TEXTILE ROOFS 2015 EXPO 2015 MILANO - COnnecting · PDF fileTaiyo Europe technet GmbH ......

N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E E U R O P E A N B A S E D N E T W O R K F O R T H E D E S I G N A N D R E A L I S A T I O N O F T E N S I L E S T R U C T U R E S

NEWSLETTER NR. 29SEPTEMBER 2015PUBLISHED TWICE A YEARPRICE €15 (POST INCL)www.tensinet.com

PROJECTS

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TEXTILE ROOFS 2015

EXPO 2015 MILANOFFEEEEDDIINNGG TTHHEE PPLLAANNEETT,, EENNEERRGGYY FFOORR LLIIFFEE

TTHHEE SSWWAARROOVVSSKKII CCRRYYSSTTAALL WWOORRLLDDSS"NEW ERA OF WONDER"

PPHHÄÄNNOOMMEENNTTAA

A TOWER MADE FROM (ALMOST)NOTHING BUT GEOMETRY!

Swarovski Crystal World © Kiefer. Textile Architektur ▲PHÄNOMENTA © Carsten Krämer, formTL ►

TENSINEWS NR. 29 – SEPTEMBER 20152

8 POLITECNICO DI MILANO RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTATIONS

16TEXTILE ROOFS2015

17 “TEXTILE STRUCTURES FOR NEW BUILDING” 2015SPECIAL GRANT FOR THE 13TH STUDENT COMPETITION

24 INTERNATIONAL MEMBRANE SYMPOSIUM 2015 IMS E.V. ANHALT UNIVERSITY, GERMANY

26 FISHING FOR FORMFORM-RULE|RULE-FORM SYMPOSIUM 2015

28 UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM END OF YEAR SHOWPAVILION 2015

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CENO Membrane Technology GmbHwww.ceno-tec.de

Dyneonwww.dyneon.eu

FabricArtMembrane Structureswww.fabricart.com.tr/

Form TLwww.Form-tl.de

Messe FrankfurtTechtextilwww.techtextil.com

Mehler Texnologies www.mehler-texnologies.com

Sefar www.sefar.com

Sioen Industries www.sioen.com

Saint-Gobain www.sheerfill.com

Taiyo Europewww.taiyo-europe.com

technet GmbHwww.technet-gmbh.com

Verseidagwww.vsindutex.de

Heytex Bramsche GmbHwww.heytex.com

form TL

Serge Ferrari sawww.sergeferrari.com

Canobbio S.p.A.www.canobbio.com

partners2015

INFO

Buro Happoldwww.burohappold.com

Editorial BoardJohn Chilton, Evi Corne, Peter Gosling, Marijke Mollaert, Javier Tejera

CoordinationMarijke Mollaert, phone: +32 2 629 28 45, [email protected]

Address Vrije Uni ver siteit Brussel (VUB), Dept. of Architectural Engineering,Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brus sels, Belgium

ISSN 1784-5688

All copyrights remain by each authorPrice €15postage & packing included

PROJECTS PA G E

4 Bangladesh TENSILE CONESRADISSON BAY VIEW HOTEL

5 Austria THE SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL WORLDS "NEW ERA OF WONDER"

6 Switzerland RETRACTABLE MEMBRANE ROOFAN ADAPTABLE WEATHER PROTECTION

7 Azerbaijan BAKU 2015 EUROPEAN GAMES PARK

10 Germany PHÄNOMENTAA TOWER MADE FROM (ALMOST) NOTHING BUT GEOMETRY!

10 Germany MEHLER REPLACES MEHLER AFTER 37 YEARS ELSPE GRANDSTAND CANOPY

CALL

MISC

contents

16 TENSINET - COST ACTION TU1303 SYMPOSIUM 2016NOVEL STRUCTURAL SKINS 26-28 OCTOBER 2016

25 BOOKREVIEWFABRIC STRUCTURES IN ARCHITECTURELIGHTWEIGHT LANDSCAPE

18 FEEDING THE PLANET, ENERGY FOR LIFE

REPORT

24 WELD YOUR IDEAS AT FORSSTROM’S NEW HF WELDING CENTER , SWEDEN

ARTICLE

n°29

TENSINEWS NR. 29 – SEPTEMBER 2015 33

Edito

Forthcoming EventsStructural Membranes 2015Barcelona, Spain │ 19-21/10/ 2015http://congress.cimne.com/mem-branes2015/frontal/default.asp

9th Aachen-Dresden InternationalTextile Conference 2015Aachen, Germany │ 26-27/11/2015www.aachen-dresden-itc.de

Textile Roofs 2016Berlin, Germany │ 2-4/05/2016http://www.textile-roofs.com/

IASS 2016Tokyo, Japan │ 26-30/09/2016http://www.textile-roofs.com/

TENSINET - COST ACTION TU1303SYMPOSIUM 2016 Novel structural skinsNewcastle, UK │ 26-29 Oct 2016

Forthcoming MeetingsPartner Meeting 2 and Annual General Meeting Tuesday 20 October 2015 at 18:45Location: Master room, Building A3,CampusNord of the Technical University of Catalonia(UPC), Jordi Girona 1-3 (08034) Barcelonahttp://congress.cimne.com/membranes2015

CORRECTION TensiNews 28

Apology: in the nº 28 of TensiNews, the figure 8on page 11 should have been attributed to Paolo Beccarelli, John Harding and John Chilton.

CALL Cost Action TU1303TRAINING SCHOOL

EUROMEMFrom uncertainties to partial safety factors

calibration: application to tensile membranestructures, discover the birth of a Eurocode.

This training school will be organized at theUniversity of Nantes from the 29th of Sep tembertill the 1st of October 2015. The number of placesis limited.

Registration will be free for members of the CostAction TU1303 (registration fee is 200€ forresearchers and 400€ for industrial participants).Only about 10 early career researchers from theCost Action can be reimbursed.

Joined to the training school a WG4 and WG5meeting is scheduled. As this meeting is notforeseen in the Work and Budget Plan for 2015,again only a few participants/early stageresearchers will be reimbursed.

More information can be found athttp://euromem.sciencesconf.org/

Dear Reader,This TensiNews gives a short description of a few recent membrane projects built for the ‘Radis-

son Bay View Hotel’ (Bangladesh), the ‘European Games Park’ (Azerbaijan) and ‘Phänomenta’(Germany). An ‘Adaptable Weather Protection’ (Switzerland) is presented, a renewed structure‘Elspe Grandstand Canopy’ (Germany) and the very poetic installation for the ‘Swarovski CrystalWorlds’ (Austria).

This issue also includes the reports of (1) Fishing for Form, Rule-Form symposium 2015 organised byKOGE, University of Innsbruck, (2) the International Membrane Symposium 2015 organised by An-halt University and (3) the international workshop Textile Roofs 2015 held in Berlin. There is also adescription of the research and experimentation possibilities at Polimi Textiles' HUB.

Till the end of October the Expo ‘Feeding the planet, energy for life’ takes place in Milano. SeveralTensiNet members were involved in the realisation of some of the pavilions and shading systems(page 18-23).

The TensiNet Association is active in the COST Action TU1303 ‘Novel structural skins’ (www.novel-structuralskins.eu). This COST Action had a meeting on the 8th and 9th of September at the Univer-sity of Minho (Guimarães, Portugal). The plenary lecture by Martin Tamke from CITA (DK), entitled‘The Tower – an interdisciplinary collaboration in the framework of COST’, showed innovative re-sults emerging from the collaboration between various COST Action partners. Raul Fangueiro(UMinho, PT) introduced the Fibrenamics International Platform for the knowledge transfer be-tween universities and companies as well as some new developments. In addition, the five WorkingGroups of the Action discussed during parallel sessions various aspects and future challenges re-lated to Novel Structural Skins, like new applications, aspects related to LCA and acoustics, and thedevelopment of case studies and physical models as ‘educational pack’.

The Eurocode working group CEN TC250 WG5 finalised and submitted the Scientific and Policy(SaP) report ‘Guideline for a European Structural Design of Tensile Membrane Structures madefrom Fabrics and Foils’. The TensiNet Eurocode working group, CEN TC250 WG5 and the COST Ac-tion TU1303 WG5 ‘From material to structure and limit states: codes and standardisation’ will fur-ther cooperate to establish the Technical Specifications, which is the second step in obtaining aEurocode for ‘Membrane structures’. The COST Action TU1303 WG5 also decided to organise aRound Table session for experts in the domain of tensile surface structures to raise awareness forthe development of this Eurocode. The aim is to discuss the importance of the specific Eurocode andto increase involvement.

The COST Action TU1303 WG5 organises the training school ‘EUROMEM - From uncertainties topartial safety factors calibration: application to tensile membrane structures, discover the birth ofa Eurocode’, at the University of Nantes from the 29th of September till the 1st of October 2015.More information can be found at http://euromem.sciencesconf.org/

The TensiNet/COST TU1303 Symposium will have the same theme as the COST ‘Action Novelstructural skins’ and will take place at Newcastle University, from the 26th till the 28th of October2016. Several interesting keynote speakers have already confirmed their presence, such as PatrikSchumacher (Zaha Hadid Office), Julian Lienhard (str.ucture GmbH), Carl Maywald (Vector Foil-tec), Raul Fanguiero (Minho University), Martin Tamke (Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schoolof Architecture), Gordon Mungal (ARUP), Al Fisher (Buro Happold), Jan Knippers (Institut fürTragkonstruktionen und Konstruktives Entwerfen) and Jürgen Wacker (Wacker Ingenieure). If youare interested to present a paper, please submit your abstract before the deadline on October 15th

(see also http://conferences.ncl.ac.uk/tensinet2016 and page 16-17).

We hope you enjoy this issue and look forward to see you at one of the tensile structures relatedevents, perhaps already at Structural Membranes 2015?

Yours sincerely, Marijke Mollaert

Introduction & context Radisson Bay View Hotel (RBVH) is situated in Chittagong, which is thelargest port city in Bangladesh. RBVH is an ambitious five star hotel toserve Chittagong as an international business and cultural center to hostinternational seminars, symposiums, conferences, events and expos etc. as well as a resting place for business travelers, entrepreneurs, transitpassengers and visitors. The tensile membrane roof is situated upon themain entry between annex block and 20 storied tower block with an areaof 665m². It will serve as main entry porch to the building.

Structural system Chittagong city is located close to the sea and is quite windy. Thestructural design of the 8 tensile cones are done according to BNBC codeconsidering 260km/hr wind speed. The membrane roof is consisted of 8 cones of 8mx8m sizesize, 20m above ground level and 15m above entryporch level. Each cone is supported by a flying mast of 4m height which issuspended by 4 PVC coated 12mm wire cables. The membrane material ofthe cones is PVDF coated white polyester fabric. The profile of thesupporting steel structure is H which acts as a gutter to drain out rainwater to adjacent terraces. The supporting steel structure is painted inblack while the flying mast and top ring are painted in white color. The topring of the flying mast is weather protected by acrylic transparent sheetwhich allows daylight and air circulation into the space beneath it. There isa 65mm air gap between the acrylic sheet and the top ring to allow airflow. Acrylic sheet is extended 150mm to protect interior from rain water.

Impact and impressionThe 15m high and 24m wide entry porch gives a grand impression whileentering the building. The translucency of the white fabric creates anexcellent impression. The shadow of the concrete beam frames frombackground creates an ever changing play of shadow from morning toafternoon on the tension fabric of the entry porch. At night LED lightsilluminate the Tensile Membrane which is also very pleasing to see. Interms of thermal quality the white color and conical shape of themembrane reflects most of the solar radiation and keep the interior cool.

Also due to the height of the entry porch, which is 15m above the floor, a gentle, cool, airy environment is created in the entry lobby.

Construction & ErectionConstruction of the steel is done locally. The erection procedure was laborintensive since labor is cheap and the location of the inner cones were verydifficult to be reached by heavy crane since there was little effective workspace for crane. The steel scaffolding was done on the entire lobby area. A temporary deck was built on the scaffolding 13.5m above the floor level.With the help of chain pulley and temporary scaffolding the steel andfabric was erected in place. It took about a week to fit and erect all 8 cones.

Conclusion The tensile Membrane Entry Roof is the largest tensile membranestructure ever constructed in Bangladesh. As tensile structures are quitenew as system in Bangladesh it was difficult to manage and to coordinatethis project. After all it is successfully completed. People who wereinvolved in this project are delighted to see the happy faces of the visitorswhile entering the building.

! Ar. Golam Morsalin Choudhury Rana, Archineer: [email protected]: www.tensogroup.blogspot.com

www.alm-tmsl.com


CHOUDHURY RANA

Tensile cones Chittagong, Bangladesh

Project Name Tensile Membrane Entry Roof in Radisson Bay ViewLocation Chittagong, BangladeshClient Sena Hotel Development Ltd. (SHDL)Year of Construction October, 2014Consultant Vistaara Architects Pvt Ltd.Project Architect Ar. Golam Morsalin Choudhury RanaContractor Paradigm-Drishik ConsortiumSteel & Membrane ALM Steel Building LTD.Material PVDF coated PES fabricCovered Area 665m²

RADISSON BAY VIEW HOTEL

IntroductionTogether with a planning team ofarchitects, engineers, cablemanufacturers, installationcompany, and so forth we wereresponsible for the detailed design,structural analysis and detailedplanning of the supporting cablenet structure of the SwarovskiCrystal Worlds in Wattens nearInnsbruck (Austria).

ProjectIn front of the beautiful alpinepanorama, the Swarovski CrystalWorlds extend over an area ofabout 1.500m². In its longestdimension, the cable net structureamounts to about 130m. Thestructure is set to a total of 116columns and is connected withmore than 3000 cables to anetwork. At the junctions thecables are knotted together withdiscuses. The entire structure ispushed up on pressure props orrather pulled down over pull propsand thus placed under tension.Basis for the draft of the entireconstruction represents a so-calledthree-dimensional Voronoidiagram. Voronoi diagrams arenatural phenomenons which areoccurring in a variety of scientific

fields, such as biology, chemistry,meteorology, et cetera. They alsofeature interesting mathematicalproperties and relationships whichfinally reflect themselves inexciting geometric structures.

Difficulty at the execution of sucha network is that these manynodes, with their different anglesand directions, must be boughttogether in a very closely space atone point. Also the architectsemphasized special efforts for anelegant and unobtrusive solutionat the detailed design of thesepoints. That manages the discus ona smart and chic way. Three ropescan be connected force-fit witheach other and provide an idealsolution to knot Voronoi networks.This innovation makes the cablenet structure with its clouds indifferent shapes and sizes,according to the design of theFrench-American artist duo Caoand Perrot, to a real artwork.The clouds are formed fromstainless steel mesh and hung inthe rope net structure. Then theclouds are decorated withthousands of tiny crystals andform a huge, in many differentcolors and shapes, glitzy sea ofclouds.


