Loading...
Digital design, sustainable materials, mobile robotics - Swiss studio Gramazio Kohler Research has managed to combine all of this in one project. The aim of the creation of Clay Rotunda was to show new possibilities for using traditional materials. In 50 days, 30,000 soft clay bricks were placed using a mobile robotic installation in a wave-like thin-walled structure. How did the engineers monitor the condition of the structure as the material dries? What kind of mobile robotics was used?
The main message of our concept was the large scale of the solution, corresponding to the urban planning scale. My partner and I worked on the project as part of the competition project announced by the customer, and decided that the organizers of the competition expect from us a concept that would be different from those that we usually present for our objects. As a result, it was our bureau that won the competition.
The material was chosen right away: the metal conveys complex geometric shapes well and therefore perfectly suited for the implementation of the idea. The architectural image of this complex is built on a combination of metal and small-scale concrete tiles that work in contrast. Flat walls are opposed to volumetric elements. The coldness of the metal is a warm terracotta shade of the walls that radiates a certain naturalness.
The future is a very general concept. But in general, materials that are more environmentally friendly and more CO2-neutral in terms of emissions are in demand today. Moreover, it is necessary to take into account carbon emissions both during production and during subsequent operation. That is, it is necessary to take into account the balance between the energy that you spend for the production of the facade, and the energy that you spend on heating or cooling the building behind this facad.
If you made a facade energy efficient, but at the same time spend a lot of time on its maintenance, cooling or insulation of the space behind it, then this is still an energy-consuming facade. A good façade must be made with the least greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time, it must be operated with the least amount of energy.
