Table Of ContentPhilippe Block, Tom Van Mele
Matthias Rippmann, Noelle Paulson
Beyond Bending
Reimagining Compression Shells
CONTENTS
6 Foreword
La Biennale di Venezia
11 Reporting from the Front
The War on Bending
By Alejandro Aravena
12 In the Footsteps of Vitruvius
By John Ochsendorf
Beyond Bending 178 Afterword
15
A New Research-Driven
17 Beyond the Slab I Architectural Practice
By Gilles Retsin
20 Building with Weak Material
33 Beyond the Slab II 184 Authors
186 Contributors
42 Building with Less Material
187 Exhibition and Object Credits
55 Beyond the Dome 188 Image Credits
190 Bibliography
64 Exploring Form and Forces
79 Beyond Freeform
90 Extending Stereotomy
The Making of the Armadillo Vault
101
103 Form and Structure
116 Engineering the Extreme
A Conversation with Ochsendorf DeJong & Block
127 Stereotomy and Fabrication
138 Informing Geometry
A Conversation with the Block Research Group
147 Construction and Assembly
170 Balancing Craft and Machine
A Conversation with the Escobedo Group
FOREWORD
La Biennale di Venezia
For a world of beams and slabs built with steel-reinforced concrete, compres-
sion-only shell structures, which can be extremely thin constructions, offer
the potential to drastically reduce material requirements. Building with fewer
materials means in turn less environmental strain caused by the construction
industry. Drawing from a revival of forgotten principles combined with the latest
methods for reimagining the design, engineering, fabrication and construction
of compression shells, this book advocates for the logic of such forms. Through
in-depth background on the state-of-the-art research, advanced engineering,
and highly-skilled masonry craft that resulted in the Armadillo Vault and other
innovations exhibited at La Biennale di Venezia, the 15th International Architec-
ture Exhibition in 2016, by the Block Research Group, ETH Zürich, Ochsendorf
DeJong & Block, and the Escobedo Group, it demonstrates dramatic ways to
move beyond bending.
In August 2015, in his role as the newly appointed curator of La Biennale di
Venezia, Alejandro Aravena wrote to Philippe Block and John Ochsendorf to
invite them to contribute to his exhibition “Reporting from the Front”. Aravena
specifically asked Block and Ochsendorf to submit a report from the front of
their “War on Bending”. Ideas quickly coalesced to form the plan for an exhi-
bition entitled Beyond Bending. Their goal was to show what can be achieved
when reinforced concrete slabs, which normally work in bending, instead take
on curved, compression-only forms. A team was formed to include the Block
Research Group at ETH Zürich (led by Philippe Block and Tom Van Mele), the
engineering consultancy of Ochsendorf DeJong & Block (comprised of John
Ochsendorf, professor at MIT, Matthew DeJong, professor at the University
of Cambridge, and Philippe Block) and the construction and masonry experts
of the Escobedo Group (led by David and Matt Escobedo). Although the team
members had been collaborating in various constellations for over 10 years,
the invitation to exhibit at the Biennale represented their first opportunity on
such a large scale and on the world’s premier stage for architectural innovation.
Aravena’s initial invitation included the statement, “The battle for a better built
environment is neither a tantrum nor a romantic crusade”. This sentiment
also fittingly describes what the team accomplished in Venice. The objects
that were displayed in the Beyond Bending exhibition – and whose precedents,
principles, and potentials are described in greater depth on the pages that
follow – represent efforts toward achieving a better built environment. With
their focus on compression-only structures, they show methods for more ap-
6
propriate construction. They demonstrate more efficient use of materials and
labour in various contexts from developing countries in Africa to prosperous,
high-income countries like Switzerland. Rather than being romantic attempts
at revival for revival’s sake, these structures draw upon historical examples
and “lost” techniques that have been reinvigorated and adapted for current
technological and fabricational possibilities. Thus, the exhibition carried the
subtitle “Learning from the past to design a better future”.
.
Beyond Bending filled an entire room in the Corderie dell’Arsenale, a former
workshop for the production of naval ropes, the initial construction of which
began as early as 1303. For this exhibition, four examples of vaulted floor sys-
tems displayed in two of the corners formed “Beyond the Slab I” and “Beyond
the Slab II”; a canvas of 19 form and force diagrams covering one wall consti-
tuted “Beyond the Dome”; and the Armadillo Vault, the exhibition’s centrepiece
under the rubric of “Beyond Freeform”, spanned an area of 75 square metres.
Visitors could enter the exhibition from one of two large, arched doorways. To
move through the room, they were forced to either walk around or under the
Armadillo Vault, with each path providing different perspectives.
The format of this book follows the structure of the exhibition and its head-
ings. “Beyond Bending” describes the objects displayed in Venice. Each section
begins with a short explanatory text taken from the original exhibition labels
followed by photographs to provide visual context. Then, pages with a shaded
background allow for more in-depth, theoretical analysis. These sections each
present precedents, principles, and potentials. They indicate past or present
references, describe the architectural, computational, and/or structural meth-
ods behind the objects, and propose future possibilities for development and
innovation. The second section charts the “Making of the Armadillo Vault”
through photographs, diagrams, texts, and conversations with the team leaders
covering various aspects of the vault’s realisation. This variety of perspectives
demonstrates how constraints informed the design, engineering, fabrication,
and construction of this remarkable structural achievement.
Top view and sections of the Beyond
Bending exhibition in the Arsenale building
of La Biennale di Venezia, showing its main
components.
7
8
Original proposal with hand-drawn sketches
submitted to curator Alejandro Aravena in
September 2015.
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