Wattens, Austria

KIEFER. TEXTILE ARCHITEKTUR

"New Era of Wonder" THE SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL WORLDS

Name of the project: Swarovski Crystal WorldsLocation address: Kristallweltenstrasse 1, 6112 Wattens, Tyrol AustriaClient (investor): D. Swarovski KGFunction of building: Park, landscape, artworkYear of construction: 2015General planning: s_o_s architektenArchitects: s_o_s architekten - Andy Cao, Xavier Perrot/ cao | perrot studioStructural engineers: Tobias Schlaich, Tobias Lüdeke/ Kiefer. Textile ArchitekturMain contractor: Montageservice GmbHSupplier of cables/ discus: Carl Stahl GmbHManufacture and installation: Montageservice GmbHSurface area: 1500m²

! Kathrin Kaltenbrunner, Kiefer. Textile Architektur

: [email protected]: www.k-ta.de

Figure 2. Connection detail - discus

Figure 1. The Swarovski Crystal Worlds


ContextIt is always the desire of retail and catering to make shopping streets moreattractive. So far only suburban shopping malls manage to provideprotection from all weather conditions. In Buchs, Switzerland (Canton St.Gallen), an inner-city shopping street has now been designed as anexceptional meeting place with adaptable weather protection.

Project descriptionA retractable membrane roof covers the 50m long Metzgergasse in theheart of the city and can be opened and closed within 5 minutes, at thetouch of a button. The street area is completely covered by the 525m²fabric roof and provides protection from rain and sun. The pedestrian zoneis significantly valorised through the design and functionality of thisproject. The adaptive roofing provides the site with significant economicbenefits, since even in bad weather, the public space is fully available andcan be used for a variety of events.

The convertible roof is opened and closed longitudinally along 4 parallelrails. When open, it takes on a very spatial wave geometry. The textilefabric is stretched between curved ridge and valley belts thereby forming asequence of dynamic elements with an average height of 6.50m abovestreet level. The folded membrane is 'parked' at the north end under acanopy between the buildings forming a gateway to the Metzgergasse.During deployment, the membrane is transversely pre-stressed to provideoptimal stability for wind loads (Fig. 2).

A particular challenge in the foothills of the Alps is always the strongfoehn winds, which are typical in the Swiss-Austrian Rhine Valley.Therefore, the relevant wind loads for the roof construction weredetermined though precise experiments in the wind tunnel.

The selected membrane made of polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) ischemically inert, UV-resistant and non-fading, the natural color is white.

The PTFE fabric of the Swisscompany SEFAR is alsocharacterised by an extremelyhigh translucency of 38% andcorresponds aesthe tically andqualitatively to the higheststandards available. Thecolored LED lights in the textilecanopy provide good lightingat night to effectuallyilluminate the covered space(Fig. 3).

With an interdisciplinary planning team of architects from Nikolia Kugelarch22 and the engineers from str.ucture, this project continues theunique Stuttgart lightweight tradition. The planning team has beenconsistently developing the technology of retractable membranestructures to advance structural optimisation and functional design ofsuch unique lightweight structures. This enables a highly efficient use ofresources and leads to the inherent elegance of lightweight design (Fig. 4).

! Nikolai Kugel ! Julian Lienhard: [email protected] : [email protected]: www.kugel-architekten.de : www.str-ucture.com

: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWR_ZRORV2w : https://vimeo.com/121039713

NIKOLIA KUGEL ARCH22

STR.UCTURE GMBH

Retractable Membrane Roof

Location: Buchs (St. Gallen), SwitzerlandClient: Alliva AG, MaurenPlanning of membrane roof: Architect: Nikolia Kugel arch22

Engineer: str.ucture GmbHGeneral Planning: Architect: Kaundbe AG

Engineer: Ferdy Kaiser AGSteelworks: Heinrich Rohlfing Stahlbau GmbH / Tuchschmid AGMembrane manufacturing: A. Arnegger GmbHPlanning: April - July 2014Construction: November 2014Completion: December 2014 Membrane: Sefar PTFE MembraneSpan: 53mx10,4mCovered area: 525m²Retraction time: 5min

AN ADAPTABLE WEATHER PROTECTIONFOR THE INNER-CITY SHOPPING STREET

Figure 1.FEM Simulation © str.ucture

Figure 2. General view and detail of the convertible roof shopping street Metzgergasse © Bernd L. Göllnitz Bildgestaltung

Buchs, Switzerland

Figure 4. Perspective © Kugel

Figure 3. An illuminated covered space at night © Nikolai Kugel Stuttgart


IntroductionThe European Olympic Committee(EOC) decided in December 2012to organise the first edition of theEuropean Games in 2015 at Baku,Azerbaijan. From now on the gameswill take place every four years. TheEuropean Games were organisedfrom 12 till 28 June and 6.000 athletes have struggled in 20 sports(16 Olympic sports and 4 outsideOlympics). Beside the existing venues tempo-rary and new buildings wereerected such as the 68.000 capac-ity National Stadium. Baku 2015European Games Park intended tobe the landmark of the city with itssize, scope and architectural design.

DesignThe design of the European GamesPark was made by the Spanish PujolArquitectua Company. The organization of the First Euro-pean Games in Baku had to face, aswell as many other major sportevents, the problem of beingequipped with adequate facilitiesfor some sports that only excep-tionally require a high number ofspectators.In an annex next to the AquaticCentre, the organizers of the Euro-pean Games in Baku found theideal place to locate buildingswhich, on a temporary basis, wouldhost sports such as water polo,beach volleyball, beach soccer and3x3, placing them around a SportsPark. The temporary nature ofthese sports facilities is clearly ex-pressed through the selection ofmaterials and building solutionscharacteristic of ephemeral archi-tecture.Thus, along with the removablestructures surrounding the play-fields of each of the various sports,extra accommodation is foreseenso that the competitions are carriedout in the best conditions. Locker rooms, office areas, meetingrooms, VIPs lounges, etc. have beenarranged using containers whichadapt their strict measures and lim-

itations to each of the assignedfunctions. They are grouped ac-cording to height and floor bymeans of a structural grid set upwith pillars, beams and metal slabs.A careful choice of PVC fabric ofdifferent colours contributes to es-tablish a formal and chromaticsense of unity that brings out thewhole.

Design of the Pergolas around theEuropean Games ParkPujol Arquitectua Company de-cided that it was necessary to cre-ate some kind of shadow on thisextensive asphalted area exposedto direct sunlight during very hotsummers. It was important not tointerfere with big clusters of peoplewalking through the venues, that iswhy they designed a minimum im-pact on the ground with only several columns. Tensioned trian-gular pieces of fabric were designedwith the colours of the Venues anda perforated membrane type waschosen to reduce the wind loads(Fig. 1).

Design of the fabric of the VillageFacadeFor the design of the Village Facadevertical pieces of membrane wereused. The membranes are perfo-rated, see-through and coloured,which create a vibration of coloursto these facades (Fig. 2).

Design of main Fields Facades The temporality of the EuropeanGames Park was one of the reasons

to create fabric wrappings aroundthe arenas, as a way of enclosingthe areas. The in/out wave move-ment of the facades creates a sin-gularity to the wrapping around themain stands. At daytime and duringthe night the wallwasher lightingalso creates shadows and increasethis particularly geometry (Fig. 3).

Project TENSAFORM was involved in theimplementation of the textile roofand the facade for the EuropeanGames Park Area (water polo,beach volleyball, 3X3 basketballand shooting area) (Fig. 4).

TENSAFORM has chosen textilesmanufactured by Serge Ferrari: Ferrari 1202 S standard Whitemembrane material for the roofcovering and Ferrari FT 381 meshmembrane material for the facades.The colours red blue, turquoise andthe yellow were used in order to in-crease the light transmittance. The manufacturing of the mem-branes for the European GamesPark, having a membrane surface ofapproximately 30.000m2, was man-ufactured by Tensaform company atits manufacturing factory located atan area of 10.000m2 in Malkara. Ateam consisting of around 70 super-visors completed the installation.

! Mehmet YILMAZ: [email protected]: www.tensaform.com

Tensaform

BAKU 2015 EUROPEAN GAMES PARK

Azerbaijan

Figure 1. Pergolas - Tensioned triangular piecesof fabric provide shades.

Figure 2. Village Facade - Vertical colouredmembrane stripes.

Figure 3. Main Field Facade the in/out wavemovement of the membrane facades.

Figure 4. European Games Park Area - Mainstadium - inside view and cross section.

Name of the project: Baku 2015 European Games Park (textile roof and facade)Location address: Baku, Azerbaijan Client (investor): Securo Limited Function of building: Sport ComplexType of application of the membrane: roof covering and facadeYear of construction: 2015Architects: Pujol ArquitectuaConsulting engineer for the membrane: Tensaform Membrane Structures Industry

Trade INC.Main contractor: Securo LimitedContractor for the membrane: Tensaform Membrane Structures Industry & Trade INC.Supplier of the membrane material: Serge Ferrari Manufacture and installation: Tensaform Membrane Structures Industry & Trade INC.Material: Ferrari FT 381 Mesh membrane & Ferrari PVC 1202 S membrane Covered surface (Facade & roofed area): 30.000m²

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IntroductionA group of researchers at Politecnico di Milanois focused on developing the technological ad-vancement of technical textiles applied in dif-ferent areas of interest. Two principal activitiesare the essence of the research work. The firstone is considered more theoretical and born in2008, with the creation of a multidisciplinaryresearch cluster on innovative textiles, namedClusTEX. Since the beginning of the experience,which involves different partners with differentscientific backgrounds, the aim is the collabo-ration in the development of innovative textilessuitable in different branches, such as light-weight structures, architecture and interior de-sign, aerospace and nautical engineering. TheClusTEX’s purpose is the scientific research in abroad sense, based on the propositional knowledge and on the creativity typical of design.The second one is more pragmatic and comesto light from the necessity to communicatewith the world outside universities, which re-quires technical laboratory services. The Tex-tiles’ HUB (Heuristic Understanding inBuildings), operative since March 2015, is a lab-oratory focused on testing the potentiality ofmembranes, foils and technical textiles, appliedin the constructions field. The ClusTEX and theTextiles’ HUB operative levels are linked in thecreation of a meeting point between the scien-tific world and the production area of innova-tive textiles and composite materials. TheClusTEX activities are mainly focused on an ex-perimental approach, while the Textiles’ HUBfacilities are able to give a service to a widernumber of firm and manufacturers, in term ofproducts certification and quality control. Thenetwork of Textiles’ HUB combines the specificskills of researchers and designers from five dif-ferent departments, working in the field ofbuilding technology, product and industrial de-sign, structural engineering, materials chem-istry and building energy.

Applied research on textile based materialsThe operative core of Textiles’ HUB is the biaxialmechanical tension test station, for biaxial me-chanical experiments on different advancedmaterials for various applications: technical tex-tiles, non-woven fabrics, coated and reinforcedmembranes, elastomers, polymeric and com-posite materials. Since the textiles are more andmore applied for creating complex forms, andare used also combined with other materials,additional equipments have been disposed fordeveloping the research on these high perform-ance “new skins”. Beside the biaxial machine,other machineries are employed: the thermalwelding torch for ETFE, a servo-hydraulic mechanical tester (dynamometer) and a spectrophotomer (UV-VIS-NIR). With the sup-port of the thermal welding machine, whichmeasures 600mm in the bar length and has atemperature range between 20°C and 300°C al-lowing the welding of different types of textilematerials, the activity of Textiles’ HUB focusesalso on prototype realization. The structuresstudied are: tensile struc tures, tents, pneumaticconstructions, form-active systems and ETFEcushions, textile and polymers based lamps ordesign objects, tensioned ceilings, textile parti-tions, false walls, textile wallpapers. At the mo-ment the research group is focusing on therealization of prototypes for the field tests oftwo European Researches in which Politecnico ofMilano is a partner involved. On one side the at-tention is put on the study and test of deploy-able kits for emergency situations, developedinside the project S(P)EEDKITS1. On the otherside the work is related to technical textiles andthin materials for energetic retrofitting, which isthe main topic of the research EASEE2. The de-sign and the experimental process are supportedwith dedicated softwares: ixForten, Lectra De-sign Concept 3D V4R2 and RhinoMembrane forthe management of design and productionprocess of membranes and SimaPro 8.03 forsupporting the environmental analysis.

Evaluation of mechanical performance with biaxial rigBoth uniaxial and biaxial tensile tests can beperformed with the biaxial rig set up on twosquared steel frames, designed for an esti-mated maximum force of 175kN on each side.The actuators are based on a brushless motor,equipped with an absolute encoder. The maxi-mum speed is 240mm/min and the positioningresolution is equal to +/- 0.05mm. Each actua-

tor is equipped with a force transducer, whichmeasures the force applied, allowing accuratecontrol of the linear displacements of the actu-ator. The force transducers have been cali-brated following the Quality System of thePolitecnico di Milano.Twelve electromechanical actuators, three oneach side of the squared rig, compose the biax-ial test machine. The actuators are free to movetransversally and each one is adjustable inde-pendently from the others. The maximum loadapplicable is 50kN per each actuator on twoopposite sides, that is 6 load cells connectedwith the respective 6 actuators, and 25kN forthe remaining ones, while the minimum stressvalue is 1kN. It provides a graphical interfacethat enables the system to be easily controlledby the user. The controlling system regulatesthe test, recording the data of mechanicalstresses generated in the samples, and oper-ates both in force and displacement control.The graphics show in real time the mean valuesof the applied force and the elongation of thesample. The transduction of the strain is doneby four linear potentiometers or by a DigitalImage Correlation system without contact, andthe images post-processing allows the meas-urement of the full field strain, on the externalsurface of the sample during loading.

Flexibility in the test planning: from conventional to special configurationsThe biaxial machine has been designed andbuilt with a high degree of adaptability, combining the different skills of involved re-searchers with different test configurations: itis possible to test different sizes of samples andhigh variation of polymeric films. The widerange of forces and transversal movement ofengines allows to test different materials, fromtechnical textiles or carbon fibres compositesemployed in construction field, which shouldwithstand high loads, to biomedical tissues,which are tested in small samples and supportlower stresses. The samples are fixed to thebars by means of special clamping system,which allows testing models from 10 to 100cmof wide. The particular configuration of the bi-axial rig offers freedom to test samples inmono- or biaxial tension, but also other typesof systems not compliant with the traditionalmodels (e.g. biaxial tests for compensationvalue, for E-modulus investigation), as follows. In the recent experience the experimentationhas dealt with particular and customized re-

POLITECNICO DI MILANO RESEARCH ANDEXPERIMENTATIONS AT POLIMI TEXTILES’ HUB

Figure 1 and 2.ClusTEXpavilion, themeeting pointof itsmultidisciplinary researchgroup andsupportlocation forcolleaguesand studentsinvolved in thebasedresearch onlightweightmaterials.

