Gaudi’s Puffy Jacket: A Method for the Implementation of Fabric Slump Casting in the Construction of Thin-Wall Funicular Vault Structures

Abstract

This paper describes a method for the production of thin-wall funicular (compression-only) structures from unique double-curved concrete components via a novel slump casting technique. The technique deploys fabric formwork within simple two-dimensionally cut frames to enable the efficient production of the unique parts necessary to tessellate form-found funicular geometries. Through the realisation of a high-tech / low-tech ecology of production, the paper seeks the reestablishment of generative pathways between each domain in the designtoproduction cycle: architecture, engineering and fabrication. The method andb resulting case study pavilions are situated within the historical trajectory of architecturalb form finding, specifically, the realisation of masonry vault structures.