PROTOTYPE PAVILION IN TEXTILE REINFORCED CONCRETE 2024
Jonas Affentranger
/Mostafa Amine Boudaoud
/Jean Couson
/Erik Tavasti Paul Dagnaud
/Jeanne Marie-Sabine Dalimier
/Victor Bernard Ottavio Degli Esposti
/Beatriz Gabriel Ribeiro
/Sebastiano Giovanettina
/Gregorio Ernesto Heim
/Nizar Honsali
/Mathilde Chloé Alice Janottin
/Alberto Johnsson
/Clara Bettina Neff
/Loïc Sansonnens
/Nicolas Kamran Stanislas
/Yasser Tahiri
A Prototype Pavilion in TRC, 2024, is a key part of the EPFL research project "Social Concrete: Towards a New Paradigm of Construction", which is funded under the University of St. Gallen's Consolidation Grant 2022-25.
Building on the ENAC course (UE) “Argamassa Armada”, the summer workshop aims at taking the UE-research a step further into the construction of a full-scale prototype pavilion at EPFL Fribourg. The summer workshop format allows to verify the spatial and structural promises outlined by the UE-research and to build a proposition in the form of a concrete 1:1 realization (pavilion).
During these two weeks, Architecture and Civil Engineering EPFL Students, Experts, Teachers have been working at the EPFL Halle Bleu Fribourg to build and test structural elements using LC3 and TRC (Limestone Calcined Clay Cement and Textile Reinforced Concrete).
The Summer Workshop explore the structural, architectonic, environmental and social dimensions of TRC and its application, especially in the context of social housing in Latin America as a socially and environmentally sustainable “lightweight” material.
Building upon the TRC Prototype Pavilion initiated in 2019 at EPFL Fribourg and prior research from the Brazilian architect Lelé in Argamassa Armada (ferrocement), our upcoming summer workshop aims to craft 1:1 TRC elements for Social Houses in Nicaragua. The teaching team has fostered a collaborative partnership with Grupo Sofonias, an organization dedicated to community development in the rural region of Jinotepe, Nicaragua.
We will also explore the application of LC3 cement for TRC, a sustainable binder developed at EPFL for implementation in Latin America. This experimentation, made possible through collaboration with the LMC lab at EPFL, represents a significant advance towards sustainable construction practices.
Our working method is a reiterative process of developing through testing at EPFL Fribourg. Architecture, environmental engineering, and civil engineering students will develop a concept of social housing design and build structural elements in textile reinforced concrete, fabricate formwork in folded metal, prepare the textile reinforcement, mix and cast concrete and conceive and test the materials, structural elements and the assembly and behavior of the TRC elements.
Two members of the Swiss NGO Sofonias, Francis Benavides and Sergio Moraga, traveled from Jinotepe, Nicaragua, to collaborate with the EPFL students. Their involvement facilitated an invaluable exchange of knowledge between the students and the entire EPFL research team.
The insights from this collaboration will enable experimental constructions in Nicaragua and other countries in Latin America, focusing on lightweight, durable, and sustainable prefabricated elements. We are looking forward that some elements, like walls and roofing systems, will be integrated into an ongoing social project in Nicaragua.
Project Team 2024
Patricia Guaita, Architect and Lecturer, ALICE IA ENAC EPFL
Raffael Baur, Architect and external Lecturer, ENAC EPFL
David Fernández-Ordóñez, Civil Engineer, fib and ENAC SGC EPFL
Enrique Corres, Civil Engineer, Construction Assistant, ENAC SGC
Beatrice Malchiodi, Post Doc, LMC EPFL
Invited experts
Sergio Kopinski Ekerman, Architect, Professor FAUFBA, Brazil
Francis Benavides, ONG Grupo Sofonias, Nicaragua
Sergio Moraga, ONG Grupo Sofonias, Nicaragua
Student Assistant
Léa Guillotin
Students
Mathilde Janottin, Jonas Affentranger, Mostafa Boudaoud, Jean Couson, Erik Dagnaud, Jeanne Dalimier, Sebastiano Giovanettina, Gregorio Heim, Nizar Honsali, Alberto Johnsson, Clara Neff, Loïc Sansonnens, Nicolas Stanislas, Beatriz Ribeiro, Yasser Tahiri, Victor Degli Esposti.
Contact
For question write to summerchantier@epfl.ch