Construction Manual for Polymers + Membranes / Knippers, Cremers, Gabler, Lienhard

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