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quirements: from the application of the biaxialtest procedure for the characterization ofmembranes with a new coating applied on tra-ditional fabrics by an innovative industrialplant, to special and less conventional configu-ration tests. - The test campaign regarding the characteriza-tion of a fabric with a new coating aimed to de-termine strength by biaxial tests, elongation atbreak of the specimens by monoaxial ones anddetermination of the tear strength of the speci-mens in the pants shape. - In the field of tents, a campaign of mechanicaltests had the objective of performing the realconditions geometry of a tent system “anchor-ing system - textile configuration” and the me-chanical resistance of the textilereinforcements strips, aiming to characterize,verify and improve at the same type the detailsof the tent architecture and the textile manu-facturing of new products, intended to betested directly in the field. The reference values,imposed during the test, are the result of a pre-vious structural analysis and calculations forthe design.- A monoaxial test campaign, with a real condi-tion configuration, on innovative compositetextiles mechanically based on rigid compo-nents, under development in an industry ap-plied research, has been performed, in order totest and characterize the mechanical behaviourand the resistance of the new composites forarchitecture facades coupled with their anchor-ing systems.- High resistance fibre composite multiaxialtextiles have been objective of the experimen-tal campaign in order to assess and observe thebiaxial tensile mechanical response and struc-tural integrity of a complex structure designedfor aerospace: through biaxial test coupledwith Digital Image Correlation (DIC), assessedthe behaviour under intensive high loads, de-rived from preliminary analytical calculations

and by a campaign of FEM structural analysis.- A study of the integration of photovoltaiccells on flexible substrates, such as membranesand fluoropolymers, investigated and validatedthe performance of stretchable organic photo-voltaic, their mechanical responses, through acoupled electrical-mechanical test methodol-ogy, in order to verify the effect of externalloads on the electrical properties of OPV con-ductive layers. Through a series of tensile testson different substrates and various conductivelayers commonly employed by OPVs, this workclarified the property difference among differ-ent OPV electrode layers under stretchingstrains, therefore providing valuable informa-tion for subsequent building product develop-ment towards OPV integration into membranestructures.Forthcoming facilities of Polimi Textiles’ HUB To implement the Textiles’ HUB equipmentsthe university has provided a financing, whichwill allow new arrangements of test withinthe year. The research group of Polimi Tex-tiles’ HUB has predisposed the purchase ofnew machineries: a climatic chamber for thebiaxial machine, which allow to test textilematerials under stress in extreme tempera-ture conditions (temperature range -40°/+200°C), a double ventilated climaticchamber, which has the possibility to set dif-ferent temperatures in the two-controlledenvironments, and a spectrophotomer FT-IRequipped with integrated sphere and optionalfor testing the light transmittance of mem-branes with a specular behaviour.

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Figure 3. Cruciform sample oftextile with an innovativecoating prepared forperformance evaluation. © NTT (New TextileTechnologies GmbH).

Figure 4. Mechanical testsimulating the geometrical realconditions of a tent system. ©Ferrino Spa.

Figure 5. Test for characterizingthe mechanical behaviour of thenew composites for architecturefacades. © Woodskin®3.

Figure 6. Mechanical andelectrical performance test ofOPV integrated on EFTE.

Graphic 2. Comparison of deformation warp-fill in force control ofthe biaxial test

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Recent results of the experimental activities:[1] Aliprandi S., Monticelli C., Zanelli A., Technical Textiles and

Thin Insulation Materials. New Scenarios For The EnergeticRetrofitting, in 6th International Building Physics Confer-ence, IBPC 2015, Torino, 14 - 17 June 2015, in Yan J. (Advi-sory Editor), Energy Procedia, Science Direct Elsevier n. 69,[ISSN 1876-6102, n. OCLC: 320354560]

[2] Monticelli C., Zanelli A., Eco-efficiency and life cycle analy-sis of structural membranes in architecture, in FALK A.,VEGH P. e CHILTON J. (eds.), Proceedings of the IASSWORKING GROUPS 12 + 18 International Colloquium2015 “Bio-based and Bio-inspired Environmentally Com-patible Structures”, 10 - 13 April, Tokyo Denki University,Tokyo, Giappone

[3] Zanelli A., Viscuso S., 2015, Pannello flessibile, IT PatentBG2015A000020 (pending)

[4] Barozzi M. (2014), Bright Connector. Design of a multipur-pose unit for emergency response, Master thesis in Archi-tecture, Politecnico di Milano

[5] Colasante G. (2014), Tensile structures. Biaxial testing andconstitutive modelling of coated fabrics at finite strains,Ph.D thesis Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano

[6] Fan Z. (2014), Photovoltaic Flexibles: integrating organicsolar cells onto ETFE membrane, Ph.D thesis Departmentof Architecture, Built environment an Construction engi-neering, Politecnico di Milano

[7] Zanelli A., Buyle G., Giabardo G., Viscuso S. (2014).S(P)EEDKITS & smart packaging. Novel textile applicationto redesign the emergency response. TECHNE, vol. 8, . 250-260, ISSN: 2239-0243/ DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.13128/Techne-15080 Google Analytics/Google Analytics - http://www.speedkits.eu/

[8] Fan Z., Garbugli M., Monticelli C., Caironi M., Zanelli A., Mechanical Robustness Investigation of Organic Photo-voltaics for Membrane Integrated Flexible Solar Cells, inThe International Association For Shell And Spatial Struc-tures - Working Group 18 - Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 7–9Novembre 2013, U.T. Press, Cluj-Napoca, pp. 37-53 [ISBN978-973-662-970-9]

1 7th EU FP Collaborative Project S(P)EEDKITS, THEME [SEC-2011.4.2-3], Rapid deployment of shelters, facilities andmedical care resources following a major disaster - Inte-gration Project. http://www.speedkits.eu/

2 7th EU FP Collaborative Project EASEE “Envelope Approachto improve Sustainability and Energy efficiency in Existingmulti-storey multi-owner residential buildings”, LargeScale Integration Project Call identifier FP7-2011-NMPEeB.2011-3 “Energy saving technologies for buildings en-velope retrofitting”.

3 More information on http://wood-skin.com/mechanical-behavior/

CONTACTS:Textiles’ HUB - ClusTEX pavilion I Politecnico di Milano, Building NAVE, via Bonardi 9 I 20133 Milano I ItalyTextiles HUB coordinator I Alessandra Zanelli I [email protected] I +39.02.2399.5135Rehearsal responsible I Carol Monticelli I [email protected] I +39.02.2399.5131www.textilearchitecture.polimi.it I www.polimi.it/cluster/clustexwww.polimi.it/en/scientific-research/research-structures/interdepartmental-laboratories/textiles-hub-interdepartmental-textiles-and-polymers-research-laboratory/

Graphic 1. Load profile of the biaxial test


ContextSince 1st July 1978 the 4400spectators of the famous Karl Mayfestival have been sitting under afabric roof. After the Olympicstructure in Munich themembrane roof in Elspe was oneof the biggest, winter proof coversin Europe.

StructureFour masts with a diameter of upto 1,50m hold two 72mm thicksteel cables with a length of morethan 100m. The 127m long fringeof the membrane is stabilized by apolygonal rope. The membrane isup to 77m long and 32 – 40mwide. It is fixed to 9 knots of thesteel cable system and beside of 8 points at the fringe to a 65mlong concrete wall.

MEHLER TEXNOLOGIES GMBH

Mehler replaces Mehler after 37 years

ELSPE GRANDSTAND CANOPY Germany

Figure 1. 4 steel posts of the primary structure hold both of the 100mlong main cables © Koch Membranen

ContextThe striking steel membrane structure visualises the dynamics of the Earth'srotation in the PHÄNOMENTA Science Centre in Lüdenscheid. The newextension of the PHÄNOMENTA has the potential to be a famous landmarkor even an icon of engineering and architecture. Interdisciplinary colla bo ra -tion with KKW Architekten, WERNER Bauingenieure and formTL Ingenieurecreated an expressive tower made from steel, which is based on the draft ofa feasibility study by Schneider+Schumacher, with a helical membranestretched over its interior. Applying the tower-in-tower principle, thisprimary structure encloses a Foucault pendulum that is suspendedseparately from a secondary bearing structure. This logical separationenables the pendulum to move freely of the wind and vibrations of theprimary structure, thus allowing visitors to observe the Earth's rotation.

ProjectThe tower is just one part of the expansion to PHÄNOMENTA: a two-storey extension offers an additional 1.400m2 of exhibition space, withzones characterised by expressive shapes. On the one hand, this ensuresthe functionality of the exhibition space and, on the other hand, is a result

of the requirements on the tower's geometry. Since the concrete buildingwith monolithic design also serves as a foundation for the steel structure,the frame is continued by diagonal supports in the concrete structure. Theclear optics of the tower is based on triangular bays made of circular pipesthat are welded airtight. A demanding three dimensional analysis isrequired, especially for nodes where up to six pipes are joined with variousangles. Membrane stress due to pretension and wind are guided directlyinto the nodes, which minimises bending in the structure. In order toinstall the tower in individual segments, revisable bolted connections werearranged in the steel tubes, covered with special semi-cylindrical metalsheets. This allowed to avoid site welding and gives still a homogeneousappearance.The membrane helix inside the steel structure has a light and filigreeappearance - "a structure that is almost nothing at all," - and yet it is stillquite impressive visually. The helix consists of just three components:990m² of membranes, three form defining cables and nine link elementsincluding accessories. These few elements are sufficient to allow themembrane to follow the rotating and tapered tower. While the maximumenveloped geometry grants to be collision free from the structure, the

formTL

PHÄNOMENTA

A TOWER MADE FROM (ALMOST)NOTHING BUT GEOMETRY!

Science CentreLüdenscheid, Germany

Figure 1. Panorama © Carsten Krämer

Figure 2. The Canopy seen from Winnetou’s point of view © KochMembranen


Fabric Mehler Texnologies developed anindividual membrane: as close aspossible to the original materialfrom 1978, bearing the samegreen colour. The experts of KochMembranes say: “Altogether theclassical membrane roof in Elspeis a good example for maintainingand developing a sustainableconstruction. A well done fabricconstruction is more than ever afast, reliable and economic way ofconstruction with a high degree ofpublicity.”For Mehler Texnologies the supplyof the new fabric was anopportunity in two ways: on theone hand the dismounted fabricgave an excellent proof under reallife conditions. Better than anyartificial weathering tests thismakes clear that the fabricmaterial lasts 37 years and more –even under heavy snow loads

during winter time which are verycommon in the Sauerland regionwhere the festival tent is located.Continuous on site tests over thepast years had already shown thatthe fabric was not in danger ofcoming down. Tensile strength wasstill considerably high and thefabric would certainly have lastedeven another dozen years. In theend it was a decision for opticalreasons: the festival companywanted to have a bright newcolour impression. It’s clearenough that they made a materialdecision on save grounds: ofcourse they wanted to use thesame material that had shown anoutstanding performance over thelast 37 years. Given that today’smaterial science is even farther interms of choosing the right chemi -cals for a long lasting andsustainable coating, the actualproject might be charged off even

more easily. Apart from havingloads of testing material of a 37year old membrane, MehlerTexnologies was able to providethe new material which promisesan even better performance.Therefore a new article on the

Elspe project is due not earlierthan in the TensiNews edition of2065!

! Mehler Texnologies GmbH: Mehler Texnologies GmbH: www.Mehler Texnologies

Name of the project: Elspe Grandstand CanopyLocation address: Zur Naturbühne 1, 57368 Lennestadt-ElspeClient (investor): Elspe Festival GmbHFunction of building: Shelter for visitorsType of application of the membrane: tensile roofYear of construction: 2015 Engineering: Teschner IngenieureContractor for the membrane: Koch Membranen GmbHSupplier of the membrane material: Mehler Texnologies GmbHInstallation: Montageservice GmbHMaterial: Valmex Mehatop F, Type VCovered surface (roofed area): 2.600m²

Figure 2. elevations view, isometry view and plan view © formTL

Figure 3. Membrane stress © formTL

Figure 5. PHÄNOMENTA at night © Alexander Ring

Figure 3. Detail of the lower membranefringe © Koch Membranen

minimum enveloped geometry prevents from contact with the innerpendulum structure.The helical curve has a particularly striking effect at night, when the seamsof the back-lit covering and the shadow of the ropes converge upwards in acone shape, giving the tower an even taller appearance. Light managementof the LEDs is part of the technical building equipment. The Foucault pendulum suspended from the inner secondary structure notonly demonstrates to visitors the rotation of the Earth, it also visualises thetime passing. In the space below is the Phänorama: a 360º projection ofLüdenscheid and its surrounding area, controlled by the natural period ofthe 30m long pendulum like an huge kaleidoscope.

! Bernd Stimpfle: [email protected]: www.form-tl.de

Figure 4. Installation of the membrane at night © Alexander Ring

Name of the project: PHÄNOMENTA Science CentreLocation address: Lüdenscheid, GermanyFunction of building: MuseumYear of construction: 2015Client: Stiftung PHÄNOMENTA LüdenscheidArchitect: KKW ARCHITEKTEN, AltenaStructural design steel and concrete structure : WERNER Bauingenieure, MendenArchitect + feasibility study: Schneider+Schumacher, Frankfurt/MainStructural design membrane helix: formTL

ingenieure für tragwerk und leichtbau gmbh, RadolfzellSteel contractor: Heinrich Rohlfing GmbH, StemwedeMembrane contractor: Membranhelix: A. Arnegger GmbH, Leutkirch

together with KTA Radolfzell and Wolfgang Mühlherr, KonstanzMembrane installation: Pastors Membranworks, RavensburgMaterial: Ferrari Précontraint 1202S2Structure: Mechanically prestressed Membrane facadeSurface area: 990m²


REPORT

20 Years of Textile Roofs. A summary. Prof. Dr. Arch. Josep Llorens from the School ofArchitecture of Barcelona summarized in 30minutes what has happened over 20 years,stating briefly: "Textile Roofs has deliveredwhat it has promised." In 1995, the primaryobjectives were established as "providingfundamental practical information as well aspresenting the state-of-the-art in textile roofengineering to facilitate technology transferand to increase confidence." From 1995 to2015, 1,479 participants from 69 countriescovering 5 continents, certify that theseobjectives have been fully satisfied (Fig. 1).The balance of activity also includes 239lectures by 93 speakers, 3 fabricationworkshops, 7 student seminars and the Asia2003 edition given in the Tongji University,Shanghai. These lectures and workshopscovered the aspects that characterize tensilesurface, together with the properties of thematerials used and their environmentalconditions, including some pragmatic concernssuch as installation, cost, and durability.Increasing from 48 participants in 1997 to 100in 2000, a grand total of 1,479 have attended"Textile Roofs" between 1995 and 2015 (Fig. 2).It is noteworthy that proportions betweenattendees from Germany, the rest of Europe,and the rest of the world have remainedsteady.Textile Roofs has also facilitated the creation of-TensiNet, the multi-disciplinary association forall parties interested in tensioned membraneconstruction (http://www.tensinet.com/),master courses in Dessau (http://www.ims-

institute.org/membrane-structure-programs.html) and Vienna(http://mls.tuwien.ac.at/) and the BerlinAcademy of Architectural Membrane Structures,AcaMem (http://www.acamem.de/). Nevertheless, the best indicator of the successof these workshops is the announcement ofthe upcoming 2016 edition:http://www.textile-roofs.com/.

