Summaery 2011

Prima materia : The Material Imagination in fabric-formed concrete

Fakultät: Architektur, Studiengang: Architektur (M.Sc.)

Current experimentations in the use of fabric as a ferroconcrete forming material have led to astonishing formal and structural inventions. Fabric formwork takes advantage of the wedding between the hydrostatic properties of wet concrete and the natural tensile strength of woven materials to create a low-cost alternative to traditional wood or steel concrete formwork. Because of its direct and facile relation between technique, invention, and the unexpected, fabric-formed concrete is a natural starting point from which to explore the concept of the prima materia -- the formless, material receptacle capable of embodying all forms. In this installation, students have utilized their experiments with fabric-formed concrete to design a ‘sitting landscape’, where the natural forms of the bulging concrete become the negative receptacles for the body on a series of three cubes. These negative panels are re-conceived as an extension of the concrete cubes, creating a concrete landscape for sitting, conversing, and thinking.