Pneumatic concrete laminar structures revisited. A singular architectural structural type
Submitted: 2024-09-06
|Accepted: 2024-09-28
|Published: 2024-10-31
Copyright (c) 2024 VLC arquitectura. Research Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Downloads
Keywords:
pneumatic structures, concrete laminar structures, architectural structures, structures and heritage, structural type
Supporting agencies:
Abstract:
The 20th century was a time for architectural change, technical innovation and the search for affordable construction and prefabrication. In this context, pneumatic concrete laminar structures represent the advances towards a new architecture that could give answers to the challenges of the century. This work identifies the systems that were explored during that period and describes the experimental designs developed by W. Neff, H. Heifetz, H. Isler, D. B. South and D. Bini. In addition, the adaptation capability of this singular type and the reasons that caused the abandonment of these structure are also analysed.
References:
South, David B., "A Closer Look at the Birth of the Monolithic Dome," Monolithic Dome Institute, October 7, 2014. https://monolithicdome.com/closer-look-at-birth-of-monolithic-dome#menan-id-first-monolithic-dome-home-exteriorrainbow
"Airform "Bubble House," Los Angeles Conservancy, accessed August 29, 2024. https://www.laconservancy.org/learn/historic-places/airform-bubble-house/
Albani, Francesca, and Carlo Dusi. "Concrete Thin Shells in the Sixties. Construction and Long-Term Behaviour." In RILEM Bookseries. Netherlands: Springer, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99441-3_22
Beckh, Matthias, and Giulia Boller. "Building with Air: Heinz Isler's Bubble Houses and the Use of Pneumatic Construction Techniques." Sixth Conference of the Construction History Society, Cambridge (UK), April 2019. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338067605_Building_with_air_Heinz_Isler%27s_bubble_houses_and_the_use_of_pneumatic_construction_techniques
Bini, Dante. Method for erecting structures. U.S. Patent US3462521, filed 12 December 1966, and issued 19 August 1969. https://patents.google.com/patent/US3462521A
Boller, Giulia, and Matthias Beckh. "How to Gain from Loss-Heinz Isler's Haba Project and Its Testing under Critical Load". Paper presented at the IASS Annual Symposium, Barcelona, (Spain), October 2019. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338067681.
Brewin, Peter, and William Crawford. U.S. Patent US7721749 B2. Prefabricated shelter, filed 17 June 2005, and issued 25 May 2010. https://patents.google.com/patent/US7721749B2
Chilton, John, and Michael Balz, Shells and Visions. Springer, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19264-7
"Cliffdome: The David B. South Family's First Monolithic Dome Home," Monolithic Dome Institute, April 3, 2024, https://monolithicdome.com/cliffdome.
Collado Baíllo, Isabel. "Walter Bird y Las Primeras Construcciones Neumáticas." Revista Europea de Investigación en Arquitectura, no. 20, (2022). www.reia.es.
Eigenraam, P., A. Borgart, J. Chilton, and Q. Li. "Structural Analysis of Heinz Isler's Bubble Shell." Engineering Structures, no. 210 (May 2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2020.110265
"Domecrete Building System (Israel)." Bauen + Wohnen = Construction + Habitation = Building + Home: Internationale Zeitschrift, n.d. https://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=buw-001%3A1972%3A26%3A%3A1082#652. Accessed September 3, 2024.
"Habitat East-Village (Bubble System)," Contemporary Architecture of Iran", n.d. Accessed 6 September 2024, https://caoi.ir/en/projects/item/370-habitat-east-village-bubble-system-by-justus-dahinden.html. Photography by Amir Hossein Rad.
Head, Jeffrey. No Nails, No Lumber: The Bubble Houses of Wallace Neff. Princeton Architectural Press, 2011.
Heifetz, Haim. U.S. Patent US3643910. Inflatable forms, filed 7 March 1969, and issued 22 February 1972. https://patents.google.com/patent/US3643910A/en
Kromoser, Benjamin, and Patrick Huber. "Pneumatic Formwork Systems in Structural Engineering." Advances in Materials Science and Engineering, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/4724036
Kromoser, Benjamin, and Johann Kollegger. "Pneumatic Forming of Hardened Concrete: Building Shells in the 21st Century". Structural Concrete, no. 16 (2) (2015): 161-71. https://doi.org/10.1002/suco.201400057
Kromoser, Benjamin, and Johann Kollegger. "Efficient Construction of Concrete Shells by Pneumatic Forming of Hardened Concrete: Construction of a Concrete Shell Bridge in Austria by Inflation." Structural Concrete no. 21 (1) (2020): 4-14. https://doi.org/10.1002/suco.201900169
Lanchester, Frederick William. Great Britain Patent LAN/6/146. An improved construction of tent for field hospitals, depots and like purposes, filed 20 November 1917, and issued October 3, 1918. Lanchester Archive Catalogue. https://catalogue.lanchesterinteractive.org/records/LAN/6/146.
