Fluid Bodies - casting without formwork

Todays design dilemma is a technological gap between sophisticated software models and the ability of materializing those models into reality. Complex shapes are easily drawn in computer software, but are very quickly constrained when it comes to building them in real world, at a scale 1:1 in a reasonable budget. Today there is an exploding world of virtual design strategies at our disposal, to create more efficient structures, explore new formal behaviors or aesthetics and simulate forms under given forces, but without a creative building industry to follow and fabrication strategies that keep up, those designs will only develop in the realm of digits and desire. Fluid Bodies addresses those desires and channels them on to a widespread building material: concrete. Concrete is solid, yet at its very origin it is a fluid building material that can take on every imaginable body and shape. The aim is to empower processual casting methods and to establish an alphabet of fluid bodies, that explores this simple but radical paradigm, and allows to explore volumetric formations by means of casting experimentation. By crossing between disciplines like architecture, fashion design, structural design and sculpture the goal is to compile a series of methods, and produce an array of casted prototypes that reach from small scale models to larger objects and explore alternative ways of producing, orchestrating shaping & reinforcing cast forms. We thereby challenge conventional formwork concepts and locked material assumptions with a transdisciplinary approach.

Today's design dilemma is a technological gap between sophisticated software models and their realization abilities. Complex shapes are easily drawn in computer software, but are very quickly limited when it comes to build them in real world, 1:1, scale with a reasonable budget. Artists, Designers and Architects should be able to build their formal ideas with affordable methods. There are many digital tools accessible to create efficient structures, striking aesthetic designs and parametric optimized shapes. But without an adaptive building industry to manufacture those structures and designs, they will stay in the realm of utopia and desire. Even if designers can prove long-term amortization in their projects, there is still fear about initial investments and very few construction companies that dare the challenge. Additionally the material properties themselves, especially in architecture, sometimes need to fulfill very high standards in terms of thermal insulation, fire safety, acoustic qualities and especially robustness. In order to fulfil these requirements building in architecture is usually a combination of different materials with specific qualities that are constructed in layers. Depending on their visibility and relevance to define architectural form the various layers are custom engineered and manufactured to various degrees. E.g. in building envelopes functionality is divided into different material and constructional layers, such as cladding (visible layers), structure, and insulation (inner layers). Single Materials or material composites that need to define architectural form and combine different physical functionality like carrying loads (exceeding their own weight), insulation or weather-proofing require elaborate and expensive manufacturing methods, generally involving extensive formworks which imply additional material resources and additional manual or mechanical labor. Common examples of these materials/composites are concrete or resin. This proposal focuses on such materials requiring formwork and looks into the technical, procedural and design methods of reducing and optimizing casting processes offered by innovations and adaptions from non-architectural disciplines. The team's goal is to compile a technological method to produce architectural applications and products with new aesthetic properties, based on its knowledge on digital processing, casting materials and creating formwork. We thereby challenge conventional formwork principles with our transdisciplinary approach and a completely new point of departure to rethink casting molds and reinforcement.