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Transient Materialization: Ephemeral, Material-Oriented Digital Fabrication

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2015

Shih-Yuan Wang
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Yu-Ting Sheng
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ), Zurich, Switzerland
Alex Barchiesi
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Jeffrey Huang
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
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Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between digital and material-based fabrications in architecture. The notion of transient materialization proposes that immaterial architecture is a trigger for investigating new possibilities for digital fabrication through space and time. This project is mainly inspired by the beauty of nature, focusing on soap foam bubbles, which have an n-hedron structure and are usually blown by air. The paper questions this structure’s materiality, examines its physical performance and ephemeral characteristics, and expands on its meaning through an experiment in digital fabrication. In addition, we present the first phase of this technology, in which an anti-gravity and programmable foam structure was achieved. The experiment demonstrates the different shapes possible for dynamic and transient soap foam structures.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2015 

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References

REFERENCES

MediaArtNet, E.A.T–Experiments in Art and Technology <Pepsi Pavilion for the EXPO '70>, Accessed Feb 1, 2015, http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/pepsi-pavillon/?desc=full ,+Accessed+Feb+1,+2015,+http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/pepsi-pavillon/?desc=full>Google Scholar
Hill, Jonathan, Immaterial Architecture, Routledge, 94-110 (2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar