Aggregate Architectures: Observing and Designing with Changeable Material Systems in Architecture

Architectural Systems commonly seek to form static and permanent materialassemblies. The elements of these structures are geometrically well-definedboth in morphology and location by the designing architect. However,there is a class of material systems that defies these notions of architecturaldesign through its very nature: Loose granular systems – widely known intheir bound form as an additive in concrete construction – consist of largemasses of loose elements, such as in sand or snow. If applied as an architecturalconstruction system in their own right, they question both assumptionsof permanence and of control over the eventual design outcome. Thedesigner is instead required to carefully observe the aggregate’s behaviouras it settles into a temporary configuration.There are only few precedents for the application of aggregates in an architecturalcontext, ranging from vernacular applications to more recentstudies in form-found structures with designed aggregates. The relevance ofthese loose granular systems however lies in their capacity to re-cycle andto create macro-graded material properties. A granular material structuremoves from one stable state to the other, thus entering cycles of de- andre-stabilisation. Varying the grading, i.e. the characteristics of the individualgrains in proportion to each other, allows for rendering a range of architecturalmaterial properties, such as heat insulation or load-bearing capacities.In its first part, the paper will introduce methods of observing granular materialsystems in architectural applications. System-specific tools of Materialand Machine Computation will be explained in detail and relation to eachother. The second part will focus on identifying at which stage in the processthe designer can intervene with and affect the evolving granular system.Special emphasis will be given to delineating the novelties and specifics ofusing CAM processes of both manufacturing and arranging in combinationwith a self-forming system. The third part will introduce two case studiesthat investigate different degrees of permanence within a specific granularsystem. The first one uses the naturally occurring granulate sand and deploysits capacity to form aerodynamic wind-shadows to develop wind-sheltersin a coastal area. The second case study deploys designed granulatesthat are developed to interlock into self-supporting dome-structures, whichare poured over pneumatic formwork. The case studies in comparison willintroduce two different notions of change, which are possible in an architecturalaggregate system, namely that of a naturally induced one as in casestudy 01 and that of an artificially triggered one as in case study 02, whichis thus controllable by the designer in its occurrence in time. To conclude,the possibilities of observing and designing with different degrees of permanencewithin an aggregate structure will be discussed.

Volume Editors
Martha Thorne & Xavier Costa

ISBN
978-0-935502-83-1