structures opens up towards the bike and walk path, and shows a more solid face towards the tram way and the entrance of the Rรถhsska museet. Also, what is a wavy sculptural appearance on the other side, is on this side a real strive back towards the datum cube

Still there are glimpses of what is going on on the other side

On the other side of the tram tracks, the structure will work as a satellite for the Rรถhsska museet

192 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Elevations east/west Opposite: Elevation north/south

MATERIAL & DETAIL 193

Phase 2 / Satellit

Phase 2 / Satellit

150

150 + 150

2100 mm

b

b a The characteristic slices are positioned after a consideration to function (seating and roofing) and overall composition

150

1650

b a a

150 450

b

b a b

4340 mm

The cut pieces of the slab are positioned in relation to the human scale. Each distance is carefully considered to create certain spatial features

50 550

b

b

a

b a

a b

a

b

b

After placing the slab pieces in relation to a human body, and adjusting the heights to the same, the thickness of the slices are based on the spans in the final structure.

A minimum of 1 to 8 was used to achieve thin, but structurally sound shelves

350

350

Since the reorganisation of the pieces demand rotation, but as symmetry was trying to be avoided, the cut pattern is planned to accomodate fitting the slices in after rotation but still not having a symmetric overall cut profile

Another important aspect of avoiding symmetric cuts and considering both height and thickness of the slices are of course structural reasons

1194

550

Each space have different relations to human exploration; this is a squeeze space...

194 MATERIAL & DETAIL

100

Measurements of proposal Opposite: Proposal proportions

350

1005

585

... and this is a more generous one for taking a break

MATERIAL & DETAIL 195

Phase 2 / Satellit

196 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Satellit

View from within Opposite: View from Vasaallen

MATERIAL & DETAIL 197

Phase 2 / Satellit

198 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Satellit

View during night Opposite: View of stone detail

MATERIAL & DETAIL 199

Phase 2 / Satellit

200 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Satellit

Foam model 1:5 the Rรถhsska museet side Opposite: Foam model 1:5 Vasaallen side

MATERIAL & DETAIL 201

Phase 2 / Satellit

202 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Satellit

Foam model 1:5 showing block with fitted pieces Opposite: Foam model 1:5 showing block with fitted pieces pulled out

MATERIAL & DETAIL 203

Phase 2 / Satellit

204 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Satellit

Process model Opposite: Process model

MATERIAL & DETAIL 205

Phase 2 / Satellit

206 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 2 / Satellit

Process models (horisontal cuts) Opposite: Process models (horisontal & vertical cuts)

MATERIAL & DETAIL 207

Phase 3 Realization done in such a way that the design kept as many of its main qualities as possible.

To build the winning design proposal and assemble it on site.

The purpose of phase 3 was to realize the winning competition design proposal. The design was refined in order to meet the exact amount of cutting time available and the amount of manual labor needed to build the pieces for the stone installation. This process of getting the proposal built was divided into three steps, each explained below and developed further in this chapter.

2.Fabrication Drawings were made to show how the stone block should be cut and in what sequence and, to gain hands-on clarity, a large scale model in 1:5 of the refined proposal was produced.

These constituted the foundation in communicating with Benders and the person in charge of cutting the stone.

1.Finalized design The refinement of the design began with a meeting with Benders, the fabricators at the stone quarry. The winning proposal was presented and, given the time frame and budget, a working design was developed. After that the proposal was adjusted to the actual size of the stone block provided. The amount of CNC wire-cuts for the stone block was also reduced,

3.Assembly After the stone was cut into parts according to the design, it was delivered to Gothenburg by truck. Since the surroundings of the site made it impossible to unload the stone by crane, the parts were unloaded close by. A forklift truck then moved each stone piece onto the site and the right position. No foundation was needed or, given our permit for a temporary exhibition,

208 MATERIAL & DETAIL

even allowed. Instead, a base was placed with a simple wooden frame filled with gravel in order to ease the massive structural load of each stone piece. The large stone pieces weigh up to 2.4 tons each.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 209

Finalized design DESIGN OPTIMIZATION In order to optimize production expenditures these optimizations were made: Two profile cuts were simplified, straightening one side of the profile so that it merges to the original block side.

