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INTRODUCTION
The goal of this work is to
develop a new geometrical paradigm that can bring a natural order
back into building. Bucky Fuller had a unique approach to architecture.
A key feature of his work was geometry, which provided many advantages.
This work follows that thread.
In architecture today, the green
movement focuses mostly on the origins of material and use of
energy. This work proposes that there is another way to be green
in architecture, a way that focuses on process in building going
beyond the factory. It is in geometry, with its repeating similar
forms, and smaller similar parts that we find the advantages
we are looking for. These include greater structural efficiency,
manufacturing economies, easier handling, less specialized work
force, and lower start up costs. What distinguishes this geometry
from Fuller's is that it excludes the pentagon, instead focusing
generally on the cube and the octagon, more specifically variations
of a 3D checkerboard of cubes or "rhombicubes". When
oriented in different ways, these cubes have provided for a veritable
bouquet of new and different building types to sprout up using
faceted geometrical faces that can provide a new and more natural
look and feel to our buildings.
The functionality also becomes
ornamental, with visible joinery illustrating the simple means
of construction and assembly. These designs allow more interactivity
for the user and foster a sense of creativity and unlimited possibilities,
redefining structures in playful expressions of geometrical harmony.
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PROLOGUE
This work started in 1972 with
multi-module, 4' sq. plywood cubes. A second structure was a
9'-6" dia. plywood hut made with 4' sq. plywood panels (is
there a trend here?). The next 20 years was spent on other versions
of single module structures (domes primarily, both icosahedral
and octahedral) except for diversions into octet truss space
frames. Although significant time was spent with strut structures,
the design kept returning to panel structures similar to the
original octahedral based hut, in which plywood was used both
as structure and surface element.
In 1995 , these simple little
hut structures became multi-modular, as the connections and shape
of the little hut magically morphed into a multi-module network
all with the same connections. A scientist named Robert Wilson
had chronicled the geometry of these 3D networks in 1968. He
used paper models to represent the forms. By referencing the
new structures against Wilson's work, it was determined that
these were "rhombic dodecahedrons" (what I now call
"rhombicubes") connected into 3D arrays. Since that
time, experiments have refined the systems, including the development
of the frame structure options.
Most all of this work consisted
of the use of router cut birch plywood panels with integral slots
and notches. And, though the plywood panel systems don't provide
many of the features required in a building, they do provide
structure and an interior skin which can be adapted to specific
sites. They provide quality materials in efficient solutions
and they demonstrate the effectiveness of a geometry which can
also be used with other methods and materials.
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The DH1 Disaster House, 2006
In 2004, I redirected my work
to the use of digital design and production. This allowed a higher
level of detail, more rapid realization, and the ability to increase
scale more easily. The DH1 project began in early 2006, at the
insistence of Prof. Nathan Shapira, who was curating a show for
me at the Pacific Design Center at the time and said it was something
I could not do without.
The initial focus was to develop
a solution for the homeless here in Los Angeles. A first solution
was built in model form, full size would have been 14' square,
intended to sit on asphalt parking lots at police stations or
other facilities. Each of four roof surface sections was formed
with two 4 x 8 sheets, supported by a sectional frame. A bit
too fussy, perhaps, the solution was set aside more for being
too uninteresting. The wall slope did borrow from the "rhombicube"
at 19.5 degrees and this angle was carried over to the DH1.
A structural floor was added
to the DH model and the roof and floor module became 5 feet.
This simplified the framing and assembly. The 5' module is visible
in the exterior in the pair of doors on each face and the roof
panels. The corner wall assemblies are made with two vertical
4 x 8 sheets and a corner beveled part and provide both vertical
and lateral support.
These designs are tested first
at small scale. The photographs ( below) are of the first model.
Later models resolved the door design and various other assembly
details. With all slotted connections and no fasteners, the assembly
details are important.
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The full-size DH1 prototype was
first cut for a show (SWARM
GALLERY in Oakland Calif., June 2006, below), and assembled
again for another show at the Anaheim Convention Center, also
in 2006, both times by four people. The first time took 5 hrs.
to assemble, the second time 3 1/2 hrs. after the design of the
roof framing details were revised. Disassembly took about the
same amount of time.
The DH1 is constructed entirely
with slotted plywood, more specifically router cut slots in sustainable
"Finland Birch Plywood" describing generally an exterior
grade of (phenolic resin coated) solid birch plywood from the
Baltic regions of northern Europe. The CNC router is the universal
work horse of production shops worldwide. No other shop set up
requirements.
Allowable Stress (psi): Extreme
Fiber Stress in Bending 3,600. Compression in Plane of Panel
2,500. Rolling Shear Stress 100. Modulus of Elasticity 2,200,000
The use of quality materials
is intended to allow for the integration of the DH1 modules into
the permanent solution for the neighborhoods in which they are
deployed. The structure as it exists is intended to be initially
insulated with indigenous materials such as straw and then wrapped
with a canvas or plastic membrane, In a warm island climate just
a rain fly might suffice.
Other features of value about
the DH is:
It is modular (intra modular) with smaller pieces that can be
handled without cranes or other means. Repetitive designs snap
together without fasteners or other hardware, nothing to lose,
less complexity in manufacturing. Although it is strong, it is
flexible. Very safe in earthquakes, though it does need to be
tied down for wind by some means. It was designed with a structural
floor on four pier points for use in difficult environments.
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2008 Gregg Fleishman