Homage to Frei OttoJürgen Hennicke, IL - University of Stuttgart &Vienna University of Technology.Jürgen Hennicke summarised the ideas of FreiOtto (1925-2015) who passed away lastMarch, after receiving the 2015 PritzkerArchitecture Prize.Interests of Frei Otto may be represented bythe-following figures: skeleton of Lyriospyris(Fig. 3); Bedouin tent (Fig. 4); Romanconvertible roof (Fig. 5), and ChartresCathedral 1194-1250, that strongly impressedhim (Fig. 6). These works were captioned:"Most of the things we are doing today are notnew" because they summarize most of theprinciples of nature and experimentationdeveloped at the Institute for LightweightStructures (IL) at the University of Stuttgart.

The Institute for Lightweight Structures wasfounded in 1964, and over the years, 150people have worked there. They did notconcentrate on a single thing, but - wanted tocover the entire field, searching the laws ofNature to create that which is new. Themethodology was experimental, starting from

TEXTILE ROOFS 2015

Figure 1. World of Textile Roofs 1995-2015: 69 countries fromAfrica (3), America (11), Asia (22), Europe (31) and Oceania (2).

Figure 2. From 48 participants in 1997 to 100 in 2000, a total of1.479 attended "Textile Roofs" between 1995 and 2015.

Textile Roofs 2015, the twentieth International Workshop on the Design and PracticalRealisation of Architectural Membranes, took place on 11–13 May at the DeutschesTechnikmuseum Berlin, and was chaired by Prof. Dr.-Ing-. Rosemarie Wagner (KarlsruheInstitute of Technology, KIT) and Dr. -Ing. Bernd Stary (Berlin Academy of ArchitecturalMembrane Structures, AcaMem). It was attended by 92 participants from 22 countriescovering three continents. Once again, the attendance demonstrated the success of theevent, which has become firmly established since it was first held in 1995.

Figure 3. Skeleton of Lyriospyris (IL 33).Figure 4. Bedouin tent.Figure 5. Pompeii amphitheatre, 1rst C.Figure 6. Chartres cathedral 1194-1250.

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the process of form shaping based on physicalmodelling. Sources of inspiration werefisherman nets and spider webs, catenaries,suspended bridges, yurts, cantilevered systems,grid shells, air-inflated systems, and trees,among many others.The research delved into construction methodsthat could be highly effective with very littlematerial used to fulfil common objectives anddemands of people, upgrading the builtenvironment by avoiding conflicts with natureand ensuring our survival throughsustainability, a fourth principle to be added toMarcus Vitruvius’ (80/70 BC to 13 BC)philosophy: firmitas, utilitas, venustas – that is,solid, useful and beautiful. A complete biography of Frei Otto is availableat: www.pritzkerprize.com/2015/biography

Computational modelling of lightweight structuresDr. Dieter Ströbel, Technet GmbH:http://technet-gmbh.de/index.php?id=63&L=1Dieter Ströbel outlined fundamental aspects ofthe design concerning analytical form finding,static analysis, add-ons, and cutting patterns. Starting from the restrictions of physicalmodelling, he raised the problem of finding theform of a mechanically or pneumatically-stressed, double-curved surface made of aflexible material which can only bear tensileforces. He chose the force density method andexpounded it step-by-step, showingpossibilities and results. The static analysis is based on a non-linearsystem that requires approximate values,material properties (simplified or extendedwith shear stiffness), and external loadsprovided by codes or tests. Relevantconsiderations include material directions,cables, struts, bending elements, and gas law(in case of pneumatic structures).Automatic form-finding, patterning andoptimization have been developed for balloons,car-shades, the Astana cable tower, silos, andtextile halls. And finally, patterning is needed becausedoubly-curved surfaces cannot be representedon a plane without distortion. In addition,planar strips have to be as straight as possible,the width of 2D strips should be as wide aspossible, geometrically-developed surfaceshave to be corrected, corresponding seam linesmust have the same lengths, and cuttingdrawings have to be transferred onto the fabric.Dr. Ströbel concluded by stating that computermodels must be correct, precise, complete, andgenerated in a fast manner for massproduction, making use of information fromdiverse experts.

The design of tensile architectureDl Dr. Techn. Robert RoithmayrRobert Roithmayr presented the design processof tensile architecture based on the software"Formfinder Architectural Design System"(http://www.formfinder.at). He began bymentioning the players of the design, namelythe building owner, the architect, the engineer,and the manufacturer.He showed the potential of "formfinder" tosketch easily a design from scratch andrecommended checking "formfinder"databases for types, built examples, details,and materials.Useful advice was given regarding the influenceof sags in the quantity of forces, deformations,and waterponding situations. Doublecurvature, the number of corner points,proportions, and directions of the mesh werealso reviewed as project variables thatinfluence the outcome.

Referring to details, three interesting optionswere mentioned:- Tennect aluminium profiles for linear fixationof membrane borders (Fig. 7)(http://www.tennect.com/fileadmin/files/tennect/specification_sheet_welt-section.pdf) - The Tennect clamping and fastening systemfor point or linear fastenings that connectselements and the forces acting on them areadjusted in the direction of pull (Fig. 8).(http://www.carlstahl-architektur.com/fileadmin//downloads/pdf/broschueren/produkt/Carl_Stahl-TENNECT.pdf)- Carl Stahl X-LED light module system forarchitectural illuminations (Fig. 9). (http://www.carlstahl-architektur.com/fileadmin//downloads/pdf/broschueren/produkt/Carl_Stahl-X-LED.pdf)

Figure 7. Tennectaluminium profiles.Figure 8. Tennectclamping andfastening system.Figure 9. X-LED lightmodule system.

Multifunctionality of membrane materialDr. Ing. Thomas Stegmaier, ITV Denkendorfwww.itv-denkendorf.deA wealth of applications of textiles and fibreshave been developed by the German Institutesfor Textile and Fibre Research -Denkendorf(DITF). Textiles are soft, cosy, warming,resistant, and they act as barriers againstimpacts, weather, liquids, and chemicals. Dr.Ing. Thomas Stegmaier showed that they canalso be hygienic, air cleaning, protective, form-changing, thermal insulating, fire retardant-,sound-absorbing, and they act as actuatorsand/or sensors.The shielding effect against electromagneticwaves was highlighted. Humans arepermanently exposed to artificially-generatedelectric and magnetic waves that may producean increased rate of cell division, an impairmentof the immune system, an increased risk ofcancer, the malformation of embryos, theshifting of biological processes, interferencewith cardiac pacemakers, the sensation offlickering before the eyes (artificial snow),fatigue, nausea, insomnia, and the impairmentof learning ability, among other effects. Conductive filaments with soot parts provideprotection against high-frequency,electromagnetic waves that may be measuredin terms of the quantitative shielding effect andthe quality of sleep.Another property of textiles for architecture isthe capability of form change. Some of themadmit bending, and therefore, they can befolded and rolled. This property facilitates thetransport and installation process and allowsfor the use of retractable and pneumatic roofsand actuators for a wide range of applications.(Fig. 10).Other interesting possibilities were mentioned,such as the incorporation of lighting,acoustically-effective textile walls, multilayertextile heating, and sensor technology used infloors to detect, for example, the presence,position and, movement of people.

Figure 10. Buildair large scale portable hangar built with lowpressure inflatable tubes.

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Msheireb - Heart of Doha, Qatar, retractable shade canopyThomas Hermeking, PFEIFERhttp://www.pfeifer.de/enBased on the old tradition of the "Sevilleawning" (Condesa de Lebrija House, Seville, Fig. 11), a 90x34=3.060m2 retractable shadecanopy has been engineered by BurnsMcDonald with sbp New York and Pfeifer inDoha (Fig. 12).

Some data: - 30 Foldable strips composed of 30x36=1.080 framed panels (2.80x1.40m) slidingthrough 60 main strands (2 main strands perstrip).- 80 to 400kN load per strand, depending onthe load case (up to 29.6m/s wind).- Serge Ferrari Précontraint 1002 membrane,gold colour on the top and white underneath.Due to the dimensions of the roof, thetraditional lightweight flexible solution basedon strips of fabric sliding by hand betweenropes was converted into a series of stiff,aluminium-framed panels hung from steelstrands, and operated by powered engines.Aluminium was chosen to frame the panelsdue to the ease of manufacture andmaintenance, a good stiffness/weight ratio,and resistance to corrosion. In addition, theconnection of the membrane is clear andadjustable with no need for in-situ welding ofthe membrane. Prior to the installation, a 1:1scale mock-up was tested.A comparison of the final solution with thetraditional "Seville awning" calls to mind thestatement made in a previous edition ofTextile Roofs: "Changing the scale meansmuch more than changing the size."

Figure 11. "Toldo sevillano". Condesa de Lebrija House, Sevilla.Figure 12. Retractable shade canopy, Doha.

Flat tensioned building skins. A work show. Dirk P. Emmer, Temme/Obermeierhttp://www.to-experts.comDirk Emmer submitted several applications offlat-tensioned building skins used for climateprotection and aesthetics. The building skinprotects the inner structure and the occupants,regulates energy impact or loss, and reveals thearchitect's design intentions. Membranes forbuilding skins provide lightness in weight, light-transmission control, large-span cladding, anda very long lifespan of the facility with lowmaintenance.

Recent developments in compositesFarid Sahnoune, Serge Ferrarihttp://www.sergeferrari.comSerge Ferrari has recently come up withinnovations in the composite-coated textileindustry: the PRÉCONTRAINT TX30 with adesign life of 30 years, featuring the Texyloopprocess of recycling and the Batyline Aw seriesof micro-perforated, acoustic absorbents.The new fabric PRÉCONTRAINT TX30 is anapplication of the Crosslink technology thatstrongly bonds the PVDF top coat, thusproviding:- Higher resistance to photo-oxidation andmicro-cracks,- A more stable and smoother surface thatprevents dirt in-grain,- Easier and more efficient cleaning of the evensurface.

To test longevity, accelerated weathering isneeded, provided that the main ageing factorsare considered. In this case, an acceleratedweathering protocol has been establishedbased on the photo-oxidation of the surface. Inthis way, it is possible to predict 30 years’behaviour in 7.500 hours (312,5 days).Surface evolution after ageing 30 years: thestandard PVC/PVDF shows lots of cracks andexposed yarns. Minor traces of oxidation affectthe surface of the PRÉCONTRAINT TX30Crosslink PVDF. It was concluded that TX30 isan alternative to glass/PTFE because it is lesssensitive to folding, is resistant to dirt, iscompetitive in price, and is recyclable with awarranty of up to 25 years.

Two case studiesDipl.- Ing. Martin Glass, gmp Architektenhttp://www.gmp-architekten.com/start.htmlIn recent years, participants in Textile Roofshave become accustomed to expect theimpressive presentations of Lena Brögger andMartin Glass. At the 20th anniversary of TextileRoofs, not to be outdone, Martin Glasspresented the FC Krasnodar (Krasnodar, Rus sia)

and Santiago Bernabeu (Madrid) stadiums.The FC Krasnodar stadium is a double-layered,radial-tensile roof that contains, not only theusual sound equipment, but also gas heatersthat made the design, installation, and operationconsiderably more difficult (Fig. 13). TheSantiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid was builtin 1947, and was successively enlarged - in 1954,1982, 1988, and 2002. The new design includesa retractable roof and a sheet metal wrappingthat transforms the stadium into an autisticobject with respect to the city (Fig. 14). It isanother collaboration between gmp Architektenand Schlaich Bergermann und Partner.

Gyor Sport ArenaMs. Ildikó Györ, Graboplan Kfthttp://www.graboplan.hu/engGraboplan Tent Manufacturer and TechnicalConfection Ltd is an Hungarian companyespecially interested in the design,manufacture, and installation of lightweightroofs above stadium tribunes, as well astensioned membranes suitable for temporaryand permanent use, such as sports andentertainment facilities, culture, shopping,industry, warehousing, military purposes,aircraft hangars, etc.Ms. Ildikó Györ presented the recentrealizations of the new Audi Arena in Györ andthe refurbishment of the old one. The multi-purpose Audi Arena Györ is the newest andmost modern hall in Hungary. (Fig. 15). Itsconstruction was completed in November2014, right before the Women’s EHF EuropeanHandball Championships. The hall seats 5.500spectators and its main structure is made ofreinforced concrete and steel-trussed arches.The textile envelope is installed on a steelframework fixed to the concrete structure withadjustable, sliding brackets (to accepttolerances) and special sections to receiveKeder sections and LED’s. A special feature of

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Figure 13. FC Krasnodar Stadium.Figure 14. Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid


this envelope is the printing of the fabric thatneeds to be related to the cutting patterning inorder to maintain the design.The renovation of the old Arena was also basedon wrapping the building with decorativepanels, thus demonstrating, together with thenew one, that textile façades are a newgrowing market for fabric architecture.

World-leading at the HF welding arenaMikael Wallin, Forsstrom High Frequency ABhttp://www.forsstrom.comThe lecture of Mikael Wallin was quiteacademic, as he defined and explained thebasics of high frequency welding. Highfrequency welding is the joining of materials bysupplying HF energy in the form of anelectromagnetic wave (27.12 MHz) and pressureto material surfaces. PVC and PU are thematerials most commonly used with HFwelding. There is a wide range of HF weldingmachines. Each machine has been developed tosuit different types of manufacturing.Knowledge and experience for every need isavailable. Machines can be stationary ortravelling. As an application of the HF weldingmachines, Mikael Wallin also presented Forflexxand Tubeflexx. Forflexx makes it possible to joinflexible, PVC and PU-coated fabrics with metalattachments for the production of truck andboat covers, tarpaulins, tents, structures, oilbooms, and the universal corner plate develo -ped with Formfinder and Horst Dürr. On theother hand, TubeFlexx is a productiontechnology for faster and easier production ofarched tubes.Mikael finally invited the audience to visitForsstrom's HF welding centre in Lysekil,Sweden where a complete machine line of HFwelding machines, an eyelet press, cuttingmachines and a tensile tester are available. (see also page 24)

The future in membrane designModular systemsFrank Molter, Hightexhttp://www.hightexworld.comAfter summarizing the characteristics of themost widely-used materials for structuralmembranes, Frank Molter opted decisively formodular systems because the current

challenges of membrane architecture are:- To establish membranes as a standardisedbuilding material.- To increase the utilisation of membranearchitecture by increasing the awareness of itsadvantages to a wider number of architects,namely: lightness in weight, self-cleaningproperties (ETFE and PTFE), installa tion time,ease of replacement or repair, and energyefficiency of the product itself, among others.- To develop a module-based constructionsystem, which permits numerous options.In order to reach these objectives, membraneshave to be developed as a standardised productby developing a modular system, especially forfaçades. The energy efficiency that can bereached also needs to be demonstrated, andthe disseminating of lectures on membranematerials in traditional education and researchforums should be sought after. Three examplesillustrated success in the aforementionedobjectives: the Training centre of the MountainRescue Bavaria in Bad Tölz (Fig. 16), the"Miroiterie Flon" building in Lausanne (Fig. 17)and the Alnwick garden visitor centre andpavilion in Northumberland (Fig. 18).

