Resumen de Fundamentos de la morfogénesis de tensoestructuras. Membrane house
The fundamental objective of this thesis is to delve into the process of generating the shape of tensioned membrane structures, from the conjunction of the theoretical foundations presented and practical experimentation, applied in the case of the Membrane House prototype.
In Chapter 0, we start from the concept of light architecture associated with the current architectural context and the evolution of the profession, to transmit the need to open up the field of architecture to new ways of creating, building and living. Part of the work of this thesis consists of the study of light architecture, and specifically of textile architecture, in order to demand the recognition of this non-conventional architecture, at a professional and academic level, which is contained in the technical part of Chapter 1.
The focus of this thesis seeks to emphasise the importance of the design process characteristic of tensile structures, providing with this research generative programme content, as opposed to the productive programme, of which there is more content developed today in the field of textile architecture. This is the line along which the collection of theoretical discourse references in Chapter 1 and their application to the original content in Chapter 2 is developed.
In these chapters, a theoretical content is generated accompanied by practical experimentation, which can provide a basis for proposing a pedagogical programme from which textile architecture is introduced into learning and architectural practice, enhancing its dissemination and application. This will allow us to position textile architecture as a hinge for understanding new generative processes, applicable to design beyond tensile structures, and which will become part of the discursive content of architecture, as a design tool, not only as an unusual product.
This content is developed in the thesis from two methodological perspectives that are constantly converging: documentary [reproductive] process and experimental [productive] process. In the structure of the thesis, these two lines are distributed throughout chapters in order to organise the content, although the aim is to point out the turning points that bring together the two axes, generating a discourse that links the practical and theoretical fields.
In Chapter 3, the approach to this discourse is reinforced by means of a concrete practical experience: the process of generating the form and development of the Membrane House prototype. This prototype is the protagonist of the research because its development process has meant the consolidation of the discursive approaches to morphogeneration, and it has been a laboratory in which to experiment from the inconclusive.
In Annex I, another series of practical examples are presented, which support the discourse, and which are enriching pedagogical or experimental experiences for all the participants.
The transdisciplinary work, the criterion of efficiency and the search from the capacity of agency of the material are fundamental vertebrae of the path of this research, and the tensile structures gather in their process of morphogenation, calculation and construction these characteristics in an intrinsic way. The introduction of the membrane as a structural element implies starting the design process from the material, activating its potential and working with it until it finds its most efficient position in a lightweight, integrally balanced structural system. This process has been defined and nurtured through interdisciplinary research and experimentation, which in current practice, taking a further step, is interested in reverting to transdisciplinary work, among other future lines of research opened up in this thesis.
Keywords: textile architecture, tensile structures, morphogenesis, structural efficiency, design process, light architecture, prototype.
