Calcium carbonate, commonly known as chalk, is the fifth most abundant material on the planet and typically a fragile saw toothed structure. When actions of the abalone lays down layer upon layer of the calcium carbonate material between sheets of protein, its actions at microscopic scale, create a tough and crystalline material. Schneiderism post “Of Metamaterial and Invisibility” expands on how properties of structure will shift our limitations and open new doors into making a physical place for our activities.
For architecture to move beyond building techniques established from centuries of craft and habit, we need to take a fresh look at the beginning of the making process, we need to understand the potential of structure.
The abalone is not unlike the process for making the carbon fiber forms that make up the fuselage of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Multiple layers alternated between woven carbon fiber fabric, special epoxy’s and resins, then baked to perfection. Not that the abalone has to “bake” anything, but analogous non-the-less…
The practice of architecture needs to learn from these great examples that strive for continued r/evolution for improvement. The fundamental techniques and methods of conceiving architecture has changed little. An architectural practice still tends to organize program and space long before exploring and integrating systems.
I see where you are going with that, but how would you have architecture change its approach?
I am seeing an inverted pyramid.
Architectural practice needs a process that recognizes and allows for divergent periods to ask questions and research. This period helps to extend the boundary of a problem to escape old assumptions and absorb new data. Architects tend to jump straight to pattern-making and classification. This approach lacks an acknowledgment of interdependencies to be found in a divergent search.
I see an image of a sound wave that expands and contracts, while in constant motion, before it finally converges to become a solution. This strikes me as a successful design jig for action.
That sounds to me like the makings of a best practice, but is it practical? In today’s economic reality are you not proffering process demanding of a benefactor, more akin to a member of the Medici posse? What I want us to figure out is how to fold what you describe into our timelines and budgets…