Sustainability of buildings with membrane façadesThomas Reber, HP Gasser AG Membranbauhttp://www.hpgasser.ch/enThomas Reber dissertation was centred onfaçades, energy, low cost (Fig. 19), aesthetics,non-flammable materials, roofing (Fig. 20),sails, air-supported and industrial halls.

Figure 19. City Cube detail, Messe Berlin.

Figure 20. Amphitheatre Wiltz LU.

Mechanical testing of membranesDipl. -Ing. Kai Heinlein, Karlsruhe Institute ofTechnology (KIT)http://www.kit.edu/englishKai Heinlein reported on two research projects:TransMem and WindTent, which were based ontesting membranes.The TransMem project started from a new kindof textile fabric made of warp and weft monofilaments in unidirectional layers connectedwith an additional filament with 8 (warp) x 56 filaments per cm2 that revealed, as wasexpected, different behaviour.A biaxial test setup has been developed with anoptical deformation sensor, spindle lifting, andclimate heating equipment for a specimen sizeof 1x1m, tensile area 0.6mx0.6m, maximumload of 83kN/m, and optical strainmeasurement area 0.12x0.12m (Fig. 21). Theresults will be presented next year.The WindTent project explores the behaviourof temporary and permanent tent hallsenveloped by low pretensioned flat membranesurfaces submitted to wind gusts. The KIT tasksare the analysis of the material properties andbehaviour (PVC-coated PET fabric type 0 ofSattler AG) and the modelling andmeasurement of the wind impact. Regarding the viscoelastic material behaviour,it has only been measured at the PVC coatingdue to the shear. On the other hand, thedamping of PVC coated PET fabric resulted fast(ratio ≈ 0,078) and the steady-load tests didnot reveal any effect on the materialproperties. Other conclusions of the researchconcern the need for the development of new experimental setups and programs.

Figure 21. Biaxial test set up developed at KIT.

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Figure 15. Audi Arena, Györ.Figure 16. Training centre of the mountain rescue Bavaria inBad Tölz.Figure 17. "Miroiterie Flon" building in Lausanne.Figure 18. Alnwick garden visitor centre and pavilion inNorthumberland.

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The TensiNet - COST Action TU1303 Symposium2016 will be organised by the TensiNet Associa-tion, COST Action TU1303 Novel Structural Skinsand Newcastle University as hosting university.The symposium will be the fifth of a series that

began in Brussels in 2003: Designing Tensile Architecture, and continued inMilano in 2007: Ephemeral Architecture: Time and Textiles, Sofia in 2010:Tensile Architecture: Connecting Past and Future, and in Istanbul in 2013:[RE]THINKING Lightweight Structures.The theme of the COST Action TU1303 (2014-17) is Novel structural skins- Improving sustainability and efficiency through new structural textile ma-terials and designs and will also be the leading theme of the upcomingSymposium. The 3-day event will start with an ‘open session’ (Wednesday afternoonand evening) to attract an audience of architects, engineers, academicsand professionals involved in the design of Novel Structural Skins. Promi-nent experts in the architectural and engineering world will present

inspiring projects to demonstrate to the audience the multitude of possi-bilities that lightweight structures have.Since the COST Action TU1303 will be in its last year of funding, membersof the Working Groups will present state of the art papers on recent research and interdisciplinary work performed in the frame of the COSTAction. The priorities of the Working Groups are described below.WG1 ‘New applications of structural skins and new concepts’ has 3 sub-groups (a) Adaptable skins and structures, (b) bending-active structuresand (c) fabric formwork. Various topics are considered, such as methodsfor adaptable tensioned structures, advanced systems capable of chang-ing properties, such as light transmission, light reflection and/or shape,shell structures made with membrane scaffolding, hardening tensionedmembranes for composite or shell structures with textile reinforcementand self-tensioned membrane structures with an advanced interactionbetween bending and tension elements.WG2 ‘Sustainability and Life Cycle Analysis of structural skins’ is focusing onnovel structural skins in which structural membranes and advanced tex-

Special guest lecture EXPO Milano and its membrane structures.Dipl.- Ing.(FH) Frank Höreth, TAIYO EUROPE GmbHwww.taiyo-europe.comCatalogue of Taiyo Europe pavilions for theEXPO 2015: "Feeding the planet. Energy forlife". (Figures 22 to 25). (see also page 18)

Student Project Week“Roof for the main entrance of the Berlin Museum of Technology”The subject was a roof for the main entrance ofthe museum to make it more visible. The finalpresentation took place at the closing of theWorkshop. There were three proposals:1 Alessandra Bruè & Pauline Chavassieux were

inspired by the Leonardo da Vinci designshown in the museum (Fig. 26). Twotriangular wings made of slender ribs andpretensioned membrane mark and protectthe entrance, flying and contrast with thebrick masonry of the façade.

2 Ana Duque, Santiago Garcés & CarlosNovella resorted to three saddles forsignalling the approach to the museum fromTrebbiner Strasse (Fig. 27).

3 Sebastián Gallardo & Antoine Taloid wereinspired (in their plan) by the three circles ofthe logo of the museum (Fig. 28). Theirdesign was the largest and most structurally-demanding of the three.

! Prof. Dr.-Architect Josep LlorensSchool of Architecture , UPC, Barcelona

: [email protected]

The Twenty-first International Workshop onthe Design and Practical Realisation of

Architectural Membrane Structures will beheld on 2-4 May 2016.

Its format will be similar to that of TR 2015,with seminar-style lectures and hands-on

activities. It will be preceded by the studentseminar and sponsored by AcaMem, gmp, Serge Ferrari, KIT, Carl Stahl, Technet andTensiNet: http://www.textile-roofs.de.

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Figure 22. Cardo-Decumano-Secondario-Tornellerie: 70.000m2

under construction.Figure 23. Cardo-Decumano-Secondario-Tornellerie: 70.000m2

at work.Figure 24. German Pavilion: 2.050m2

Figure 25. Kuwait Pavilion: 2.000m2

Figure 26. Alessandra Bruè & Pauline Chavassieux.Figure 27. Ana Duque, Santiago Garcés & Carlos Novella.Figure 28. Sebastián Gallardo & Antoine Taloid.

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TENSINET COST Action TU1303 SYMPOSIUM 2016NOVEL STRUCTURAL SKINS IMPROVING SUSTAINABILITY AND EFFICIENCY THROUGH NEW STRUCTURAL TEXTILE MATERIALS AND DESIGNS

WEDNESDAY 26, THURSDAY 27 AND FRIDAY 28 OCTOBER 2016 NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY, UNITED KINGDOM


SPECIAL GRANT FOR THE 13TH STUDENT COMPETITION

“TEXTILE STRUCTURES FOR NEW BUILDING” 2015The ’Textile Structures for New Building‘student competition is organised every twoyears within the framework of the Techtextiltrade fair. The brief states: “This competition isdesigned to identify innovative thinking andinnovative solutions to problems, featuringconstruction projects capable of concreterealisation which use textiles or textile-reinforced materials. A further aim is toencourage students and new entrants to theprofessions. The competition is furtherintended to strengthen contacts between theyounger generation, the universities, thetechnical-textiles industry and broad sectionsof the building industry.”

The student competition, on the one hand,invites students to work in their studios withtextiles and design textile buildings, and onthe other hand, offers the up-and-cominggeneration to compete at an international

level. The student competition runs in asuccessful and professional manner sinceseveral years. The TensiNet Association is adedicated sponsor. This year the 13th edition ofthe ’Textile Structures for New Building‘student competition took place. Thecompetition received many entries, mostlyfrom the EU. It was a pleasure to go throughthe quite different pieces of work. Mostcontributions contained inspiring elements,widening the applications offered by weaving,integrating multi-physics or hybridconstruction, showing creativity, innovation inappearance and change of scale as well astechnical progress and poetic interpretations.

In its meeting of the 6th of March 2015 the jurydecided to retain the following prizecategories: Category 1: Macro Architecture;Category 2: Composites and HybridStructures; Category 3: Material Innovation

Overall, the jury awarded 3 first prizes (1 prizeof €1.500 for each category), 3 second prizes(1 prize of €1.000 for each category), and 1 third prize (€500 for category 2). A specialmention has been awarded to a project in thecategory Micro Architecture. The jurycongratulates the winners and wishes them alot of success. The jury thanks Techtextil andespecially Michael Jänecke for the effort putinto the organisation of this fascinatingstudent competition. New students arealready invited to take part in the next ’TextileStructures for New Building‘ studentcompetition scheduled for 2017.The list of winners and a summary of theprojects can be downloaded at http://www.tensinet.com/files/Techtextil_Competitions/TechTextil_competition_2015_EN.pdf

! Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marijke MollaertChairperson of the Jury, April 2015

Figure 1. Happy faces during the award ceremony at Techtextil 2015. Figure 2. 1st Prize in the Macro Architecture Category - Aviary at Bujalcayado, Guadalajara by Leyre Mauléon (ETSAM)

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tiles are the pivotal elements of the eco-innovation processes. Several as-pects are investigated, such as environmental impacts (e.g. embodied en-ergy) being part of life cycle analysis' of membrane structures, the lifetimeof temporary and removable buildings, the end of life treatment of fabricsand foils.WG3 ‘Building physics and energy performance of structural skins’ considersthe thermal and acoustic performance of structural skins. Single layered,multi-layered and adaptable membrane and foil structural skins areanalysed for permanent and semi-permanent building enclosures in di-verse climates and for a wide range of functions. Increasingly these requirea controlled internal environment, which necessitates enhanced thermalperformance of the skin. WG4 ‘Materials and analysis’ is focusing on the characterisation and ad-vanced simulation of membrane and foil materials and advanced simula-tion of their structural application. Different experimental methodologiesand results from round robin exercises are discussed and compared withthe outcomes from numerical simulations that partners are currently con-ducting. A key objective is to establish the coupling between simulationand material characterisation so as to enhance the optimal application ofmembrane and foil materials for buildings. The main research topics are (1)measurement of the biaxial tensile stiffness, shear stiffness, uniaxial and bi-

axial tear properties of a range of textile and foil materials; simulation ofthese tests with the tools used for the analysis of building skins, (2) the in-terpretation and use of test data and the collection of typical material dataand (3) the application of Stochastic Finite Element Analysis, adoptingprobabilistic approaches to the analysis of building skins.WG5 ‘From material to structure and limit states: codes and standardization’considers the different regulations for the design of structural membranesthroughout Europe. A common standardised approach is needed. The WGinvestigates the design rules based on a semi-probabilistic approach, deal-ing with the integration of uncertainties of tools and parameters like formodels and materials. The WG focuses on the definition of specific limitstates where not yet existing, like for inflatables, in view of the need toevaluate partial safety coefficients. Additionally, research results concern-ing load characterisation (wind loading on complex shapes, interactionwith snow deposition etc.), reduction factors for joints, safety coefficientsetc. are collected and compared.

Abstracts with respect to the above mentioned topics have to beuploaded before the deadline of October 15th. Up to date information is

available at http://conferences.ncl.ac.uk/tensinet2016.


ContextThe Universal Exposition is a fair that takes place every 5 years at anassigned country. The scope of the event is to choose a theme and togather as much countries as possible in one place, so each can build theirpavilions and show their interpretation of the proposed theme. From thefirst exposition made in London in 1851, the Expo has left its footprints inthe hosting city, for instance the Cristal Palace (London 1851), Biosphere(Montreal 1967), and the Eiffel tower (Paris 1889), structures that are nowfamous worldwide. This year Milano is the hosting capital of the Expo with the theme “Feedingthe planet, Energy for life” which provides an opportunity for the entireworld to reflect and seek solutions to the production of food, and how wecan make this processes more sustainable.The Expo 2015 started on the 1st of May and will be open until the 31st ofOctober, there are more than 140 countries and 20 million visitors are ex -pected. The huge exposition area is built like an ancient Roman village (Cardoand Decumano), a main street, with the country pavilions along both sides ofthe avenue, and a second street, crossing the site from North to South.

Tensile construction is the favoured design feature at the Expo 2015 – theexposition could as well be a huge showcase for fabric architecture.Lightweight pavilions are not only erected for a whole range of countriesbut also for organisations which are in the broad sense related to "food". As

the climate in Milan can be in summer quite hot also walkways, restingplaces and garden areas are covered by fascinating tensile constructions.

Taiyo Europe was one of the first foreign companies to arrive at the Expoarea; they signed their first contract with the client ConExpo 2015 S.c.a.r.l.in July 2013, the scope of this project was to cover the two main streets(Cardo and Decumano) (1). After this project, other projects came up: the“Pergole e Spalliere” (2), with their client ConExpo 2015 S.c.a.r.l., which arestructures in garden areas in order to protect visitors from the sun usingmembranes and trees; the “Algae” project (6), with the client Ecologic -Studio LTD, an innovative canopy where the shadow is created by thephotosynthesis of the algae; the canopy of the Japan Pavilion (7), with theclient Takenaka Europe GmbH; the German (3), Kuwait (4) and Mexico (5)pavilions with the client Nussli.

Taiyo Europe is located in Germany near Munich and is the subsidiary ofthe Taiyo Group, which is one of the biggest membrane companies in theworld specialized in membrane and ETFE architecture. As market leaderand company with decades of tradition, Taiyo is proud to have contributedto the EXPO 2015, where people of different countries, different religionsand different cultures can meet in one place and discuss about differentthemes peacefully. Taiyo Europe, together with other companies, wasinvolved in the first 7 projects described.

Also for Mehler Texnologies it waschallenging to be part of such anaspiring and huge project that isvisible from a distance of 400km.Besides the big conglomerations asatellite is only able to see theChinese Wall as single building – inthis sense the ephemeral structure

of the fabric shading system inMilano competes with a thousandsof years old linear structure on theother side of the world. MehlerTexnologies provided the materialfor the huge sun shading systemsof the Expo 2015 paths.

General descriptionIn ancient Rome, the main streetthat crossed the village from East toWest was called “Decumano” andthe perpendicular one from Nord toSouth was called “Cardo”. These arealso the names of the two mainwalkways of the Expo exhibitionarea. As Milan gets quite hot duringsummer the designers of the Expoarea decided to cover the two axesin a way that the old Romans wouldcertainly have appreciated as well:it seems that the fabrics are onlyloosely fitted to the grid system.Taiyo Europe was chosen to coverthese two streets which togetherare around 1.700m long with acovered surface close to 70.000m².This structure represents one of thebiggest PVC roofs in Europe.

