tmiber truncated icosahedron as an educational tool in architecture

TMIBER TRUNCATED ICOSAHEDRON AS AN EDUCATIONAL
TOOL IN ARCHITECTURE
Atsushi TABUCHI1, Shinsak MUNEMOTO2
ABSTRACT: We are dveloping an educational tool in Architecture by using timber materials. Timber is easy to deal
with. In this paper, it was reported that out line the workshop which was the educational opportunity for students in
department of environmental design, Kyoto prefectural university, and truncated icosahedron, which is a soccer ball
shape, as a tool for this workshop. It was expected that the effects of this workshop was 1)a geometric trainign,
2)feeling timber materials, 3)designing structures, 4)trying to manage a schedule.
KEYWORDS: self-built architechture, timber design, workshop, educational tool
1 INTRODUCTION 123
Kyoto Prefectural University (KPU) is located at
Shimogamo, about several kilometers north of city
center of Kyoto. Some World heritages, Shimogamo and
Kamigamo shrines, Kinkaku-ji temple and Ginkaku-ji
temple are located near KPU. In this university, an
architectural technology is held at department of
environmental design of faculty of life and
environmental sciences. In addition to architecture,
landscape, product and apparel design etc. are educated
because it is thought that the view of ordinary citizens
and environmental conservaton were needed for the
future of architecture. This depertment has the feature
which students can learn a broad range around
architecture, but each learning tended to be fragmented
for students. Therefore, students are sometimes hard to
image an overview of architecture. A wide spleading
range of an education is like to cut two ways, advantages
and disadvantages.
We are developping an educational tool in Architecure
by using timber materials in order to educate and train
students on an architectural design which is not only
aesthetic but also structural, scheduling and
management.
2 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN KPU
2.1.1 ADMISSION POLICY
In this department of Kyoto Prefectural University, the
following educational philosophy is set, “The main
objective of this department is nurturing of the
1
Atsushi TABUCHI, Graduate School of Life Science and
Environmental Science, Kyoto Prefectural University, 1-5
Shimogamo-nakaragi-cho, Sakyo, Kyoto, Japan Email: atabuchi@kpu.ac.jp
2
Shinsaku MUNEMOTO, Graduate School of Science and
Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Noji Higashi,
Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan, Email: shinsaku@smao.jp
3
professionals who are capable of creating living
environment and lifestyles friendly to both people and
the environment by applying their abundant knowledge
and comprehensive judgment based on expertise in
housing and architectonics. The department is
characterized by significant enhancement of its technical
education for better supporting students in gaining
qualification as a first-class registered architect, and also
by research and education on the viewpoints of ordinary
citizens as well as on environmental conservation
including landscape conservation, afforestation, etc..”
2.2 PROGRAM
In order to achive that objective of this depertment, we
educate students by four categories, strructure & building
production, architecutural environment & equipment, planning
& design, landscape design. As a matter of course, fundamental
education ,which is mathematics, physics and social science
etc., was offerd.The program of this depertment was shown in
Table 1.
3 WORKSHOP
3.1 INTENDED STUDENTS
Main target of students who joined in this workshop was
4th grade who were on first semester soon after end of 3rd
grade. Students learned almost all knowledges about
architectures but did not image an overview of
architechture. Students who joined this workshop
associated each fragmented knowledges.
3.2 ANTICIPATED EFFICACY
Topics of this workshop are followings;
1. Geometric training: An architectural design is
needed understanding relationship between
each spaces. So a regular body or a semiregular
body was chosen as the model in this workshop.
