Lightweight Stereotomy with Glass-Fiber Reinforced Plastic

Abstract

Stereotomy is historically synonymous with stone construction and solid architectural poché. Yet stereotomy need not be limited to dense materials and compression-only structural forms. With the aim of developing stereotomic architecture that employs parts that are exceptionally expressive—rather than exceptionally heavy—this paper explores constructions made from glass-fiber reinforced plastic, a contemporary lightweight material. The research also recognizes that the volumetric parts and networks of joints employed for stereotomy have important visual as well as physical consequences. By focusing on creative applications of descriptive geometry, the projects presented in this paper seek to make explicit stereotomy’s unique combination of graphic and constructional qualities. Using a novel system of tessellations derived from digital simulations, the research puts computational techniques in service of stereotomy’s formal questions, developing visually animated assemblies of parts. The architectural qualities of these assemblies as well as the constructional feasibility of lightweight stereotomic parts were tested through a series of designs that culminated in large architectural constructions, including a free-standing wall, a pavilion prototype and a free-standing interior pavilion employing lightweight, free-form Cyclopean masonry.