Arcade °

BCL * Tensioned Textile Composites

DATE2017

LOCATIONHouston, TX

TYPEInstallation Proposal

DESIGN LEAD
David Costanza

DESIGN TEAM
Philip Niekamp
Ekin Erar

OVERVIEWArcade expands on the material and manufacturing system developed for Taut while increasing the scale to an occupiable arcade space. It is a 50-foot-long pavilion made of 5 stretched and infused bio-composite legs. The legs alternate on either side of an existing pathway, allowing for thorough circulation below the arcade. The geometric language of the research emerged from early work by German architect and structural engineer Frei Otto, particularly the method for constructing minimal surface typologies described as an 'eye.'
The geometries achieved through this method are defined by tensioning a single surface within a scaffolding frame and made rigid with vacuum-assisted resin infusion. The prototypes were constructed using multiple layers of burlap fabric (a natural fiber) on either side of a foam infusion core, facilitating the infusion of the textile through the use of a vacuum pump. The scaffolding frame supports the edges of the textile surface while it is stretched taut and infused with bio-based epoxy resin. The resulting prototype offers a method for the large-scale production of bio-composites in architecture.

BCL

DCS