2. Feel timber material: An education about timber
is not so much details as steel and concrete in
Table 1: Educational program in this department
1st Grade
2nd Grade
・Outline of Environmenal Design
・Reding Scientific Papres 1
・Fundamental Mathematics 1&2
・Statistics
・Fundamental Physics1&2
・Fundamental Chemistry1
・Fundamental Biology1
・Fundamental Earth Science1
・Practice in Environmental Design1&2
・Professional Awareness and Ethic
・Introduction to Buiding Structures
Common Subject
Strructure & building
Production
・Environmental Physics
3rd grade
4th grade
・Applied Mathematics1&2
・Laboratory Work in Physics
・Practice in Environmental Design3&4Aor4B
・Introduction to Digital Design using Computer
Graphics
・Experimental Design Method 1&2
・Practice in Environmental Design 5&6
・Exercise in Computer Aided Design of Archi-
・Exercise in Compuer Aided Design of Products
・Surveying
・Field Practice in Surveying
・Building Structural Mechanics1&2
・Building Materials
・Experimental Methods in Building Structural
tecture
・Building Law
・Internship
・Livelihood Instrument
・Building Production
・Dynamics of Structures
Mechanics
・Architectural Environmental Engineering1&2
Architecutural environment & equipment
・Reinforced Concrete Structures
・Steel Structures
・Construction Method of Buildings
・Architectural and Urban Equipment1&2
・Exercise in Architectural Environment and
・Human Environmental Engineering
Equipment
・Laboratory Work in Architectural Environmental Engineering
・Environmantal Psychology
・Building Systems
・History of City and Houses
・Planning of Interior Space
・Living Environment and Waste Management
・Urban and Housing Management
・Architecture and Interior Design
・Building Disaster Prevention and Safety
・Architectural Planning and Design
・Urban and Regional Planning
・Living Life and Housing Problem
・House Planning and Design
・History of Western Architecture
・Color for Design and Science
Planning &Design
・History of Modern Architecture
Planning
・Regional and Urban Cultural Studies
・History of Japanese Architecture
・Housing Environmental Management
・Human Right for Adequate Housing
・Living Environment and Social Research
Methods
・Landscape Design
・Landscape Ecology
・Ergonomics
・Esthetics in Everyday-Life
・Outline of Apparel Science
・Nature and Human Design
・Interior Landscape Design
・History of Modern Design
・Theory of Product Design
・Garden Design
・System for Open Space
・Cultural History of Clothing
・Apparel Design and Dressmaking
・Accessible Design
・Web Design
・Graphic Design
・Design for Applied Fine Arts
・Reading Scientific Papers 2
Landscape design
・Seminar in Major Subject
・Research in Major Subject
Table 2: Timetable of the Workshop
2009
1
Fri
2
Sat
3
4
5
6
7
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
8
Fri
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
May
Fri
Sat
Sun
Kick-off
Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Considering possibility
Jun.
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue
Collectin data
Esquisse
Drawing
Design methods of connections
Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Drawing
Jul.
Fri
Scale model
Design methods of connections
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Structural Design
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon
Scale model
Aug.
Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Estimating timber volume
Sep.
Thu
Fri
Sat
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed
Fabrication of members
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Assemble units
Oct.
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Nov.
Meeting
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Assemble units
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Construction
Fri
Finish
Sat
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon
Sat
3.
4.
Japan. But timber is one of the most popular
material in building houses. So students
fabricated timbers to members by themselves.
Structural design: The way to estimate stiffness
and strength of timber to timber joints is most
important in a structural design of timber
structures. Some joints on the structure which
was designed in this workshop were semi rigid
joints with Japanese traditional joints like
dowels and wedges. And these joints was
evaluated by both experimental and analytical
method.
Management a schedule: Processes of work
have to manage properly, especially on
business.
Figure 1: Developed figure of a soccur ball
To achive these topics, a time table, which was shown in
Table 2, was configured. The kick-off meeting was held
on 29th May 2009. In this meeting, the goal of this
workshop, which was building a timber structure by their
hands and learning how to architect, was shown.
3.3 CONCEPT AND DESIGN
There are many traditional timber structures around
students of KPU. Therefore first concept was applying
Japanese traditional technique and timber engineering.