Moreover the street called“Percorso Secondario”, whichconnects the Decumano and theWest access was covered. This is astructure made of ETFE cushions fora total surface of 2.000m².The Decumano is composed by amodulus of around 50m that is re -produced 30 times, one afteranother, interrupted only one timeat the intersection with the Cardo,which is also composed by suchmodulus. The Secondario structureis a 200m long strip. At the end of itwe can find the West access that hasa dimension of around 100m x 20m.

Project overviewThe structure is composed by morethan 400 steel columns of 17mheight; supporting and stabilizingcables are connected to the

FEEDING THE PLANET, ENERGY FOR LIFEFor the realisation of the EXPO MILANO 2015 site quite a few of the TensiNet members were involved from concept phase, over production ofthe membranes until installation on site. Contributions from formTL (engineering office), Mehler Texnologies (Material producer), Sioen (Material producer), Haraoka (Material producer), Taiyo Europe (Manufacturer and fabricator) and Canobbio Textile Engineering(Manufacturer and fabricator) were brought together for this TensiNews 29 edition.

DECUMANO AND CARDO PROJECT(Taiyo Europe and Mehler Texnologies)

Figure1. Drawings and images of the covered walkways © Taiyo Europe

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columns and more than 2000steel beams were installedbetween the cables in order tosupport the membrane.Taiyo Europe’s scope of work wason the one hand, to install thesteel provided by the client and onthe other hand to install morethan 300 PVC panels of Mehlerfabric, some of them processed inEurope and some in the sistercompany in Australia; one of thebiggest challenges was tocoordinate the work withoutblocking the other companies thatwere working on the pavilionsarea. The Decumano was, in fact,

the only access to the workingareas of all the country pavilion,so during the most busy phase,more than 9.000 people wereworking on the entire Expo jobsite.The membrane used to cover theDecumano, Cardo and PercorsoSecondario is a special PVCmaterial with two different colors:white on the top and beige on thebottom. This came from a study ofthe “Politecnico di Milano” thatinvestigated how to create a goodmicroclimate under themembranes in order to assure thebest comfort for the visitors. Theasymmetrical shape of the

structure has this objective, in factthe “up and down” structures ofthe membranes not only allow theair to circulate but also helpsavoiding the “tunnel effect”.It is good to see tensile structuresin a way that seems natural –indeed a straightforward approachto this ephemeral structure. Hereit is easy to imagine that there willbe a second life for these fabricsafter the Expo closes its gates. If

the Expo organization doesn’tleave the Decumano on site forfuture uses, Taiyo Europe, andMehler Texnologies have ideas athand to recycle the membrane asshelters for refugees. As thestructures at the Expo follow arather simple cutting pattern, itwould be easy to recycle thematerial for tents.

Figure 1. Drawings and images of the coveredwalkways © Taiyo Europe

Function of the building: To cover the main streetsType of application of the membrane: RoofClient: ConExpo 2015 scarlDesigner: Ufficio di piano Expo 2015, Studio Tecnico MajovieckiTensile membrane contractor: TAIYO EUROPE GMBH

Project & Site manager: Simone TosoConsulting engineer for the membrane: Maffeis Engineering SpaMaterial manufacturing: PVC: Mehler Texnologies GmbH,

Valmex FR 1000 Mehatop F, Type IIETFE: Pati SPA

Covered surface area: PVC: 68.000m² / ETFE: 2.000m2

Function of the building: Covering the garden areaType of application of the membrane: RoofClient: ConExpo 2015 scarlDesigner: Arch. Franco ZagariTensile membrane contractor: TAIYO EUROPE GMBH

Project manager: Andrejus Cernysevas / Site manager: Simone TosoConsulting engineer for the membrane: Maffeis Engineering SpaMaterial manufacturing: PVC: Serge Ferrari Covered surface area: PVC: 1.600m²

Figure 2. Covered garden areas 'hortus" © Taiyo Europe

General descriptionYou can find this project at the“hortus” spaces that arescattered around the exhibitionarea. The world “Hortus” comesfrom the ancient Latin andmeans garden, in fact these areasimitate the typical gardens thatvisitors can find in Italy. There are more than 40structures installed in 6 different“hortus”, where visitors can takea break from the sun whiletasting the typical Italian food orpicking the fruits directly from

the trees growing around the“Spalliere”. This project was thelast project completed by TaiyoEurope at the Expo, just a fewdays before the inauguration.

Project overviewThe Pergola structures arecomposed by different modulus.In general, each composition isbuilt with steel columnssupporting the beams where thecables are connected.The roof, made of PVC-Meshmembrane, has a total surface of1.600m² distributed in morethan 270 panels.The Spalliere structures have apentagonal shape withoutmembrane; the walls are madewith steel cables where therampant trees can easily growup. Taiyo Europe’s scope of workwas the delivery and installationof the steel structure and PVCmembrane.

PERGOLE E SPALLIERE PROJECT (Taiyo Europe)

Function of the building: Show areaType of application of the membrane: Architectural shapeClient: ARGEDesigner: Schmidhuber PartnersTensile membrane contractor: TAIYO EUROPE GMBH

Project manager: Andrejus Cernysevas / Site manager: Simone TosoConsulting engineer for the membrane: Maffeis Engineering SpaMaterial manufacturing: PVC: Serge Ferrari ETFE: Nowoflon ETCovered surface area: PVC:1.800m² ETFE: 250m²

General descriptionThe German pavilion tries to reproduce the landscape ofthe typical rural areas of itscountry; stylized trees emergefrom the ground alongside theexternal exhibition area. Theroofs of the trees resemble treeblossoms and they not only pro-tect visitors from the sun and theheat, but also give a stylish edgeto the whole pavilion. The 6trees, with an average height of12m, are composed by a steelstructure which replicates thetrunk and the branches of a treewith the PVC mesh giving a finalmodern tree shape. Four of thesetrees are surrounded by an ETFE“skirt” around the trunk.

Project overviewTaiyo Europe’s scope of work wasthe delivery and the installationof the PVC mesh and ETFE mem-brane. Each tree is composed bytwo panels that are connected atthe floor level; the inner panel isunderneath the pavilion and it isprotected by a second ETFE“skirt” where it is possible toproject images and pictures. Thefirst and the last tree are slightlydifferent because the startingtree is completely outside of thestructure and composed by asingle PVC panel; the tree n.5 isthe biggest one and, with itsstair, represents the passage forthe visitors from the ground floorthe first floor. If you look closelyat the central blossom you willsee three long membrane strips,a black, a red and a gold one: theGerman flag. The organic, flow-ing design of the pavilion createsand unforgettable image.

GERMAN PAVILION (Taiyo Europe)Figure 3. Iconic membrane trees of the Ger-man pavilion © Taiyo Europe

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Function of the building: Show areaType of application of the membrane: Architectural shapeClient: Nussli SRLDesigner: Studio Italo Rota & PartnersTensile membrane contractor: TAIYO EUROPE GMBH

Project & Site manager: Simone TosoConsulting engineer for the membrane: Maffeis Engineering SpaMaterial manufacturing: PVC: Serge Ferrari Covered surface area: PVC: 2.000m²

General descriptionThe theme of the Kuwait Pavilionis “Challenge of Nature” and theidea of the designers is to showvisitors how water, food and en-ergy can be a challenge in acountry like Kuwait. Sand floorsand huge sails, which replicatethe typical landscape of this fas-cinating country, build the en-trance of this pavilion. In front ofthe pavilion visitors walk be-tween 8 PVC mesh sails that arebeige during the day and multi-colored during the night, thanksto LED lights installed at the baseof each structure. After crossingthe sails, the visitors arrive at theentrance door of the pavilion, adoor that is actually a waterfall.Then they will enter a structuremade of PVC, where the “powerof water” is explained.

Project overviewThis pavilion is characterized bytwo different PVC membranes,each with different colors andshapes, which make this pavilionvery unique. The central part,characterized by a big saddleshape, is built with a PVC mate-rial in the particular onyx color;the sails (8 on the frontal partand 4 in one side) are realizedwith a PVC mesh material.Taiyo Europe was in charge ofthe delivery and installation ofthe membrane. The biggest chal-lenge was the installation of thesaddle composed by only onepanel of more than 600m², con-sidering that this panel is sup-ported only in two points (thefront arch and the back portal)and that the space on site wasvery limited.

KUWAIT PAVILION (Taiyo Europe)

Figure 4. Sails referring to the landscape of Kuwait © Taiyo Europe

Function of the building: Show areaType of application of the membrane: Architectural shapeClient: Nussli SRLDesigner: Francisco Lopez GuerraTensile membrane contractor: TAIYO EUROPE GMBH

Project manager: Peter Herbert / Site manager: Simone TosoConsulting engineer for the membrane: Maffeis Engineering SpaMaterial manufacturing: PVC mesch: Serge Ferrari ETFE : Nowoflon ETCovered surface area: PVC mesh: 3.000m² PVC full material: 150m²

ETFE façade: 1.000m² ETFE cushions: 250m²

This futuristic project designed by ecoLogicStudiowants to open new doors to the bio-digitalarchitecture. A controlled flow of energy, water andCO2 generates not only a natural process ofphotosynthesis, but also allows the algae to grow.

This is the perfect combination because the algae creates a naturalshadow underneath the ETFE roof. Taiyo Europe’s work comprised thedesign of the 2 layered ETFE cushions of this bioreactor.

This project, with a surface of 80m², was the quickest project done byTaiyo at the Expo: the design, fabrication and installation werecompleted in less than 3 weeks.The surface is covered with 27 double-layered ETFE cushions, welded ina way that the water filling them flows along a “zig-zag” way.

FOOD DISTRICT BIOREACTOR ALGAE PROJECT (Taiyo Europe)

Figure 6. Bioreactormade of 2 layered ETFE cushions © Taiyo Europe

Function of the building: Show areaType of application of the membrane: New sustainable architectural shapeDesigner: Ecologicstudio LTDTensile membrane contractor: TAIYO EUROPE GMBH

Project manager: Andrejus Cernysevas / Site manager: Simone TosoConsulting engineer for the membrane: Maffeis Engineering SpaMaterial manufacturing: ETFE : Nowoflon ETCovered surface area: PVC: 80m²

General descriptionThe idea of the architect Fran-cisco López Guerra was to cele-brate the most important cerealof Mexico, thus the shape of thepavilion recreates a big corn cob.Taiyo Europe participated in thischallenge covering the structurewith 19 PVC mesh printed leaves.We were also in charge of the de-livery and installation of the ETFEfacades, the ETFE cushions cover-ing the dome above the entrancesculpture, as well as the PVC ve-laria placed on the restaurant onthe roof of the pavilion.This was the most complex pavil-ion built by Taiyo. Its complexitywas due to the fact that the ac-cess area around the pavilion wasvery small, in fact, a big part of

the installation had to be madethrough rope access. Anotherchallenge was the clients’ requestfor different types of materials,that is PVC printed mesh, PVCfull material and ETFE.

Project overviewAs mentioned before, the exter-nal skin of the pavilion consistsof 19, 15m height leaves, eachone with a different shape and adifferent PVC printed mesh. Be-hind the leaves hides the façadeof the building and most of itwas made with a double ETFElayer provided and installed byTaiyo. The ETFE is also used onthe roof but in this case, 6 triplelayer cushions cover the en-trance dome.

MEXICO PAVILION (Taiyo Europe)

Figure 5. Pavilion as a sculpture made of PVC mesh printed leaves © Taiyo Europe

General descriptionThis pavilion is one of the biggestpavilions at the EXPO, but forTaiyo it represents the smallestproject. Their Our scope was todeliver and install the canopycovering the central court and themembrane covering the entrancehandrail. More than the form oraestheticisms, for this area of theJapanese Pavilion the architectlooks at the physical andfunctional characteristics of atensile architecture solution.

Project overviewThe space is covered with alightweight membraneconstruction made of white PVC-PES membrane. The roof structureon the central court has a doubleslope shape and is built fromrectangular and round pipes. Thisstructure is fixed on the perimeterdirectly on the roof of the pavilionand is supported by 4 columns.The total weight of the steel

structure is approx. 19 tons. Thewhole area is covered by a one-piece assembled surface made outof FLUOMAX™ T2 fabric. Thealmost square covered area size isapproximately 540m². By meansof white-painted clamping platesmade out of steel, the membraneis held along the steel structure. The agreeable white tone of theSIOEN fabric used for this projectis generating a particular, suffusesand pleasant translucency abovethe event area, which create asatisfying well-lit ambience andprotect visitors from directsunlight and weather. Twoopposing ramps lead directly tothe Event Plaza. When the visitoraccess the pavilion, they find a

handrail covered by a PVCmembrane, the scope of thishandrail was to create a kind oflabyrinth before reaching the mainpart of the exposition. Edgedthese ramps with balustradesmade of glass, the sectionsbetween these handrails were also covered with the samewhite PVC fabric to createweather protection and a unique

smooth light-paths between thecorridors below those elements. The glass parapets serves also assupporting structures on whichthe fabric is clamped by means ofstainless steel strips.

JAPAN PAVILION(Taiyo Europe & Sioen)


Function of the building: Show areaType of application of the membrane: Architectural shapeClient: Takenaka Europe GmbHDesigner: Atsushi Kitagawara ArchitectsTensile membrane contractor: TAIYO EUROPE GMBH

Project manager: Claudia Kraus / Site manager: Simone TosoConsulting engineer for the membrane: Maffeis Engineering SpaMaterial manufacturing: PVC: Sioen Coating,

Fluomax range, product code: T2106FCovered surface area: PVC: 540m²

Figure 7a Roof structure on the central courtand wooden facade © Sioen

Figure 7b Membrane covering the entrancehandrail © Taiyo Europe

COPAGRI, an association ofagricultural producers bringsItalian farmers together. On theexpo they present their approachfor the use of natural food, alllinked with the Italian tradition, ona marketplace, a hall for cookingpresentations, and two rooms fortasting Pizza and Ice-cream 100%made of organic ingredients. For the inside a transparent PVCfoil is attached to the nodes of theprimary structure. The seamlayout corres ponds to the timberstructure.

The top is closed with white PVC-polyester cushions. Between thesecushions and the foil is a gap thatallows for natural ventilation, andalong the bottom line is a PVC-polyester mesh that allows forventilation as well.After the Expo, the pavilion will bedismantled and can be used atanother place. It covers an area of560m². The lower part made of800μm Cristal foil and SergeFerrari mesh FT381 has a surfaceare of 860m², the two topcushions made of Serge Ferrari402 S2 have a surface area of115m².

