Designing for Deconstruction and Smarter Construction
Cellophane House Case Study
The environmental impacts of the construction industry far outweigh other industry worldwide. Extraction, construction, and ultimately demolition create huge amounts of waste that is sent to landfills. Many organizations and movements have started to curb the amount of waste generated in virtually every industry. In the construction industry, these have manifested themselves in green building rating systems such as LEED, stricter building regulations, environmental agencies , and even greater owner expectations. These initiatives tend to focus on the extraction, manufacturing, and construction processes when a building is being designed and constructed and its possible effects seem most apparent.
An important concept of sustainable construction is the lifetime of buildings and the constituent parts. Ideal properties of these materials include their durability and resilience, among others. It is when the materials, and ultimately the building, reach their end of life that the initial efforts to design a "greener" building are undone and the building is demolished. The previously mentioned organizations and movements account for the creation and use of buildings, yet the final stages of a building's life cycle are often left unresolved.
Design for Deconstruction (DfD) proposes that buildings be imagined as a temporary installation, with the ability to be easily dismantled. To maximize its potential, DfD must be incorporated early in the design process as an intended and serious goal. The possibility of deconstruction requires designers to reimagine material joints and connections and how (and in what order) the building will be assembled and finally disassembled.
Deconstruction is most easily applied to structural systems for buildings, however it is important to consider the possibilities in all applications of this method. Interior finishes are often glued to each other using strong adhesives that would prevent any material from being removed from the assembly. Bolted and grooved joints between materials allows easy construction and deconstruction as most pieces fit in place while also removing adhesives from the building that could potentially contaminate indoor air quality.
As an example of a successful project that is readily deconstructed, the Cellophane House by Kieren Timberlake was designed for a 3 month exhibit in 2008 for the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The project imagines itself as assembled rather than constructed, and so the design used simple removable connections between building elements that did not require specialized tools or labor. The common modular dimension of the aluminum frame was used to their advantage, preventing any cutting and possible waste of pieces and allowing the construction process to continue even quicker. The partitioning system snaps into the frame and is able to be easily added or removed without affecting the structural systems. The ease in construction and concise design allows the project to be quickly assembled and disassembled and requires minimal space for transportation, fitting in the back of a single trailer.
The transition from design to construction was made easier through the application of Building Information Modeling (BIM), giving the designers a high degree of precision while also being able to monitor different statistics regarding the materials used such as weight and recycled content. By dividing the house into specific segments, much of the project was completed off-site leading to a quick and efficient construction process while minimizing any possible errors. On-site, the segments simply had to be hoisted into position and bolted together. Computer modeling and modularity also allowed the designers to easily and quickly be able to reuse the same kit of parts used to create the Cellophane House seen in the MoMA and redesign the spatial configuration of the house without the addition of any extra materials for mass customization purposes, showing the flexibility of the design.
The potential benefits of BIM technology in sustainable design is tremendous. Having the ability to pre-manufacture a large portion of the building off-site and simply "assemble" the building on-site will greatly reduce waste. Some have described this method as putting together a rather large and complex puzzle, certainly an interesting concept which is becoming more and more popular. The Cellophane House provides an intriguing example of a structure that can be assembled, and then later taken down because it is a temporary structure. However, with larger permanent buildings the concept of design for deconstruction doesn't have the same importance. With buildings of life spans of 50+ years the concept of durability is far more important, and the technologies that could possibly exist for building deconstruction is unimaginable. One such application that would be ideal for building assembly and deconstruction would be temporary relief structures for natural disaster victims. The ability to deconstruct, move, and reassemble these type of structures could be a really exciting advancement over the current relief systems being used.
ReplyDeleteThe Cellophane House is a very impressive public display in showing the fast-paced delivery of construction with minimum space constraints. The use of bolted and groove joints over strong adhesives and welding will lower specialized labor costs as well as construction time. I agree with Ryan that larger commercial buildings favor a stronger structural and longstanding integrity, although this type of assembly could be incorporated into partial combinations. For example, areas established by a strong permanent concrete and steel base could have perimeter locations and levels of deconstruction where they can be easy accessed for future expansion or renovation plans in the off-site fabrication/minimum construction method. This combination is very intriguing for the future and would be interesting in creative design considerations.
ReplyDeleteDeconstruction is an interesting aspect that tends to get overlooked in the design of most structures. It’s a valuable concept that shows that buildings don’t need to be demolished and leveled out when a new structure emerges to take its place. I think it’s an effective reminder to show that not everything is permanent and materials should be looked at with the idea of cradle-to-cradle during the design planning process. The Cellophane House is a prime example of how effective the process can be with a reduction in time and cost that might benefit small infill projects.
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