Generic Structure Cell: Fibre composite and textile prototype at DAC
Exhibition
Jan 11 - Jun 10, 2016
Generic Structure Cell at the square in front of the Danish Architecture Center in 2016 allowed visitors to follow a live construction process testing fibre composites and textiles as future housing materials.
From January and until June 10, 2016, it was possible to experience the construction Generic Structure Cell in front of the Danish Architecture Center. The project was an investigation of how to live and build in the future where fiber-reinforced composite and textile was tested as building materials. Working with layers of different materials opened up for studying and creating new spatial perceptions.
The project was developed throughout the exhibition period, and hence started with being just a raw construction to having facades and textile in its inner spaces. In this way the viewer could follow the project’s genesis and see how the structures were assembled and evolved.
Fiberglass fram for the fabric on the cell
The construction was installed with a new framework developed by translucent glass fiber laminates supplied by Fiberline Composites, which carried a new layer of digital coded textile fiber structure. The fiberglass frame and fabric was developed in collaboration with Mette Rams Thomsen (CITA), Vicki Thake (Industrial PhD students), Jan Søndergaard (KHR Architects), research assistants and students from KADK and carpenter apprentices from Copenhagen Technical School. The new layer of frp-structure examined the juxtaposition of materials with translucent properties. The material was the screen, the receiver and the retailer of light and the silhouettes. In new dialogue with fiber composites, we developed and applied in this case a fabric with a neutral geometric pattern. Hence, it was the environment that created and printed the different universes created by the constant changeability of the daylight. The material and tectonics together created the homogeneous coherent geometric structure, which mediated the effects that came from the environment and nature.
Science, technology and the material have in this development between research, practice and industry been used as a guide to new architectural juxtapositions. This was done through observations and experiments with the fiber-reinforced polymer composites that commands new spatial dimensions in its play with its special characteristics and relationship to light.
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What was Generic Structure Cell?
Generic Structure Cell was a construction-and-exhibition process in front of the Danish Architecture Center, testing fibre composites and textiles as building materials for future housing.
When did Generic Structure Cell take place?
The exhibition ran from 11 Jan to 10 Jun 2016.
What could visitors experience during the exhibition period?
Visitors could follow the project’s making, see how the structure was assembled, and watch it evolve from a raw construction into façades and interior textile layers.
Which materials and properties were central?
The project focused on fibre composites and a digitally coded textile layer, including a frame made from translucent glass-fibre laminates, exploring light, silhouettes and atmospheric effects through layered materials.
Who was involved in developing the new layer and frame?
The exhibitions mentions partners including Fiberline Composites and collaboration with Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen (CITA), Vicki Thake, Jan Søndergaard (KHR Arkitekter), KADK researchers and students, and carpentry apprentices from Copenhagen Technical School.
What should I know if I only read one thing?
Generic Structure Cell (11 Jan–10 Jun 2016) was a live material prototype outside DAC, continuously developed to test fibre composites and textiles for future housing.