The Mushroom in-between
The possibility of bending plywood for structural support
A project for the final assignment for MAEB course 2018/2019 in the module of digital fabrication.
Our site located on the barren land just adjacent to the landmark pine tree of the Valldaura lab.
Our main task is to optimize the land usage ecologically.
And also introduce a new relationship between the old pine tree, inhabitants and the landscape.
3 keys in the conceptual design process.
1. Space in-between 2. Accessible roof 3. Two structural elements
Digital modeling
Bending Test
Problem shooting
Size of the structure is the first problem we found in the design process. The size and quantity of material are limited in this assignment. We received 9 sheets of 15mm pine layered wood of 2440x1220m. We decrease the size for the concern of the structural stability and reduction of material. BY CNC nesting, we reduced the around 50% material consumption.
In social aspect, Bionics structure allows people to recall the awareness of the natural environment.
Ring-shape waffle structure is our original concept which imitates the mushroom in the wild. However, the Ring-shape waffle structure needs double time to slicing and calculate. Due to the fabrication time concern ( Project Duration:72 hours), we minimized our structure design. By using Rhino and Autodesk® Fusion 360, we design a matrix waffle structure just using half of our original time. In the future, we will keep searching for a faster way to build the Ring-shape waffle structure.
The construction process seemed to be going well, and we were quick to finish our
mushrooms almost in the first place, which gave us a sense of accomplishment, while
also beautifying our mushrooms by planting flowers, which made it look more alive.
Summary and improvement
We found in the actual installation process that we used too much metal screws, which
are used on a wooden structure, which we think is imperfect. In the construction of the
structure system, we should think more about the interaction between the planks, rather
than using the screws to contact the force between them. This kind of thinking can make
our mushrooms more whole and reasonable.
The Mushroom in-between is a project of IaaC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed at Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings, Digital Fabrication tools module in 2018 by:
Students: Chiang Yu-Ching, Jesús Bueno Anguita, Tien Yuanpei, and Yu Zhipeng
Faculty: Valldaura Labs
Photographs: Chiang Yu-Ching