To compensate, two figures were slightly tilted in the final composition.

The whole project was scaled to down to 88% of its original size to fit the exact query block.

To save time and to ensure extreme stability all “leg� cuts were omitted and compensated for by adding grooves instead.

210 MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL 211

Phase 3 / Finalized Design

Phase 3 / Finalized Design

12%

4.45 m2

100%

88%

2.8 m2

0.75 m2 Cutting surface saved

212 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Grooves instead of cuts

Tilting used to archive previously lost angled face

Diagram showing final design and reduced scale

MATERIAL & DETAIL 213

Fabrication When we started working in phase 3, the studio decided it would be easier if one small group was responsible for the communication with all the external actors involved in the process.

Since we were moving into production phase from design phase, we started out by contacting and recruiting all the actors needed for the transportation and assembly of the finisihed installation. Our main effort however was to continiously communicate with the people at the quarry. Since the initial design had to be altered due to it being too time-consuming to make, we had to almost daily brief our contacts at the quarry with updated blueprints. Along with our communication by mail and phone, we also decided that it would be good to visit the quarry during the production to explain in person what our ideas looked like. Those visits proved crucial to us actually being able to show our design, and we also got a much appriciated look at how the quarry works.

214 MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL 215

Phase 3 / Fabrication

216 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 3 / Fabrication

Photos of model used to discuss and plan fabrication with Benders.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 217

Phase 3 / Fabrication

Phase 3 / Fabrication Wire

Wire

Wire

Wire

Wire

Wire

Wire

Wire

Wire

Wire

218 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Overview of drawings sent to Benders explaining fabrication steps.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 219

Phase 3 / Fabrication

220 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 3 / Fabrication

Photos showing the initial formatting cuts to the stone block.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 221

Phase 3 / Fabrication

222 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 3 / Fabrication

MATERIAL & DETAIL 223

Assembly In the beginning of phase 3 the site group started to analyze the site’s ground conditions.

In a conversation with Claes AlĂŠn, Professor at the division of geoengineering at Chalmers, we devised a test to analyze the ground on our own. One person was holding a piece of wood in the dimensions 20 mm by 20 mm vertically to the ground and a second person was standing on the piece. The pressure that is applied on the ground through the wood by the weight of the person then equals the pressure exerted by the heaviest stone block. The result was satisfying since the wood only sunk in to the ground about 15 mm in the very soft parts of the ground. Since the ground if relatively flat and the installation would only last for a few months, this test provided enough information to make calculations for stability.

When the design group decided to have an orthogonal angle by cutting the stone in pieces to simplify the cutting process, it became 224 MATERIAL & DETAIL

necessary to create an artificial angle by tilting the medium and large stone figures through a wooden support structure.

To access to potential preassure on the stones by people pushing from the side, trying to tople the blocks, we preformed a test. By pushing on a bathroom scale against the wall, we found out the reasonable preassure that one person can muster. For safety calculations we assumed at least twice as many people pushing as we thought could fit by the block to move it.

After some consulting with structural engineers, Karl-Gunnar Olsson and Per Hilmersson, the calculations that the site group was working on seemed reasonable and the construction could start. The small piece is screwed to a piece of 23 mm marine grade plywood which has a larger dimension than the base of the stone to provide security and prevent the piece from toppling if anyone tried to push it. The two larger pieces was quite safe

through their own weight.