Lanchester, Frederick William. U.S. Patent US1302182. Construction of tents for field hospitals, de pots, and like purposes, filed 11 February, and issued April 29, 1919. https://patents.google.com/patent/US1302182A
Lanchester, Frederick William . Great Britain Patent LAN/6/168. Improvements in the Construction and roofings of buildings for exhibitions and like purposes, filed 14 April 1919, and issued July 2, 1920. Lanchester Archive Catalogue. https://catalogue.lanchesterinteractive.org/records/LAN/6/168
Mclean, Will. "Building with Air: The Pneumatically Powered Construction Systems of Dante Bini." Construction History Society: Third Annual Conference. Queens' College, Cambridge Apr 07-09, 2016. https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/q0675/the-pneumatically-powered-construction-systems-of-dante-bini
Neff, Wallace. U.S. Patent US2270229. Building construction, filed April 3, 1941, issued January 20, 1942. https://patents.google.com/patent/US2270229A
Neff, Wallace. U.S. Patent US2388701. Method and apparatus for constructing shell-form structures, filed July 15, 1942, and issued November 13, 1945. https://patents.google.com/patent/US2388701A
Neff, Wallace. U.S. Patent US2892239. Improved method of erecting shell-form concrete structures filed June 19, 1952, and issued June 30, 1959. https://patents.google.com/patent/US2892239A
Neighbor, Noel, and David South. "An evaluation of the monolithic dome construction method for biological containment structures 1,2." Journal of the American Biological Safety Association, no. 2 (1): 39-46. https://doi.org/10.1177/109135059700200109
Nicholls, Robert L. U.S. Patent US4446083. Air-inflated fabric-reinforced concrete shells filed August 3, 1981, and issued May 1, 1984. https://patents.google.com/patent/US4446083A
Prouvost, François. U.S. Patent US4094109. Construction of houses or similar buildings by means of an inflatable structure, filed February 22, 1977, and issued July 13, 1978. https://patents.google.com/patent/US4094109A
Pugnale, Alberto, and Alberto Bologna. "Dante Bini's 'New Architectural Formulae': Construction, Collapse and Demolition of Binishells in Australia 1974-20151." In Architecture, Institutions and Change: Proceedings of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand 32, edited by Paul Hogben and Judith O'Callaghan. SAHANZ. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.2467.2240
Pugnale, Alberto, and Alberto Bologna. "Dante Bini's Form-Resistant Binishells.". Nexus Network Journal no. 19 (3) (2017): 681-99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00004-016-0323-7
Pugnale, Alberto, and Alberto Bologna. Architecture Beyond the Cupola: inventions and designs of Dante Bini. Cham: Springer (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26735-2
South, David B. U.S. Patent US5918438. Dome type building and method of making same, filed 15 April 1997, and issued July 6, 1999. https://patents.google.com/patent/US5918438A.
South, David B., and Barry South. U.S. Patent US4324074. Building structure and method of making same, filed May 21, 1979, and issued April 13, 1982. https://patents.google.com/patent/US4324074A.
South, Melinda, "Marjorie South and the First Monolithic Dome Home, " Monolithic Dome Institute, June 17, 2022. https://monolithicdome.com/marjorie-south-and-the-first-monolithic-dome-home. Photography by M'Jean Lund.
Štěpánková, Lenka. "Mid-Century Modern Exhibition Halls of Brno Exhibition Centre and Their Renovation." Anuari d'Arquitectura i Societat, no. 3 (2023): 98-123. https://doi.org/10.4995/anuari.2023.19982
'The Edinburgh Dome a Concrete Parashell Imperial Road Malvern Worcestershire The Building Is a Sports Hall Belongs to Malvern St James Girls School." Accessed 6 September 2024. Photograph by Hugh Williamson. https://www.alamy.com/the-edinburgh-dome-a-concrete-parashell-imperial-road-malvern-worcestershire-the-building-is-a-sports-hallbelongs-to-malvern-st-james-girls-school-image502578570.html.
Verwimp, Evy, Tine Tysmans, Marijke Mollaert, and Maciej Wozniak. "Prediction of the Buckling Behaviour of Thin Cement Composite Shells: Parameter Study'. Thin-Walled Structures, 108 (November 2016): 20-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tws.2016.07.011
Wright, Jon "Malvern Sports Dome," The Twentieth Century Society, January 1, 2007. https://c20society.org.uk/casework/malvern-sports-dome.
