ICD Aggregate Wall 2017
The ICD Aggregate Wall 2017 showcases a designed granular material. Granular materials are extremely large numbers of individual elements, which are not bound to each other, but between which only contact forces are acting. Natural examples of such granular systems include sand, gravel, rocks or even snow.
Granular materials are relevant as architectural construction materials due to their ability to form both liquid and solid states. They can be reconfigured and constantly recycled after use. Especially if the individual grain is geometrically designed, the behaviour of the overall material can be tuned to display characteristics, which are novel to granular systems.
The ICD Aggregate Wall 2017 is made of several thousand many-armed particles, which have been mass produced using injection moulding of recycled plastics. The overall curvature of the wall, both in horizontal and vertical direction, adds to its structural stability.
The construction process itself has been parametrized in order to enable fast and repeatable installation of the structure. For this purpose, the transportation boxes of the particles are turned into the formwork of the structure, using custom-made links to control the precise curvature of the wall.
The installation will be on show at the inaugural exhibition „Minding the Digital“ of the Design Society, China’s new leading design museum in Shenzhen.
PROJECT CREDITS
ICD Institute for Computational Design and Construction
Karola Dierichs, Achim Menges
Research Assistants
Federico Forestiero, Leyla Yunis
Manufacturing
Wilhelm Weber GmbH & Co. KG
Support
Design Society China
ITASCA Education Partnership Program (IEP)