PAST ::ago::

The Kids’ Gift Shop at the Cincinnati Zoo was a response to the needs of a sophisticated client, the restrictions of a convoluted site, and the complex circumstances of a year round zoo operation which we discovered was more akin to an industrial enterprise than a pastoral habitat.
This project, designed and built in 1999-2000, enabled me to bridge the gap between design and construction enabled by proto-3D information modeling.

There is allure in wind.  We have strong sensitivity to it.  Where it has impacted life for millennia (coastal areas, mountains) its variability is distinguished by a plethora of terms:  Zephyr, Bora, Mistral, Foehn.  Its variability and sudden, often violent fluctuations are a challenge when trying to use it: in sails or in windmills; it [...]

In 2005 I was invited to present student work at the Spot on Schools Exhibition, part of the International Biennale of Architecture in Florence, Italy. I had been teaching senior architecture studio at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for 2 years and leading a BIM Lab/Seminar in partnership with the Gehry Technologies education initiative.

Organized by Image, an Italian clearing house/communications agency, the Beyond Media Festival takes place in Florence since 1997. The festival events run the gamut: exhibitions, conferences and workshops, lectures and screening of videos, all inspired by the promotion of architectural culture. The Spot on Schools exhibition selects twenty or so schools of architecture worldwide who are invited to present studio work congruent with the objectives of the festival.

The work of 7 students was selected for the Miami University entry in the exhibition.

In the following work we look at thin shell transparent structures as possible observation modules in space habitats or as the domed component for a colony on the moon or another planet. For such structures the internal pressure is not only a load but their shaping force as well, i.e. they are de-facto inflatables. We investigate their feasibility based on available technologies, such as lobed balloons. Other sources of technological transfer are ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer) cushions, safety laminate foils, and hi-tech laminate sails design. We further develop the basic idea of using lobed transparent membranes in space habitats through several case studies. We would finally like to spur a discussion about design process as it relates to inflatable structures.

Summary. The proposed work aims to draw attention to a rarely investigated problem – the mechanical interaction between pre-stressed tensile membranes and high-pressure inflated elements. Particular emphasis is placed on to the possibility
of buckling stabilization of inflated beams by conbyning them with tensioned membranes. Structural stabilization of curved compressed elements is also studied. This research generates a proposal for new optimized air beam supported structures. It draws parallels with tensegrity principles.

A proposal for the design and layout of outdoor display units for a travelling exhibition of 120-150 photographs and additional information materials featuring the art photography of Yann Arthus-Bertrand.