Flexible Forming for Fluid Architecture

For Bilbao, the Guggenheim Museum is the international cultural icon. The successof this sculptural building for the reputation of Bilbao made that every city would liketo have at least one archetypical iconic building. These types of buildings have nofunctional necessity, are always challenging, complex and expensive. They tend tobe irregular, dynamic and geometrically complex and therefore the biggest problemis how to make them.Buildings like the Bilbao Guggenheim are often described as “digital”, “freeform” or “blob” architecture. However, in “free-form” architecture technique andmaterial have become the limiting factors. Because of these limitations, the word“free” is misleading. Therefore, I propose to use the word “fluid”: fluid architectureconsists of unique buildings with curved surfaces. In fluid architecture one has toperceive fluidity: there is no absolute demand for a physical fluidity as long as theaudience will perceive the building as fluid. The highlights of fluid architecture fromthe past 20 years clearly demonstrate that there is an area of tension between idea andtechnique; there is not only beauty of the designs, but also the tremendous complexitywith regard to construction. The aim of this book is to support people dealing withfluid architecture with a better understanding of the main aspects of fluid architectureand to help them find a personal, suitable combination of architectural concepts andtechnical possibilities.The building industry is accustomed to working with large tolerances compared toother industries. The combination of curved surfaces, unique products and large tolerances makes fluid architecture an interesting application for flexible moulding. Thesemoulds can be used to create complex shapes. The cast materials will make a phasechange from liquid to rigid. Therefore, the materials water/ice, polymer composite,concrete and glass were researched in combination with flexible moulding. Thisresearch resulted in a matrix with 25,000 theoretical possibilities for each material.200 of these could be feasible. 49 case studies were researched and described. Theyare intended as a helpful instrument for both researchers and designers. It might helpthem to find the ultimate combination of perceived fluid architecture, material andflexible moulding techniques.The case studies in this research resulted in several patents for moulding techniques, world records for the highest tower in ice and largest span in ice, a prototypevvi Prefaceof a laminated glass dome and several systems of composites and concrete with inflatables and mechanically pre-stressed membranes. This book is an important step inthe design and realization of fluid architectureThis book on flexible formwork for fluid architecture is a multi-faceted research that covers a broad field: from design to material and technology, and from history to future developments. It offers a pragmatic approach that can be extended with more cases, materials, techniques and methods for fluid architecture, and provides a better understanding of the main aspects of fluid architecture and to help them find the most suitable combinations of all aspects. The book is a challenging experience with many new discoveries, including two patents: One on moulding of fluid surfaces and one on 3D printing of fibre-reinforced ice. It also features two world records: The larges span (30 meters) and the highest thin shell structure (30,5 meters) in ice as well as a method for the construction of a fully laminated shell structure in insulated glass.