Large shell structures made of concrete or stone are hardly ever built any more. The reason is that their construction requires large, expensive supporting structures. At the Vienna University of Technology, a completely new construction method has been developed, which does not require any timber structures at all: a flat concrete slab hardens on the ground, and then an air cushion below the plate is inflated, bending the concrete and quickly forming a sustainable shell. Even large event halls could be built this way. In Vienna, a first experimental structure has now been built using the new method. "It is similar to an orange peel, which is regularly cut and then flattened out on the table," says Professor Johann Kollegger. "We do it the other way around, starting with a flat surface and then bending it to a shell." Johann Kollegger and Benjamin Kromoser (TU Vienna) have developed the new construction technique, which has now been successfully tested on the...
Engineering & interesting stuff !!!