Architectural Design V-IX: Lime (E.Mosayebi)

Abstract

This semester, we focus on limestone, its extraction and processing, and its role as a load-bearing component in structural construction systems. In the cities of Solothurn, Olten and Brugg, we develop floor plans for living and seek out the architectural qualities and aesthetic potential that arise from considering material processes and temporal cycles.

Objective

MATERIAL AND CONSTRUCTION Students acquire knowledge about limestone and its extraction processes. Based on this knowledge, they learn to develop the building as a structural-constructive system that reflects today's natural stone extraction processes. FLOOR PLAN AND CONTEXT Students learn to combine the aforementioned strands into a coherent, experimental floor plan for residential use. We focus on embedding the building in the local context: students learn to integrate their building into the urban fabric of selected sites in the cities of Solothurn, Olten and Brugg. NARRATIVE AND PRESENTATION In search of narratives of time, students learn to establish their projects in a multidimensional way. With the perspective of time, we examine rhythms of use, component cycles and the ageing of materials. The developed narrative helps to shape the project into a consistent whole and present it to others.

Content

Lime is one of the oldest and most versatile building materials. It is used to make cast stones for load-bearing structures, façade panels, floor coverings and sculptures, as well as lime mortar, cement and fine lime dust for construction and industrial products. Today, a large proportion of the material is burned for cement production. This process destroys the original form and strength of the stone, even though it could be used untreated for permanent and load-bearing applications. At the beginning of the semester, we will look at active limestone quarries, examine rock types, mining techniques and the production of building stones, down to the by-products that are generated. On this basis, the students will develop construction principles for their projects. We have chosen Brugg, Solothurn and Olten for our design work. Their old towns were built from limestone, while both the local occurrence of the rock and the Aare River as a transport route shaped their history. Amidst growing housing needs and questions of inner-city development, we design architectures for living: from resources to details and tectonics to urban planning and experimental floor plans. Architecture and time form the starting point for our own narratives. We examine the lifespan, ageing and renewal cycles of individual building elements, as well as shifts in space and use across different time scales – from daily and weekly rhythms to the seasons and changes over several years. The simultaneity of the non-simultaneous forms the design framework. In workshops with artist Taiyo Onorato, we develop stone compositions in models. An excursion to the Thomann quarry is planned for the first week.

Resources