Thesis Question: How can a new hardware improve upon the failures of prefabricated systems by facilitating an open building system which allows for low skill, faster assembly, and more flexibility for reuse of material and... [ view full abstract ]
Thesis Question: How can a new hardware improve upon the failures of prefabricated systems by facilitating an open building system which allows for low skill, faster assembly, and more flexibility for reuse of material and modification?
On September 12, 1942 Konrad Wachsmann and Walter Gropius formed the General Panel Corporation with a group of investors. They dreamed of creating a universal system for producing prefabricated housing that was both cost effective and efficient, in response to an American housing crisis created by WWII. Wachsmann and Gropius saw this crisis as an opportunity to use war time production and fabrication methods to solve the housing problem with their prefabricated system. Unfortunately, by 1950 the General Panel Corporation dissolved after producing fewer than 200 housing units. Their system, which focused primarily on a customized joint designed to hold wall panels together, created an ingenious solution, however, the joint created a closed design system which was so specific that it led to the failure of the corporation. Today, we exist in a world that is desperately in need of housing solutions because of population growth and forced migrations. Our population is expanding and ever increasing. We need building solutions that require less skill, can be assembled faster, and are more flexible. As Wachsmann and Gropius said the secret to the prefabricated system lies within the joint. This thesis revisits the joint to find a building construction solution requiring less skill, faster assembly time, and more flexibility for housing change and modification.
Using range of materials and skills both ancient and modern, low-tech to hi-tech, from hand forging and blacksmithing and 3D printing, a series of clips and tools were designed to make an assembly system that relies on jointing hardware and panel. While this process began with an analysis of the General Panel Corporation, a set of objectives were developed for the “clip” new hardware: 1) There should be no use of existing hardware specifically screws or nails. 2) The panels of the system should be easily assembled and disassembled without damaging the panel. 3) The assembly process should be able to be completed by one to two people. 4) There should be a clip for making a panel as well as a clip to assemble the panels together. Finally, 5) the clip should strive to be as open as possible to accepting a variety of materials of different shapes and sizes. What follows is a report on the co-development of the clip, tool and panel as architectural elements that could range in scale from a pavilion or single-family dwelling to large-span vault.
Rather than designing an entire system, this new piece of hardware, could provide a builder of any experience level with enough intuitive understanding to fabricate a structure, while allowing enough details open for interpretation to permit individual application. This would allow individuals to transform any material, waste or new, into usable panelized building elements that can be assembled, disassembled, revised, and re-assembled.
Lessons learnt from practical projects , Durability and ageing , New products, applications and machinery
