From the history of plastics and membranes in architecture to their material properties and requirements in construction and design, the Construction Manual for Polymers + Membranes cuts to the chase, providing the kind of solid and comprehensive overview of the subject that readers have come to expect from the Construction Manual series. Selected project examples round off the reference work and make it indispensable for the day-to-day life of the professional planner and for every architecture library.
Whereas building with textiles can look back on thousands of years of tradition, plastics, or rather polymers, represent a comparatively new class of materials. So in that respect at first glance it might surprise the reader to discover both topics combined in one book. But this approach is less surprising when we consider the fact that it was not until the middle of the 20th century that membranes first found their way into architecture-as synthetic fibres and polymer coatings enabled the production of more durable, stronger textiles, which replaced the cotton cloth that had been used for tents up until that time. It was the development of modern synthetic materials that helped Frei Otto, Walter Bird and others to build their pioneering tensile surface structures, which quickly attracted attention and became widespread over the following decades.
Content:
Part A Polymers and membranes in architecture 10 The discovery and development of polymers 12 The dream of the polymer house 16 Development of tensile surface structures 21 Structures with transparent and translucent envelopes 24 Potential, trends and challenges
Part B Materials 30 Polymers 48 Fibres 54 Adhesives and coatings 60 Natural fibre-reinforced polymers and biopolymers
Part C Semi-finished products 68 Primary products 76 Fibre-reinforced polymers 82 Semi-finished polymers products 94 Foil 100 Textile membranes 108 Building physics and energy aspects 124 Environmental impact of polymers
Part D Planning and form-finding 134 Loadbearing structure and form 150 Detailed design aspects
Part E Building with polymers and membranes 160 Building with semi-finished polymer products 174 Building with free-form polymers 188 Building with foil 196 Building with textile membranes 212 Complex building envelopes
Part F Case Studies 225 Examples 1 to 23
Part G Appendix 286 Statutory instruments, directives, standards 287 Bibliography 289 Authors 290 Picture Credits 292 Abbreviations for polymers 292 Index 295 Index of names
Authors: Jan Knippers, Jan Cremers, Markus Gabler, Julian Lienhard Paperback: 296 pages Publisher: Birkhäuser Architecture (August 1, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 3034607261 ISBN-13: 978-3034607261
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