2003-3 mobility as a requirement for the future architecture

8/6/2019 2003-3 Mobility as a Requirement for the Future Architecture

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/2003-3-mobility-as-a-requirement-for-the-future-architecture 1/25

-F elix E scrlg , P rof o f th e S ch oo l o f Archite ctu re o f S ev illa , Spain

Jose San chez, P rof o f tb e S ch oo l o fArchitecture o f Sevilla, Spain

Mobility as a requirement

for the Future Architecture

Introduction

Proposals that we know today as very advanced and technologically complex, based

on deployability are nevertheless as old as civilisation is.

From the moment when men abandoned caves and caverns to search for a better

life, they need shelters built by them mostly through rapid assembly from materials

found anywhere or by pieces easy to be transported.

The ancient architecture was mobile. The Berber tents (Figure 1), the Indian

teepee (Figure 2) as well as the Mongo1 yurtas, based on an ingenious scissors system

(Figure 3), were easily movable.



Mob ility a s a re qu ire me ntfo r th e F utu re A rc hite ctu re

Figure 4: Concept of a space platform.



L igh twe igh t Pro je c ts

Figure 9: Pneumatic roof, Osaka, 1970.



Mobility a s a r eq uir emen t f or th e F utu re A rc hite ctu re

Figure 11: Fuller's tensegrity sphere.



L ig htwe ig ht P ro je cts

Figure 13:Mororisation at a harbour.

The movies, presenting steel animals with people inside (Figure 17) did contribute to

the popularisation of machines and mechanisms ..

PerezPinero,

who built deployable domes with spatial scissors, was the first to

convert architecture into a transformable machine (Figure 14).Allen built the first. .



Mobility as a requirem en t for the F uture A rchitecture




Figure 14d: Perez Pinero's transformable machine.



Mobility a s a r eq uir eme nt fo r th e Fu tu reA rc hite ctu re

Figure 15b: Toronto Sky Dorrie is nnf':n



L igh twe igh t P roje cts

Figure 16a: Futuoka Dome.



Mobility asa requirement for the Future Architecture



L£gh twe igh t P roje cts

Figure 18: 'Reichstag' Dome, Foster.

The importance of movable structures

Mobility has been converted in a necessity for the future since it is linked to ecology,

rational use of energy, protection of the environment and intelligent building. Foster,

in the project for the Reichstag (Figure 18), and Bodo Rasch when designing the

umbrellas for the Holy Mosque inMedina (Figure 19)have highlighted these priori-

ties.

Additionally mobility has been converted with an aesthetic and formal purpose

that integrates a new dimension: time. Calatrava is the most conspicuous architect inthe use of movement as a parameter for beauty (Figure 20). In several of his projects

mobility turns into art ..

Once, adaptability was at the borderline between functionality and imagination.

Now it has started to infiltrate in more conventional architectural applications.

Thousands of patents cover curious inventions. Some of them propose specific sys-

tems for umbrellas (Figure 21), sliding roofs (Figure 22) or fan shells (Figure 23).When mobility is a basic requirement it can he integrated in the concept of the

,. 'I ' '" 't t ",. •• f • ~ 41 I



Mob ility a s a re qu ireme ntfo r th e F utu re A rc hite ctu re

F ig ure 1 9 : P r oto ty pe s fo r th e umbre lla s fo r th e Ho ly Mo sq ue in Medina.



L ig h twe ig h t P ro je cts

Figure 20: .Artistic movement.



Mobility a s a requirem en t for the Fuiurerlrcbitecture

Figure 21 b: M ush- balloo ns, O saka, 70.




Figure 22b: R oof is open .



Mobt'lity a s a r eq uir emen t fo r th e Fu tu re A rchite ctu re

Figure 24: Asymmetric sliding mechanism.

Figure 25: Design for a velodrome on only four piers,



L ig h twe ig ht P r oje cts

Figure 27a: Retractable roof.



M obility as a requirement fo r the Future Architecture

Figure 27b: Folding does not requireparcel inthe centre.

Actual deployable structures

We want to discuss about our own work because the experience was satisfactory.

Mter systematising the ways to fold and deploy structural components we have

proposed several alternatives, depending on the site, the client and the budget.

For a completely automated sl iding roof over a swimming pool with a constructed

wall oriented to the south we proposed an asymmetric sliding mechanism (Figure

24) .

Figure 25 shows the design for the greatest cover in the world on only four piers

(15000 m2). It had to be built on a velodrome without disturbing the activities

underneath ..But recently the project changed: itwas decided that a fixed cover wouldbe constructed because otherwise the cost of the maintenance should be too high.

Another possibility is the use ofjlexible materials that can be packed in a parcel,

Figure 26 shows the cover over the arena of Algeciras, where part of the cover slides

on a tensegrity system,

To avoid the inconvenience of the aspect of a suspended parcel in the centre of the

space we have proposed in.jaen the folding to the border (Figure 27),

The folding is more ordered if we use some guides to help the folding, which was

applied in the Auditorium inJaen with a cover based on a scissors system with curved

bars (Figure 28). With· this solution we achieve comfortable spaces that can be astransparent, as in Valencina in Sevilla (Figure 29), In the first case the movement is




Figure 28: Auditorium inJaen ..



Mobility a s a re qu ireme nt fo r th e F utu re drc bite ctu re

Figure 29a: Swimming pool inValencia inSevilla.

Figure 29b:Transparent roof achieves comfortable space.



L ightwe ight P r- oje cts

Figure 30: Domes made from plane scissors.

From plane scissors it is possible to built stable domes. To obtain a rigid panel roof the

scissors can be combined with panels from glass or steel, for which we still can achieve

a satisfactory folding (Figure 30). We proposed itin

a visionary project (Figure 31).Cheaper than these solutions is a mixed solution, as we studied for a swimming.... "n I /'T"". ,.....,,'\ r--.·1' Ir1: ~ 1("".1,. 1 1 ...



Mob ility a s a re qu ireme nt fo r th e F utu re A rch ite ctu re

F ig ure 3 1; V isio nary p ro je ct.

Figure 32 : Sw immin g po ol in B arcelona.

Nevertheless architecture is more than the solution ofa mechanic problem and wecan integrate the sensibility of historical building to our proposals. That we did for

the arena of Burgos (Figure 33) where we copied the Cathedral lantern (Figure 34)

and the Conde stable Chapel (Figure 35).

Final remark

Even when mass production is required we can use beautiful and particularised solu-

rions.

Perhaps in a few years, as happened with the car, structural models wil l be trans-

formed into awide variety of sophisticated and modern solutions fabricated en mass., ~ . . . .



Lt"ghtweigh t Projec ts

Figure 33: Arena o f Burgos.

Figure 34: Cathedral lantern,

References

Escrig, F. "M obile an d R ap idly A ssemble d Architecture" STAR . S tru cn n

Seville 1996. .

Ishii, K .. "Structural Design of Retractable Roof Structures". Advances in Arc

VVIT . Southampton, ux 1999.

Escrig, F. Transformable Architecture. Journal of the lntemational Associati

Spatial Structures. N 132.2000. Pp 3-22.

School of Architecture, Reina Mercedes 2, £-41021 Sevilla, SpainTe l: (+34 )954556 .583

Fax: (+34 )95 4556534

e-mail: felix@arqul4 ..us.es



Mo bility a s a re qu ireme nt fo r th e F utu re A rc hite ctu re

Figure 35: Condestable Chapel.

2003-3 mobility as a requirement for the future architecture

Documents