COPAGRI PAVILION (formTL and Canobbio)

Figure 8a: Isometric view timber model © formTLFigure 8b: Seam layout © formTLFigure 8c: Section with foil and membrane model © formTLFigure 8d: Pavilion see from the outside © Canobbio

Function of the building: Exhibition PavilionArchitect: EMBTMembrane contractor: Canobbio Textile Engineering s.r.l.Membrane Engineering: formTL ingenieure für tragwerk und leichtbau gmbhSupplier of the membrane material: Serge FerrariMembrane Installation: Canobbio Textile Engineering s.r.l.

and Montageservice LB GmbHSupplier of the membrane material: Serge FerrariMaterial Cushion: Serge Ferrari Précontraint 402 N (HT)Inner foil: Texout Cristal Plus 800Mesh: Serge Ferrari Solits FT 381Structure: Membrane domes fixed to timber structure and pneumatic cushionsSurface area: 560m²

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Function of the building: Exhibition PavilionArchitect: Studio Link-Arc LLC, Tsinghua UniversityMain contractor: Bodino Engineering s.r.l.Tensile membrane contractor: Canobbio Textile Engineering s.r.l.Membrane Engineering: formTL ingenieure für tragwerk

und leichtbau gmbhSupplier of the membrane material: Hiraoka & Co. LtdMaterial PVC-coated polyester SX 1800 H (high translucent)Structure: Membrane strips in-between timber and steel raftersCovered area: 1860m²Surface area: 2585m²

FERRERO PAVILION (Mehler texnologies)As „Feeding the Planet - Energy for Life” is the theme for this year’s Expo, Ferrero is present as well. In their pavilion, which is dedicated to thecompany’s social initiatives, the fabrics of Mehler Texnologies add to the playful outlay of the structure. Here as well, recycling plays a crucial role in theconcept. The Mehler fabrics will be carefully dismantled after the show. Ferrero plans to reuse all of the material in one of the educational centres oftheir Social Enterprise.

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9f9e

CHINA PAVILION (formTL, Canobbio and Hiraoka)

The China Pavilion wants to convey the Chinese concept and meaningof 'Field of Hope' through the creation of a curved roof that floats on awheat field, and provide a platform for the presentation of China bycommunicating the importance of sustainable development.

Project overview It is a contemporary structure that includes an area of about 3.000 to4.000m² including spaces used for exhibition and auditorium. A scenicpassage through the wheat field and the auditorium includes both abridge and suspended walkways. The roof is manufactured with hightranslucency (64%) polyester PVC Japanese fabric. This fabric, SX 1800H from Hiraoka & Co. Ltd, is particularly suitable to improve naturallighting and provide good weather resistance. The roof was designed asan element that floats on the 'Field of Hope' with natural light and ele-gant shapes that combine exhibition spaces with the platform. The ar-chitectural concept of the cover is designed as a wooden structure andwas inspired by a series of scenic views, both rural and civic. The civicand rural shapes are connected longitudinally by purlins that form aflat surface. One of the characteristics of Chinese traditional buildingsconsists in the elegance of the shape obtained by the use of curved sur-faces. The importance of aesthetics in Chinese architecture is in factunderlined in the northern and southern ends of the covering, whichseem gently hanging. It has been designed a mixed structure with steeland wood with great spans, requested by the extensive public spaceswithin the pavilion. The project solution must then create wide spacesand, at the same time, include structural forms that should be efficientand elegant. Moreover, it was given great importance to the construc-tion sequence, especially considering the installation time that werevery tight. A system of eco-friendly bamboo panels was designed para-metrically and based on the undulated surface of the cover. The systemof panels in bamboo was configured so that the natural light illumi-nates the exhibition space. The roof structure consists of 38 curvedwood or steel rafters. The roof is covered between the rafters 2 and 35with membrane panels.

An extruded aluminium profile is fixed on the rafters. The membrane isattached with a keder profile and covered with an aluminium strip. Inthe middle of the extrusion profile are two rails which allow to attachthe bamboo frames sitting over the membrane layer.

The membrane panels are strips spanning between 2 rafters and runningform one end to the other end. The form was found from a flat strip,which got then its equilibrium under prestress and self weight whichcreated very low sags. The sharp edges were formed with tubes underthe membrane. Edges to the outside are pressing against the mem-brane, edges towards the inside have a pocket which is tensioning themembrane. In lower areas mesh membrane is inserted in the panelsover a gutter to allow the drainage. Two reference panels have beenused for the analysis under snow and windload. The maximum deflec-tions are around 13cm.

The bamboo panels sitting on top of the rafters are covering the mem-brane surface which can hardly be seen. From inside the high translu-cent membrane plays with the light and the shadow of the bamboo.

Figure 9a: Primary structure © formTL Figure 9b: Extrusion profile © formTL Figure 9c: analysed reference panels 02-03 and23-24 (isometric view) © formTL Figure 9d: deflections in the reference panels © formTL

Figure 9e: Membrane and bamboo installation© Canobbio Figure 9f: Pavilion with membrane claddingand bamboo panels © formTL


The Malaysian pavilion with the theme “Towards a Sustainable FoodEcosystem” has the shape of 4 seeds coming from the rain forest.They are closed and open with timber beams, wooden bridges andmaterial made of rice husk. From seed 1 to 4 the visitor travels withregard to a sustainable food eco-system:Seed 1 “Our Home – For Now and the Future” (Diversity of Malaysia)Seed 2 “Haven of Biodiversity” (Protect and Preserve)Seed 3 “Seeds of Change” (Present and Future)Seed 4 “Colours of Malaysia” (Music, Arts & Culture)

The membrane is nodal fixed to the timber structure and linear fixedalong the lower edge and along openings. A special detail has beencreated in order to minimize the dimension and have an internalsurface with just membrane to allow projections without visible steeldetails. The distance between the timber structure and themembrane is 150mm.

Seed 1, 2 and 4 have been patterned with longitudinal strips. Seed 3 iselliptical in section. Due to the material width it had to be patternedwith single rectangular pattern. Seed 4 has at the lower end catenarycables. Seed 2 and 3 are combined and have an intersection line.

The total surface area is 1730m² (Seed 1: 270m², Seed 2: 380m², Seed3: 860m² and Seed 4: 220m²). The used material is opaque SergeFerrari 702 light grey.

MALAYSIA PAVILION (formTL and Canobbio)

Figure 10a: Seed 1 to 4 © formTL Figure 10b: Nodal fixation detail © formTL Figure 10c: Paterning layout seed 3 © formTL Figure 10d: Seed 2 and 3 with the interface © formTL Figure 10e: View from the outside © CanobbioFigure 10f: Seed 1 - View from the inside (above); Seed 2 - View from the inside (below) © formTL

Function of the building: Exhibition PavilionArchitect: Serina HijjasMain contractor: Bodino Engineering s.r.l.Tensile membrane contractor: Canobbio Textile Engineering s.r.l.Membrane Engineering: formTL ingenieure für tragwerk und leichtbau gmbhSupplier of the membrane material: Serge FerrariMaterial Précontraint 702 S2 light grey (opaque)Structure: Membrane domes fixed to timber structuresSurface area: Seed #1: 270m², #2: 380m², #3: 860m², #4: 220m²

IRAN PAVILION (Mehler texnologies)

The Iranian pavilion comes alongwith the theme "Global Sofreh,Iranian Culture". The conceptaims at conveying God’s blessingto the people all around theworld. Old wisdom plays anotherimportant role as this is seen asthe clue to solving the planet’sfeeding and energy challenges.Tradition, sustainability andopenness to diversity serve as thethree main themes of the Iranianpavilion designed for Expo Milano

2015. The concept was preparedby the team led by local architectKamran Safamanesh. The threethemes are summarized by anobject that conveys them all: theSofreh, a square of fabric thatidentifies the set table, one of themost important objects for theculinary culture of Iran. ThePavilion's architecture is derivedfrom this image in the form of anopen structure, similar to a tent.Clear enough that Mehler fabrics

are the optimal means to buildthese features. They playfully joinin the pavilion’s structure – here

again the visitors appreciate theshading functions of the fabrics.

10a

10c

10b

10b 10d

10e

10f

10f

! Simone Toso : [email protected]: www.taiyo-europe.com

! Katja Bernert : [email protected]: www.mehler-texnologies.com

! Bernd Stimpfle : [email protected]: www.form-tl.de

! Stefania Lombardi : [email protected]: www.canobbio.com

! Yoshi Enomoto : [email protected]: www.hiraoka-japan.com

! Paolo Giugliano : [email protected]: www.sioen-architecture.com: www.sioen.com

General info: : www.expo2015.org/en/index.html

Function of building RepresentationType of application of the membrane: outside freeform sculptureClient (investor): Islamic Republic of Iran International Exhibitions Company (IIEC)Architects: Kamran SafamaneshMulti disciplinary engineering:first phase: Rah Shahr Architectural Consulting Engineers, second phase: Italian studio RPA S.r.l.Contractor for the membrane: Maffeis Engineering SpASupplier of the membrane material: Mehler Texnologies GmbH

Complete machine lineIn a brand new and bright facility, Forsstromoffers demonstration, education and prototypemanufacturing for both customers andpartners. The Forsstrom HF welding center inLysekil, Sweden offers a complete and updatedmachine line for efficient welding of PVC andPU products. One machine example is the newMG-Flex, which is a compact HF weldingmachine on wheels suitable for welding volumeproducts. Altogether, it is possible to try fivedifferent Forsstrom HF welding machines, adigital cutting machine from Zünd, roll slitterfrom Robart and a Carmo eyelet machine. Thismakes it possible to try out the most suitablemachine for your production.

Test weld materials and prototypes Bring a bouquet of product ideas and test weldthem at Forsstrom HF welding center. WithForsstrom’s high frequency welding machines,you can weld almost anything of PVC and PU.

More than 900 travelling HF welding machineshave been built by Forsstrom HF AB in Sweden,and delivered to customers all over the world.Based on this experience, we build strong anddurable machines. Forsstrom’s HF welding

machines perform with high precision andreliability to guarantee the quality of the finalproduct. At the welding center, Forsstromprovides a tensile strength tester to secure thehigh quality of the welds. The tensile strength


ARTICLE

Stretch your ideas a little further. Forsstrom will help you reali-zing your ideas of PVC and PU structures in their new High Fre-quency (HF) welding center. The center is located in Lysekil atthe beautiful Swedish west coast. With a variety of HF welding

tools and equipment, together with deep knowledge in HF wel-ding, Forsstrom’s HF welding experts will help you finding the

right welding solution for your specific needs. Together, we canweld your dream structures of PVC and PU.

WELD YOUR IDEASAT FORSSTROM’S NEW HFWELDING CENTER , SWEDEN

REPORT

INTERNATIONAL MEMBRANE SYMPOSIUM 2015 IMS E.V.ANHALT UNIVERSITY, DESSAU-ROSSLAU, GERMANY

See demonstrations and efficient HF welding of PVC and PU products at Forsstrom's HF welding center in Lysekil, Sweden.

Three exciting days filled with speeches, panel discussions and anexcursion to Gondwanaland in Leipzig ended on Sunday evening with theGrand Opening of the 10th master program Membrane Structures.

Professor Off, director of IMS and initiator of this symposium was verysatisfied in relation to participation, input and the results of this event. Hewanted to encourage a debate between lecturers, students and theindustries as a result of the current situation and requirements on themembrane market worldwide. In result of the symposium new ideas andcooperations may be developed. New impulses have been given toimprove the educational situation in this special field of textile building. Last but not least the symposium has been a very good platform for the150 participants to meet specialists from all over the world, exchangeexperiences and meet new partners and friends to extend the private andprofessional network. That was and still is one of the main intentions ofthe work of IMS e.V. besides the master program.

In addition to the Symposium Prof. Dr. Robert Off and his IMS team had tomanage another very exciting and important event. After two years ofpreparation and together with the Anhalt University IMS e.V. received thecommittee of experts in order to renew the accre di tation of the Master

From March 20 to 22, IMS e. V. and Anhalt University had invited internatio-nal specialists and partners as well as various industries working in the field

of textile and membrane building to an International Membrane Sympo-sium in Dessau-Roßlau, Germany. On the occasion of the start of the 10th

IMS master course in Membrane Structures the Symposium took place inthe middle of the current attendance weeks of this distance learning pro-gram at Anhalt University, located next to the famous Bauhaus Building.

Visiting the Gondwanaland in Leipzig


Publisher: Woodhead Publishing & Elsevier in association with The Textile InstituteEdited by Josep Llorens, Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB), PolytechnicUniversity of Catalonia (UPC)ISBN: 978-1-78242-233-4Language: English I Published: 2015

Membranes are increasingly being incorporated into build-ings, and understanding the behaviour of the materials usedis essential in developing fabric architecture. Fabric Structuresin Architecture is an essential text that covers various aspectsof how textiles and foils and their properties are used in build-

ing construction, with particular focus on tensile structures. The book begins with an histor-ical overview of the development of membrane structures in architecture. Part One coverstheir fundamental principles and explores fibres, coatings, foils, and multi-layered tensile ar-chitectural structures from their origins to contemporary types. Part Two discusses a range ofdesign considerations, with chapters on lighting, acoustics, and thermal behaviour in archi-tectural fabric structures. In this part, installation and failure modes are presented. Part Threeexamines the applications of membranes in architecture, presenting a series of unique case-studies from around the world that examine works in North America, Latin America, Europe,China, and Japan. Fabric Structures in Architecture is a unique and important reference textfor textile manufacturers, architects, engineers, postgraduate students, and academic re-searchers in structural membrane science. Professor Josep Llorens teaches Architectural Tech-nology at the Barcelona School of Architecture. His research focuses mainly on experimentaldesigns and works, particularly in the field of tensile structures and textile architecture. Theresults have been presented in international conferences and received global recognition withexhibitions and publications: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5566-3037.! José I. de Llorens , ETSAB/UPC I [email protected]

BOOKREVUE

Fabric Structures in Architecture

Publisher: Springer International Publishing, PoliMI SpringerBriefsEdited by Zanelli, A., Spinelli, L.M., Monticelli, C., Pedrali, P. (Eds.)ISBN: 978-3-319-21665-2 I Language: English I 2015

Examines the merits of lightweight materials and membranestructures in terms of design and the environment This book explains how lightweight materials and structurescan be deployed in buildings to meet high environmental andaesthetic standards and emphasizes how the concept oflightness in building technology and design dovetails with thedesire to enhance landscape. The first part of the book, on

lightweight construction, aims to foster the use of membranes within the specific climaticcontext and in particular considers how lightweight materials and innovative technologiescan enrich the quality of temporary spaces. The second part focuses exclusively on landscape,presenting novel approaches in the search for visual lightness and the quest to improve urbanspaces. Particular attention is paid to the Italian experience, where the traditional apprecia-tion of brick and stone has limited the scope for use of lightweight structures and membranematerials, often relegating them to a secondary or inappropriate role. The reader will cometo appreciate how this attitude demeans a very advanced productive sector and neglects theancient tradition of temporary architecture. ! Alessandra Zanelli, POLIMI

Lightweight Landscape ENHANCING DESIGN THROUGH MINIMAL MASS STRUCTURES

tester is also available for customers whowant to test the strength of their ownmaterials or prototypes.

ForFlexx, joining coated PVC and PUwith metalForsstrom’s patented technology "ForFlexx”,makes it possible to join flexible coatedPVC- and PU fabrics with metalattachments using High Frequency welding.This enables more efficient production forexample in the automotive and buildingindustry. ForFlexx provides a stronger andmore durable solution with high frequencywelded PVC and metal details, compared totraditional methods such as pockets.Advantages and possibilities of ForFlexx are: • Air-, gas- and liquid tight seal between

the fabric(s) and metal attachment. • Strong welds • Time and cost saving compared to other

methods • Durable products

Visit the Forsstrom HF welding center to trydifferent HF welding machines and to tryForFlexx!

