This research through making is based on the use of innovative Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC), a material with high mechanical properties in which carbon fabric is embedded in a cementitious matrix cast with low-clinker content binders, such as LC3. The use of such binders, combined with the high efficiency of the reinforcing material, significantly reduces the ecological footprint of construction (by using less material and reducing energy consumption during production). TRC thus enables the construction of very thin, highly durable, and consequently highly sustainable structures.
The UE aims to further explore the structural, architectural, environmental, and social dimensions of TRC and its applications, particularly in the context of social construction in the Global South. Building on the TRC Prototype Pavilion, initiated in 2019 at EPFL Fribourg, and prior research on Brazilian architect Lelé's Argamassa Armada (ferrocement), we will develop TRC elements for social construction in the Global South.
This semester’s project aimed to create five new climate-responsive structural elements for a secondary school in Somaliland, Africa, a project led by Urko Sanchez Architects, based in Kenya. Working in this real-world context, students will be able to contribute directly to an architectural initiative in the Global South. The unit also encourages knowledge exchange between experimental construction projects in Latin America and Africa, applying lessons learned from Nicaragua (our first Study case) to the African context.
We will also prepared the LC3 mixes for the for the TRC elemnts, thanks to the collaboration with the LMC lab at EPFL. LC3 is a sustainable binder developed at EPFL and is already on its way to being implemented in the Global South.
Our working method is an iterative process of development through testing at EPFL Fribourg. Architecture, environmental engineering, and civil engineering students will design and build structural elements in textile-reinforced concrete, fabricate formwork in folded metal, prepare the textile reinforcement, mix and cast LC3 concrete, and conceive and test the materials, structural elements, assembly, and behavior of the TRC components.
Project Team 2025
Patricia Guaita, Architect and Lecturer, ALICE IA ENAC EPFL
Raffael Baur, Architect and external Lecturer, ENAC EPFL
David Fernández-Ordóñez, Civil Engineer, fib and lecturer at ENAC SGC EPFL
Enrique Corres, Civil Engineer, Construction Assistant, ENAC SGC
Student Assistant
Léa Guillotin
EPFL Lecturer
Dr. Beatrice Malchiodi, civil engineer, Postdoctoral Researcher, Construction Materials Laboratory at EPFL
External lecturer
Jaime Velasco, architect, (Urko Sanchez)
Invited Guest final review:
Dr. Nils Havelka, architect, Director of Policy at the Center for Worldwide Sustainable Construction (CWSC), EPFL
Students
Antoine Abbet, Blai Abel Serrano, Daniel Azrak Marban, Julie Berger, Aïda Besri, Félix Christen, Adrien Collomb, Maxime De Santo, Matteo Descoeudres, Marie Farquet, Bastien Fuhrer, Maxime Glassey, Axel Guérin, Augustin Guillod, Alexandre Hüni, Costanza Mizrahi, Florent Monges, Viktor Monnier, Germain Moskovitch, Dina Mouden, Lucien Othenin-Girard, Bruno Siebmanns