Special IASS 2024_Pulp – Studio-Based Research in Thin-Shell Cast Paper Structures

Abstract

This paper reflects upon a sequence of seven research studios, taught within a six-year timespan in three different architecture schools, in which we developed approaches to casting thin-shell (monocoque) paper structures at full scale. Processes of material selection and material harvesting/processing, formwork design and fabrication all informed the formal expression of the shells. In the context of architectural education, fabricating at full-scale can make structural principles accessible, but large constructions can be expensive for students, and can also create unnecessary material waste. This sequence of studios, called PULP, allowed students to fabricate spatial structures at full-scale using materials available at little to no cost. The large structures have the potential to biodegrade completely, creating no landfill waste, and no adverse impact in their final resting place. The dearth of research or precedents in cast-paper-as-structure offers a unique opportunity for novel, basic or “blue skies” research in this area. Processual knowledge gained through leading this studio-based research over several years has allowed us to focus more recent research on scaling-up and using material combinations and fabrication techniques that are simple and effective. The increasingly focused investigations and larger scale of the paper cast structures in the most recent (last two years of) studio research suggests that there is something like a paper-specific formal vocabulary in thin shell structures.