Heteromorph

Abstract

Whereas on a global scale, more than one billion people live in precarious housing situations, many construction materials are often sent to landfill sites or, worse, burned. However, these rejected materials represent a richness whose reallocation would lead to a significant economy of resources. Therefore, reusing materials from the construction industry could eventually be part of the solution. In this paper, we will present the results of a study carried out within the framework of a master's thesis project, which attempts to establish an architectural response to this issue. The proposed solution involves a constructive system that allows the assembly of temporary shelters using a wide range of reclaimed materials. This approach implies the use of digital tools to generate a form resulting from the analysis of locally salvaged materials. The algorithm developed in this project can generate multiple formal configurations optimized for the available resources. Any shape obtained in this manner will be composed of a low number (3-5) of unique edge lengths. This rationalization strategy also limits the unique triangle typologies in the structure to a manageable number. The different elements, whether planar or linear, are then joined using low-tech metal nodes that can be easily assembled and disassembled. Because the standardized edge lengths and triangle types are compatible, the proposed workflow unlocks mixed material reuse for complex reticular structures. The resulting flexibility allows for several variations or even a partial or complete reconfiguration of the initial shape, thus further supporting the implementation of the circular economy principles for the construction of complex architectural structures.