They use ‘balloons’ , thus air,once constrained can bear heavy loads. Simple setup, when done deflate, replace and inflate again for the next section.
Where would you pour the concrete in your form?
Wow! That’s an awesome model and construction method. If you used a concrete mix that was strong enough, then that would work great without steel reinforcement. I believe in minimalism where being able to accomplish a task with less resources gives you more freedom.
Couldn’t you use shotcrete?
Why would you use shotcrete in a form?? Thats not were shotcrete is used for…
By the way, how would you blast it in a closed form?
When you use a form on the outside of the building like TommyK said you can spray the shotcrete at the underside (with reinforcement like steel or fiber) and have the outside nice and flat when you remove the form.
Insulation will still be a minor thing, concrete at itself is a very good heat absorber and holds heat and cold for a long time. I think it will be a must to insulate the dome shaped building.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. When i look at the form it seems to be a closed form, inside and out…
Thats where my original question came from: “where are you going to poor the concrete in?”
I see no opening at the top…
If this is only an idea, I would move toward a Thin-Shell Concrete, Polystyrene Composite Construction method. It eliminates the Forming, requires no heavy equipment, and gives you a Super insulated Structure as a Free Bonus. An example is Japan Dome. http://www.i-domehouse.com/ Japan dome house - YouTube
Expanded Polystyrene Made Dome House - YouTube
That’s perfect! I wonder if Japan Dome House Co. would be willing to make a custom torus dome… Their windows and doors match my preferred design too! Out of curiosity, I wonder how much it would cost for the torus and an outhouse dome. I should make it clear that I’m not an actual customer because it’s probably out of my price range. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time.
Make your own components, it’s super easy and child’s play to assemble.
Actually, I did imagine it as a closed form work (except for one side to allow the concrete to slide out). I thought maybe you’d put in pluggable holes somewhere.
Since thinking about this more, I decided that we shouldn’t even bother with form work. I would in my dreams do this with 3D printed concrete!
http://ift.tt/2kmnM9q
“But you can’t 3D print slanted walls! It will just fall over while being built, you idiot!” I hear you say. Brunelleschi had a similar problem with the Florence dome. His solution was to use chains around the circumference of the base of the dome to stop the mass of the dome pushing the wall outwards. Then each course of masonry around the dome would push against each other.
Given that this is round and continuous in plan, the same concepts can be employed. The walls on the outer side will be in compression as it gets built up. On the inner side, the walls will be in tension (not good for concrete), so you may need some sort of steel cable tied right around the torus at several courses to make this work.
I need to build a new model for this…
I’m hoping 3D printed architecture will be the future! There are so many benefits including reduced labor costs & reduced construction time.