Arrangements were made with a transport company and a forklift company to bring the pieces in into place. But before the stones were delivered, the site group marked the borders of the pieces and leveled the ground to make sure that the pieces were placed at the same height.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 225

Phase 3 / Assembly

Phase 3 / Assembly

Calculation of pressure applied to the ground

3,5

3,07 MPa

3 2,5

1,97 MPa

2 1,5

1,05 MPa 0,64 MPa

1

0,26 MPa

0,5 0 16256 x 16 mm 2

20 x 20 mm 2 400

30 x 750 25 mm 2

35 1225 x 35 mm 2

35 3080 x 88 mm 2

Series1

Soft ground (muddy soil) Dimension [mm]

Area [mm²]

Subsided surface [mm]

Pressure [MPa]

16 x 16 20 x 20 30 x 25 35 x 35 35 x 88

256 400 750 1225 3080

27 12 10 3,5 1

3,07 1,965 1,048 0,642 0,2552

2 1

3,07 1,965

Hard ground (soil + gravel) 16 x 16 20 x 20 226 MATERIAL & DETAIL

400 256

Testing how the ground reacts to the weight of the installation by simulating the pressure the heavuest stone would apply.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 227

Phase 3 / Assembly

Phase 3 / Assembly

Volume 1,25 m3 Weight 3,438 ton Height of Pressure

1,2 m

SOIL PRESSURE

0,08595 4

F as each 20cm wide

0,02149 0,2

= 0,02149m2

14

as 4 wooden planks

50

34,38 kN = 0,08595 m2 400 kPa

= 0,107m

Solid wood

1200

CALCULATION F = 20 kN G ~34,38 kN

MF = F * 1,2 = 24 kNm

Plywood, 8mm

MG = G * 0,195 = 6,704 kNm

14

50

SAFETY 266 351

228 MATERIAL & DETAIL

234 320

MG MF

=

6,704 kNm 2,4 kNm

= 2,79 > 1,5

MATERIAL & DETAIL 229

Phase 3 / Assembly

Phase 3 / Assembly

Volume 0,817 m3 Weight 2,250 ton Height of Pressure

1,2 m

SOIL PRESSURE

as 3 wooden blanks

1200

as each 20cm wide

0,05625 3 0,01875 0,2

= 0,01875 m2

= 0,09325 m ~ 10 cm

Solid wood

43

22,50 kN = 0,05625 m2 400 kPa 12

F

CALCULATION G ~22,5 kN

F = 20 kN MF = F * 1,2 = 24 kNm

Plywood, 8mm

12

43

MG = G * 0,204 = 4,59 kNm 250 329

250 280

SAFETY MG MF

230 MATERIAL & DETAIL

=

4,59 kNm 2,4 kNm

= 1,91 > 1,5

MATERIAL & DETAIL 231

Phase 3 / Assembly

Phase 3 / Assembly

SIDE B

SIDE A

Volume 0,315 m3 Weight 0,879 ton

CALCULATION

CALCULATION

F = 20 kN

F = 20 kN

MF = F * 1,2 = 24 kNm

MF = F * 1,2 = 2,4 kNm

MG = G * 0,17 = 1,496 kNm

MG = G * 0,225 = 2,42 kNm

SAFETY

SAFETY

MG

MG

MF

>2

MF x=

G * x = 2 * 1,2 * F

Height of Pressure

1,2 m

MG = 2 * MF

>2 2 * MF G

= 0,545 m

b = x + 0,482 = 1,022 m x=

2 * 1,2 * F G

Marine grade plywood, 23mm

= 0,55 m

a = x + 0,368 = 0,918 m The stone is bolt to the plywood with plastic rawplugs and steel screws.

