eggshell pavillion

eggshell pavillion / academic / masdfab / 2022

robotic fabrication, large scale FDM printing, research

The Eggshell Pavilion explores how digital design techniques and robotic 3D printing enable the creation of freeform concrete structures using recycled ultra-thin formwork. The pavilion's design and fabrication are based on the Eggshell technology, which utilizes computational methods to design algorithms that generate both the geometry of the structure and the fabrication data for the 3D-printing process. The combination of computational design and robotic fabrication allows designers to shape concrete elements efficiently, in contrast to traditional formwork processes that are often labor and cost-intensive.

with Joris Burger, Petrus Aejmelaeus-Lindström, Guillaume Jami, MASDFAB 21-22 Students

All photographs : Gramazio Kohler Research, MAS DFAB

As a part of the Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture and Digital Fabrication, the project was a three month exercise where students developed the design and fabrication strategies of the pavilion. Following a 5 week design period, the fabrication was completed in the Robotic Fabrication Lab at ETH Zurich, where the formworks were printed. To efficiently 3d print the formworks, different strategies were implemented to optimize material use and design for embedding details. Further, details were added to the 3DP formwork to add stiffness to counteract hydrostatic pressure and shrinkage.

The printing strategy for the slabs allowed for reinforcement to be inserted in the formwork at different stages of the printing process: first, the mesh for the flat slab being placed in the initial part of the print, after which the robot could continuously print the slab capital. Secondly, the top caps for the slab covering were printed with a non-planar variable layer height strategy to achieve the large overhang angles of the design.

Each of the slabs tool roughly 1-2 days to print, following which, they were filled with a conventional concrete mix. After demolding, all the concrete elements were assembled on-site at the Vitra Design Museum, for the Hello Robot! exhibition.