One technique was an ARARE-joint. Each member had
a comb shape at both ends and put to other member like
a finger joint. Another was a KOMISEN-dowel. This
was a one of a cotter pin and usually 15-18mm square
timber.Second conecpt was
designing from an instability
looking model like a sphere.
Instability of looking led us to
rising tension but an actual
structure was naturally stable.
A soccur ball made with timber
was decided based on these
concepts. Soccur ball consisted
of 20 hexagonal shapes and 12
pentagonal
shapes.
When
either
of
them
were
constructed,
others
were
shaped automatically. And
hexagonal shape was easier
than pentagonal shape because
the former consisted of regular
triangles.
ARARE-joint were used for
putting members together
hexagonal shape. KOMISENdowels
were
used
for
constructing a soccur ball by
conecting hexagonal shapes.
A developed figure of a soccur
ball was shown in Figure 1.
Details of connectting each
unit was shown in Figure 2. A
hexagonal shaped unit (7) had
Figure 2: Hexagonal shaped units
Figure 3: Members of hexagonal units
Figure 4: Disscussion about details of connections
3 boundaries with other
hexagonal units. Another 3
sides of this unit made up
each side of pentagonal
shapes as opening. And
this hexagonal shaped unit
consisted of two types
members. 3 members A
(Figure 3) were boundaries
with pentagonal openings,
another 3 members B
(Figure 3) were boudaries
with other hexagonal units
connectted by KOMISENdowels. These 6 members
put together by using
ARARE-joints, shown in
Figure 5.
3.4 FABRICATION
Figure 5: Details about ARARE-joint
This was the first time to
operate wood processing
machines for students. At
first profecional operaters
taught
students
some
important reminder and
methods of operating wood
processing
machines,
shown in Figure 7. Most
important reminder was
not to touch moving edges.
And they needed to
operate a machine step by
step with precise timing.
They could not operate
each machine well but
mastered soon.
3.5 STRENGTH OF
CONNECTION
Figure 6: Details about KOMISEN-dowels' connection
In order to design for
structures,
strength
of
connections were made
sure if each connection was
enough. In this case, a
strength of a connection by
KOMISEN-dowels , which
was subjected to bending
moment, was importat.
This was a direction to
open hexagonal units.
Expeliment by 3 point
bending test was shown in
Figure 12. It was found out
that this connection had an
enough
strength
by
reinforceing
with
the
kasugai-clamp which was a
Japanese traditional iron.
Figure 7: Lecture about the way to operate wood
processing machines
Figure 10: Pitting holes for KOMISEN-dowel
Figure 8: First time of operateing a wood processing
machine
Figure 11: A hexagonal shape unit
Figure 9: Marking on members
Figure 12: An expelimrnt for a bending strength of a
connection
3.6 ASSEMBLEING AND CONSTRUCTION
At first 2 cover parts were constructed by jointing 5
hexagonal units and one middle part by jointing 10
hexagonal units. Each cover part was jointed to a middle
part in order of precedence. In fact, one cover part was
jointed to a middle part from above. This jointed unit
was inverted upside down before other cover part was Figure 13: KOMISEN-dowel
jointed. This procedure was shown in Figure 14.
Figure 14: Procedure to construct the timber soccer ball
Figure 15: A cover part
Figure 17: Liftup and moving by humans
Figure 16: Construction a middle part with knock in
KOMISEN-dowels
Figure 18: Fastning polycarbonate panels with screw
Figure 19: Detail of ARARE-joints
Figure 22: Member of this workshop with the soccer
ball
Figure 20: A standing student on the soccer ball
Figure 23: The accomlished soccer ball
4 CONCLUSION
Figure 21: A standing student in the soccer ball
It was found that following effects of this workshop;
1. Students found out that an architectural design
was worth to work.
2. Some methods of structural design on timber
engineering were experienced.
3. They understood that building an actual
structure was more difficult than thier images,
but this experiment led to stepping up.