1200.00

1200 1200.00

F

G ~8,8 kN

Side B

Side A 368

548

232 MATERIAL & DETAIL

274

171

482 571

274 548

482 482

482

MATERIAL & DETAIL 233

Phase 3 / Assembly

V1= δ=

0,1611 m³ 2700 kg/m³

m1= G1=

434,97 kg 4,27 kN

lG1x= lF1x=

F1max= 3,08784088 kN

…is equal to…

0,254 m 0,351 m

314,76 kg

Mmax = MG Fmax * lFx = Fmax = G *

Phase 3 / Assembly

tin til g

is ax

F2max = 269,80kg =

F1max = 314,76kg = G2=5,960kN

F3max

F2max

V1= δ=

0,1611 m³ 2700 kg/m³

m1= G1=

434,97 kg 4,27 kN lF2x=0,764m

F1max= 3,08784088 kN

lG1x= lF1x=

0,254 m 0,351 m

lG2x=0,339m

…is equal to…

314,76 kg

0,2252 m³ 2700 kg/m³

m2= G2=

608,04 kg 5,96 kN

F2max= 2,64671694 kN

234 MATERIAL & DETAIL

0,2252 m³ 2700 kg/m³

m2= G2=

608,04 kg 5,96 kN

F2max= 2,64671694 kN

is ax

lG2x= 0,339 m lF2x= 0,764 m

lF3x=0,385m

lG3x=0,250m …is equal to…

269,80 kg

F3max = 394,83kg =

F2max = 269,80kg = V2= δ=

Mmax = MG Fmax * lFx = G * lGx Fmax = G * lGx / lFx

G3=5,960kN

V2= δ=

g in tilt

lG2x= 0,339 m lF2x= 0,764 m

…is equal to…

269,80 kg

V3= δ=

0,2252 m³ 2700 kg/m³

m3= G3=

608,04 kg 5,96 kN

F3max= 3,87329377 kN

lG3x= lF3x=

…is equal to…

0,25 m 0,385 m

394,83 kg

MATERIAL & DETAIL 235

Phase 3 / Assembly

Phase 3 / Assembly

tilt

in g

ax is F1max G1=4,270kN

lF1x=0,351m lG1x=0,254m

F1max = 314,76kg = V1= δ=

0,1611 m³ 2700 kg/m³

m1= G1=

434,97 kg 4,27 kN

F1max= 3,08784088 kN

236 MATERIAL & DETAIL

lG1x= lF1x=

…is equal to…

0,254 m 0,351 m

314,76 kg

Mmax = MG Fmax * lFx = G * lGx Fmax = G * lGx / lFx MATERIAL & DETAIL 237

Phase 3 / Assembly

238 MATERIAL & DETAIL

Phase 3 / Assembly

MATERIAL & DETAIL 239

OPENING NIGHT / fauna

OPENING NIGHT / fauna

240 MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL 241

OPENING NIGHT / fauna

OPENING NIGHT / fauna

242 MATERIAL & DETAIL

MATERIAL & DETAIL 243

OPENING NIGHT / fauna

244 MATERIAL & DETAIL

OPENING NIGHT / fauna

Students and tutors who made Fauna possible.

MATERIAL & DETAIL 245

FAUNA

246 MATERIAL & DETAIL

FAUNA

MATERIAL & DETAIL 247

FAUNA

248 MATERIAL & DETAIL

FAUNA

MATERIAL & DETAIL 249

FAUNA

250 MATERIAL & DETAIL

FAUNA

MATERIAL & DETAIL 251

Material & Detail master studio Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Architecture Students:

Dineva, Denitsa Ederborn , Ola N Folke, Jenny Gotthard, Simon Gros, Antonin Håkansson, Marcus Johansson Jutler, Hugo Nainys, Mantas Nilsson, Anders Nilsson, Karl Robin Okruch, Hannes Siim, Johan Tomschik, Anna Wackler, Tabea Wiedemann, Sophie

Studio faculty:

Daniel Norell och Jonas Lundberg, Examinatorer Mikael Frej, Klas Moberg, Frans Magnusson, Karl-Gunnar Olsson

Guest critics: Stig Anton Nielsen Martin Tamke

Exebition:

Röhsska museet Tom Hedqvist, Direktor of Röhsska Vanja Hermelin, Curator Love Jönsson, Curator

Projekt Partners

Kurt Johansson Svensk Sten Fredrik Nilsson Head of Department Prof. Architectural Theory

INTEGRA ENGENERING Pär Hilmersson

Material and fabrication: Benders Sverige AB Joao Escudeiro Oscar Svensson Niklas Jonsson Paulo Vicente Hallindens Granit AB Jörgen Lundgren

Thanks to:

Ralph och Agnetha Håkansson Lönns Truckar Peter Lindblom Tabita Nilsson

252 MATERIAL & DETAIL