Revisiting a traditional brick: a modern approach to an age old material

Abstract

This thesis will investigate robotically 3D printed bricks as a structural material to construct a funicular structure without the use of mortar or adhesives, and thus eliminate the need for falsework. The use of robotic fabrication processes will create bricks that yield less waste and provide greater effciency in the construction process. A new approach for a traditional brick will be investigated, using design and fabrication through digital architectural design. With the extreme changes in temperature and signifcant yearly precipitation in Sudbury, being able to get out of the environmental conditions is a necessity. Often wait times for buses can vary from 15 minutes to three hours, depending on whether it is a rural or urban area. A bus shelter that can be easily implemented will be designed specifc to site, using pre-fabricated 3D printed components that will interlock when assembled. Through the use of advanced manufacturing technology, processes to reduce embodied energy within a material and building strategy will be explored; introducing a new typology for the understanding of a modern brick and its potential. The process for geometry development will range from analogue explorations to digital geometry-based optimization techniques of form and fabrication. The robotic additive manufacturing of custom bricks, will inform the exploration of a funicular structure by enriching the known formal vocabulary of shell design, by way of advanced manufacturing processes. The brick is a building block used extensively in architecture. By expanding the manufacturing processes of traditional brick, a new ideology can evolve, one that combines natural materials with a funicular typology. This study refects contemporary technologies, while revisiting historical construction techniques for stereotomic stone and brick. It will further develop effcient design and fabrication strategies for a funicular structure, based on architectural and structural requirements and constraints. It will employ the use of computational design tools and form fnding methods to assist in the development of a funicular structure without the need for falsework.