Architects from the Digital Design Unit (DDU) in Darmstadt and the choreographers from Berlin-based studio tanzpol explore the interrelationship of choreography and architecture with their “Animate Concrete” project. What happens when you can dance with architectural elements? What, if seemingly massive pieces rock and move at the touch of your hand?
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Animate Concrete – Dance with Me!
The massive-looking but lightweight hollow elements made of concrete and a water-based acrylic resin polymer are designed as discreet elements that join together, but never permanently: with their dry-joint, interlocking connection details they are meant to be rolled, wobbled and rocked by one person without heavy lifting equipment. They can be assembled, dis-assembled and re-assembled into changing urban configurations. Not only allow these qualities for a more circular approach in architecture and construction as the pieces can be reused in future buildings, they also offer a constand, dynamic re-calibration of architectural elements and the human bodies that use, abuse and re-use them.
This mutually dependent relationship opens up the possibility to enter into ever new forms of interaction between spatial configuration and human bodies, blurring the lines between (human) maker and (inanimate) object and instead offering animate concrete bodies in motion. Inspired by dance theorist Rudolf Laban who regarded movement as a forming force for living architecture, tanzpool developed a choreography for both: people and concrete pieces. Dancers are exploring the counter-intuitive kinetic behavior of the objects, which move unexpectedly due to their surprising (and invisible) mass distribution that prompts them to move like tumbling toys.
Animate Concrete furthermore seeks to provide novel strategies to save building material resources by rotoforming, thereby minimizing material consumption and reducing the weight of precast concrete components. In the robotic process, small amounts of liquid material are cast in a formwork, which is then slowly rotated by a robot. The material spreads along the formwork surface, creating a hollow body. The robot arm rotates the formwork in a defined path, distributing the material to create a variable wall thickness and mass distribution.
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Animate Concrete – Making Of
The installation Animate Concrete was shown at the Dutch Design Week 2022 (20-30 Oct) in Eindhoven as part of Robots that Build – The Extension of Man an exhibition and two-day symposium at the TU/e Eindhoven. The show featured large-scale models and prototypes that used robots in innovative and experimental ways in architecture and design. The shown explored cooperation of man and machine, sustainable and circular materials and the potentials of digital fabrication and showcased the versatile use of robotic fabrication through the application of various materials and techniques such as additive manufacturing, robotic weaving, casting and roto-molding.
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Animate Concrete – 3D Scan and Motion Tracking
Robots that Build Symposium:
October 20-21
8.45 AM – 5.30 PM
Registration:
Robots that Build Exhibition
October 20. – November 14.
Opening: 20. Oktober 5.30PM
Plaza, Vertigo Building auf dem TU/e-Campus
Project team
Architecture
Digital Design Unit (DDU), Prof. Dr.-Ing Oliver Tessmann, Samim Mehdizadeh M.Sc., Technische Universität Darmstadt
Choreography:
Ashkan Afsharian, Johana Kasperowitsch, tanzpol
Samim Mehdizadeh
Dance:
Johanna Kasperowitsch, Susanne Grau
Scientific development and project management
Samim Mehdizadeh M.Sc.
Robotic fabrication:
Danial Ahmad, Mirko Dutschke, Jingwei Fang, Bingqun Liu, Joshua Schäfer, Luke Schüßler, Daniel Schinkels, Malcolm Unger, Leon Wietschorke
Design team:
Nesrin Asma, Bingqun Liu, Aleyna Yanar, Ye Hong, Luke Schüßler, Daniel Schinkels, Kai Shima, Robin Wehrle, Jasmin Tietianiec, Malcolm Unger, Mashal Maria Hashimi, Jingwei Fang, Yishu Dai, Joshua Schäfer, Mirko Dutschke, Cristina Maria Calin, Sara Elif Yildiz, Tong Lee, Leonie Konz, Leon Wietschorke
Movie:
Maxim Abrossimov (Dance, Making of)
Joshua Schäfer (Motion Capture)
Funding:
Media:
