Short Stack (2020)
article⁄Short Stack (2020)
abstract⁄Short Stack is a bare minimal structure using only laminated sheets of structural metal decking for all elements of its structure and enclosure. The project operates under a simple principle. Structural metal decking is a oneway system that resists loads well in one direction, but not in the other. When this decking is stacked into rotated sections and tensioned together, the resultant sandwich of corrugated metal is resistant to loading in every direction. These sandwiches become walls, floors, and roofs to a temporary structure. The compounded effect at the edges of the rotated and cropped decking is one of filigree or an ornamental articulation. The sandwich, which is mostly hollow due to the section of the decking, provides a sense of airy lightness that is at odds with its bulky mass. The structure, therefore, teeters between being unexpectedly open and at once heavy. The economy of the project is in its uniformity and persistent singularity. By maintaining a single palette of material and using a plasma cutting CNC bed to cut each section of the decking, the structure is simply assembled. The digital intelligence that lies underneath the apparent formal simplicity of the project is twofold. Firstly, each sheet of metal decking is different from the next. Because of the locations of boltholes and constant variability of rotation and cropping of each sheet, it is a project that expresses uniformity rather than articulation through discretization. Secondly, the project appears solid and monolithic but is hollowed structurally to minimize the weight of the assembly. Parametric tools are implemented to maximize material efficiencies by hollowing the interior of each sandwich for load optimization. The project is presently in prototyping and documentation and will go into construction in Spring 2021 on a site in downtown Denver.
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| Year |
2020 |
| Authors |
Hirth, Kevin. |
| Issue |
ACADIA 2020: Distributed Proximities / Volume II: Projects |
| Pages |
120-123 |
| Library link |
N/A |
| Entry filename |
short-stack |
