The ICD Aggregate Pavilion 2015 was designed by Karola Dierichs and Achim Menges from the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) at the University of Stuttgart. This pavilion continues the line of experiments that have been going on for several years (you can find out about the construction of 2014 here). It was the result of a year of research and was erected on the university campus last summer.
The pavilion, according to its creators, is the first public architectural structure with a "projected" granular system. "Engineered" granules are particle systems with a large number of components, where each granule is artificially created and has a specific geometric shape. Due to the thoughtful shape of each grain, the "aggregate" resulting from such particles is a programmable matter with properties that are not found in natural granulates such as sand or gravel. Artificial grain systems are a new area of architectural design research.
A wide variety of “behavior scenarios” can be programmed for such granulates, but ICD Aggregate Pavilion 2015 was designed to study only one of them - programmable “verticality”, which exceeds the angle of repose typical for natural granular systems.
Three different types of "aggregates" were used for the pavilion, which were applied in different zones of its vertical parts - to ensure optimal distribution of the load. The system can be completely rebuilt due to the absence of a permanent binding matrix there.
In the course of research prior to the pavilion's implementation, the structure and possible construction technologies were tested using smaller scale and 1: 1 scale models. These experiments were complemented by Distinct-Element Modeling (DEM) simulations.
For the construction of the pavilion, a cable robot was designed, capable of working on sites with a side up to 30 m, in different conditions and with different dimensions of the object. Such a device is capable of placing a unit of building material weighing up to 10 kg with an accuracy of several centimeters. In this case, the side of the site was 7 m, the cables were fixed to four trees.
The material used was 30,000 recycled plastic particles sourced from local factories. Two or three geometrical shapes of granules were based on a single parametric model, different shapes corresponded to different design requirements. No frame is needed for this construction method.
The pavilion was fully erected in a few hours and was rebuilt many times during its "exhibition period".