) +46-523 66 66 00: [email protected]: www.forsstrom.com

Program Membrane Structures. Since thisprogram is worldwide unique it was veryimportant for IMS to achieve theauthorization to con tinue the academic wayof education in this very special field. Finally,IMS is able to announce that the MasterProgram Membrane Structures received re-accreditation until 2021. Professor Off andhis team take this as a strong confirmationin their efforts teaching membranestructures.

! Heike Kleine: [email protected]: www.ims-institute.org/

The audience at Anhalt University


REPORT

26

LecturesGünther Filz addressed in multiple ways the di-alogue between form and structure. He dis-cussed several approaches to the process ofgeneration, mentioning as examples self-orga-nization, interaction, irregularity, addition, fold-ing sheets or active bending, among manyothers, which were illustrated by a wealth ofexamples (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Koge, 2014: Double-layer gridshell.

Josep Llorens presented an outstanding example of brick masonry optimization throughform, basing his subject on the wine cellars(nicknamed "wine cathedrals" for their magni fi-cence) of Cesar Martinell (1888-1973), whichwere built in Catalunya, Spain. In these pro j-ects, beams and lintels were replaced by bal-anced arches, and joist beams and slabs werereplaced by Catalan vaults (Fig. 2). The tech-nique has recently been revived in deve loping

countries due to itsgeometric flexibil-ity, ease of erec-tion, low cost, andhigh efficiency. Figure 2. Cesar Martinell,1921: Sant Cugat Viticul-ture Cooperative.

Annette Bögle challenged what is supposed tobe done by the engineer in most architecturaldesigns, and she advocated their participationin the generation of forms far beyond a possi-ble structural analysis. Interaction, communi-cation, dialogue, sharing, exchange, empathy,critique, and even group dinners enable creativ-ity in engineering, that allow finding new solu-tions and clarifying the relationship betweenform and structure.

Richard Horden alluded to personal referencesas the starting point of initial designs. They may

be derived from other buildings, works of art,nature, environment, shapes, objects, climate,lines, tendencies, memories, or thoughts. Hegave several examples of his work, mentioninghis own influential references, depending onevery situation, mood, and spirit, as in the case

of the two-storeyhouse overlookingSlade Gardens inLondon, where theadjacent ash tree -influenced the de-sign (Fig. 3).Figure 3. Richard Horden,2014: Ingleton Street Pri-vate House, London.

Switbert Greiner showed his fascinating worldof structural design and exhibited "a strong in-terest in the living and non-living structuralforms found in nature, as well as in the proce-dures with which handmade and industrial ma-terials and components are created"(Fig. 4). He focused on the technical design of support-

ing structures and art ob-jects, as diverse asmembranes; lightweight,convertible, botanical, andinflatable structures; solardishes; and Olafur Eliassonsculptures.Figure 4. Retired fisherman weavinga wicker creel.

Franz Sam speech could be summarized withhis own statement: "If you want to do crazythings, you have to dominate the form." Hecapitalized on his collaboration with CoopHimmelb(l)au (Fig. 5) and his teaching skills,emphasizing the need for mastering form, notonly as a shape, but also from the materializa-tion point of view including materials and tech-niques.

Figure 5.Coop Him-melb(l)au,

1988:Rooftop re-modelling,

Falke -strasse, Vienna.

"Where does the form touches the ground?"was a significant question that could be addedto that of B. Fuller: "How much does yourbuilding weigh, Mr. Foster?".

Enrique Soriano & Pep Tornabell went over thecreation and optimization of lightweight struc-tures through computational design and physi-cal modelling. Their method relies on activebending that provides form, flexibility, resist-ance, and efficiency. Their works are based onelastically-deformed plywood such as thepavilions made possible by an enthusiasticcrew of students (Fig. 6). They are now ready toembark on useful applications.

Figure 6. E. Soriano & P. Tornabell, 2013: "Big 0", toroidal thingridshell of wood, HelloWood Festival, Csórompuszta.

Walter Klasz introduced the latest project ofunit koge: "A cloud of snow," an artificial cloudused to produce powdered snow (Fig. 7). Thecloud consists of two envelopes: the cloudchamber and the outer shell. In the cloudchamber water droplets are mixed with ice toproduce snowflakes. It is protected from solarradiation and wind by the outer shell, a sphe ri-cal tetrahedron made of three mem branes ten-sioned by spatially bending-active curvedwooden beams. The entire structure is extre m -e ly lightweight and rests on a tripod, resultingin an economic means of producing snow and itis an ecological alternative to traditional snowcannons. More information at:http://koge.at/?p=4291#more-4291

Figure 7.Koge, 2014:Cloud ofsnow,Obergurgl-Hochgurgl.

FORM-RULE|RULE-FORM SYMPOSIUM 2015

FISHING FOR

FORM

The "Fishing for Form" 2015 Symposium took place on 16–17 January at the Institute of Design|unitkoge. Structure and Design, University of Innsbruck, chaired by Günther H. Filz, Dean of Studies at theFaculty of Architecture, along with Christian Scheiber and Walter Klasz. Two days of invigorating lec-tures were opened by Stefano de Martino, the Dean of the Faculty. The lectures were preceded by twoworkshops, which addressed rules to the relationship between form and structure. The topic was amplydiscussed under multiple viewpoints and experiences. The ensemble of presentations, as can be seen inthe short summaries that follow, are a significant contribution to the contemporary debate aboutcommitment of form, as outlined by Martin Francis, who also contrasted style and utility.

The full program of the SymposIum Is avaIlable at: http://koge.at/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/150105_fr15_schedule_www.pdf, and the lectures wIll be collected In the book: "FORM - RULE | RULE - FORM 2015".


Christian Scheiber started with John Constableclouds to expound "formless thinking" includ-ing variability, shift, dynamic constant changes,lack of precision, irregularity, vagueness, sus-pension, sliding images, and unconsciousness.The least volatile reference was the "PassingCloud" by Tiago Barros, a bunch of nylon-cov-ered balloons floating in the air (Fig. 8). Hementioned a hydro meteo ro logical model todraw formless shapes.

Figure 8. Tiago Barros, 2012: Floating in the atmosphere on topof a cloud.

André Ihde tried to characterize the designprocess defining parameters, requirements, in-teractions, and rules to build a holistic, flexible,and parameterized planning system; to handlecomplexity; and to gain deeper understandingof the dependencies. Expected benefits are thereduction of planning risks and iteration loops,thus enabling sensitivity analyses and multi-criteria optimizations to better accomplish themore targeted client demands.

Martin Francis began recalling favourites oftechnical design in architecture headed byJoseph Paxton's Crystal Palace, Hyde Park,1851. They were followed by other designs re-lated to his practice, especially mentioning theglass boxes at La Villette and the Louvre Pyra-mid in Paris. The bulk of his talk was divided be-tween yacht design and the technicaldevelopment of large sculptures (Fig. 9). Healso distinguished between architecture (styleand practicality) from sculpture (style overpracticality) mentioning as corresponding ex-amples the British Museum Court Roof and the"Musée des Confluences" in Lyon.

Figure 9.Frank

Stella,1999: Prinz

FrederickArthur vonHomburg,

Marlene Di-etrich Platz,

Berlin.

Clemens Preisinger showed the possibility ofenhancing geometry by adding algorithms thatimprove structural efficiency. Different ap-proaches were shown for the optimization ofstruts (European Central Bank) and diagonals(Skylink of the Frankfurt Airport). Even morecommitted to such design were the topologyadjustment of the "White Noise Pavilion" inSalzburg and the deformation and mass optimization of the CIAB Pavilion in Beijing (Fig. 10).

Figure 10. Zaha Hadid with Karamba Parametric Engineering,2013: CIAB Pavilion (Candela revisited), digitally designed andmanually manufactured, Beijing.

In "Towards a poetic of performance," Dario Pa-rigi advocated the inclusion of complexity intothe design process as a source of inspiration,since computational tools allow the expansionof opportunities for creative work when theproblems are too complex to be solved purelyon designer intuition. He presented as a casestudy reciprocal structures whose design wasbased on the use of load bearing elementswhich, by supporting one another along theirspan and never at the extremities, compose aspatial configuration without any clear struc-tural hierarchy (Fig. 11).

Figure 11.Hiroshi

Sambuichi,2010:

Rokko Shi-dare Ob-

servatory,Kobe.

Michael Wihart discussed bio-inspired strategiesfor the design of soft and cellular pneumaticstructures. Not seeking immediate architecturalsolutions, but rather researching some of archi-tecture’s fundamental conditions, soft machinesembody ideas of architecture as a partiallytransformable, compliant, sensitive, and sensualbody. Michael's most recent series of soft ma-chines ranging from soft mechanical hybrids tosilicone composites, are inspired by develop-ments in soft robotics and studies of soft-bod-ied organisms such as molluscs and medusas

(jellyfish) (Fig. 12).

Figure 12.Michael Wihart: Soft Machine.

Marijke Mollaert’s presentation ranged fromthe adequacy of technical textiles to kinematicstructures: for instance, to make lightweight,adaptable façades or roof systems. To verify thefeasibility of kinematic form-active structureswith fabric, she designed and tested a full scaleprototype comparing the geometry, reactions,and strains measured in the model with thesame values predicted by a computer simula-tion (Fig. 13). The results showed potentials-successes and difficulties.

Figure 13. Marijke Mollaert, 2014: Testing a full-scale prototypeto verify the feasibility of kinematic form-active structures withfabric.

WorkshopsGraphic optimization of trusses. Graphic statics, spreadsheets, physical model-ling, and testing were presented in the work-shop conducted by Josep Llorens with theobjective of simulating and improving the distri-bution of forces on trusses. Load paths Σ (p · ℓ)were computed and compared, and every trusswas physically modelled and tested (Fig. 14).

Figure 14.JosepLlorensKoge Work-shop 2015:Graphicanalysis andtesting oftrusses.

Potentials of bending-active structures on complex topologies.Enrique Soriano and Pep Tornabell from CODA(http://coda-office.com) led a research-basedworkshop exploring the potentials of bending-active structures on complex topologies result-ing in digital simulation, several scaled modelsand the full-scale structure “Blättersturm”(Fig. 15).

Figure 15. E. Soriano & P. Tornabell Koge Workshop 2015: "Blät-tersturm".

! Ass. Prof. Dipl. Ing. Dr. techn. Günther H. FilzDean of Studies, Faculty of Architecture, University of Innsbruck

: [email protected]: www.koge.at

! Prof. Dr.-Architect Josep LlorensSchool of Architecture , UPC, Barcelona

: [email protected]

REPORT

REPORT

IntroductionIn 2015 the University of Nottingham,Department of Architecture and BuiltEnvironment commissioned a new pavilion forthe End of Year Show. The main objective wasto commemorate the 50th Anniversary of thedepartment with a pavilion designed and builtby the staff and students, and able to offer aninsight into the annual teaching activity. The pavilion was designed Dr Paolo Beccarelli(University of Nottingham) and Dr JohnHarding (Visiting Tutor from Ramboll) andbacked by the Architecture and TectonicsResearch Group (Prof. John Chilton) andsupported by a team of technical staff andvolunteers from the Department ofArchitecture and Built Environment andeleven students from the MArch SpaceEnclosure Studio.

ProjectThe design was based on the extensive use ofcommercial 3D computer graphics andcomputer-aided design software (Rhino3D)combined with modern plug-ins for theparametric design based on a visualprogramming language (Grasshopper) (Fig. 1).The shape and the details of the pavilion wereoptimised in order to minimize the complexityof the manufacturing, the amount of materialused and the health and safety risks.Based on two timber arches and a grid offabric strips arranged in a saddle shapedsurface, the pavilion measures 12m in lengthand 3.5m in height. Twenty-three strips150mm wide and 2440mm long were cutfrom 6.5mm plywood (Russian birch) andassembled into two lightweight arches havinga radius of 2.75m and 1.90m respectively. Thefinal curvature was achieved by bending thelaths within the elastic range of the timberand connecting three layers of plywood withtwo courses of shear blocks placed at anaverage distance of 500mm. The membrane

grid is a catenoid minimal surface between thetwo rigid arches modelled using RhinoGrasshopper. The cutting pattern, 11 strips inthe longitudinal direction and 8 strips in thetransverse direction, was calculated using asimple script, which generates a spreadsheetwith the length of the strips and distancesbetween the nodes. Finally, the mainorthogonal grid (strip 100mm wide) wasstabilized by a set of diagonal fabric strips ofdifferent widths (25mm, 50mm and 100mm)connected at each node with 12mm eyelets.

The tensile force developed by the tensile gridon the arches was counterbalanced by a set oftieback tendons arranged in a similar grid,with a flexible edge obtained using a boundaryrope anchored to the ground. Resistance towind forces is provided by the double-curvedgeometry and the initial pretension of themembrane which was achieved through therotation of the arches (in the longitudinaldirection) and the anchoring along theperimeter of the pavilion by means ofremovable anchors hammered into theground.

Two main sponsors, SIOEN Industries NV andthe North East Timber Trade Association,supported the project providing the PVCcoated polyester fabric and the timber for theconstruction, respectively.SIOEN Industries NV cooperated actively withthe University of Nottingham to select theappropriate fabric. The EASYFLUO™ Type 1products chosen for the Pavilion skin areprestressed PES-PVC compounds with aweldable PVDF lacquered finish. SIOEN actedas sponsor for the student work and suppliedthe necessary material for this project free ofcharge."

The pavilion was manufactured and installedby a group of eleven students in four workingdays and will remain on display during thesummer between June and September.

! Paolo Beccarelli : [email protected]: www.nottingham.ac.uk/engineering/

departments/abe/index.aspx

Figure 1. 3D computer graphics , computer-aided designsoftware and plug-ins for the parametric design.

Figure 2. Installation of the pavilion.

Name of the project: End of Year Show Pavilion 2015Location address: University Park, Nottingham, UKClient (investor): Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of NottinghamFunction of building: ExhibitionType of application of the membrane: CoveringYear of construction: 2015Designers: Paolo Beccarelli, John Harding, John ChiltonStructural engineers: John HardingConsulting engineer for the membrane: Paolo BeccarelliSupplier of the membrane material: Sioen IndustriesManufacture and installation: MArch Space Enclosures Studio: Andika Visono Boenjamin, Johnson Enyenihi,

Yuezong Liu, Zaid Nachan, Muygech Sok, Kai Song, Xinggang Xuan, Yichi Zhang, Wen Zhang, Chunhui Zheng, Jing Zhou

Material: SIOEN EASYFLUOTM / FR T1101E / NON-FR T1001E / 730 GRCovered surface (roofed area): 30m2

END OF YEAR SHOWPAVILION 2015UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM

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