HOME ACADEMIC Membrane Workshop

Performative Membrane Spaces

Design workshop at the School of Architecture, University of Technology Sydney, September 2007. Michael Hensel and Defne Sunguroglu, with Anthony Burke and Charles Rice. This ten-day intensive studio worked with issues of structural and environmental performance through experiments with membrane assemblies. These experiments were undertaken by groups of students in order to design a shade structure for the architecture studio terrace. Membrane systems are globally modulated form-active tension systems: they transmit only tensile forces, take shape according to the applied forces and register manipulations throughout the entire system. The membrane’s shape and extent must be established as part of a structural solution. Specifically, membrane systems must be form-found, utilizing the self-organisational behaviour of membranes under extrinsic influences, such as by applying tensile forces, and by constraining the membrane via specifically chosen control points. In these points the tensile forces are collected and transmitted, commonly into a frame or poles that become the compression elements for the overall system. The class commenced with a set of simple experiments that investigated different cutting patterns for membrane patches, setting up three basic membrane geometries: cone, hypar and barrel, and experimenting with the way different patches can be connected, for instance by means of minimal holes, which are v-shaped cuts that provide an additional control point at the end of the resulting flap. The introduction of minimal holes makes it possible to achieve more definition, resulting in more curvature within the system. This approach enabled the integration of self-similar manipulations of the form-active tension system which helped, in turn, to achieve varying degrees of permeability of the membrane and exposure of the spaces beyond it. Single membrane patches and membrane assemblies were analysed with regards to their environmental performance, considering their geometry and orientation towards environmental input within the context of the architecture studio terrace. Light (luminous flow, illuminance, shading and self-shading) and airflow studies served to inform the design of specific membrane arrangements. Participating students: Ju Shen, Soosun Oh, Sylvie Milosevic, Julia Cumines, Samuel Gleeson, Puneet Kumar, Ben Wollen, Sam Kashuk, Diana Quintero, Mads Brath Jensen, Niclas Jacobsson, Bart Maiorana, Milan Bogovac, Pedro Baptista, Shuo Lin, Grace Uy, Regina Chan, Natalie Condon, Jamil Asali, Ira Butzner, Chantel Carr, Johanna Doerfel, Chandaneep Kaur.