Iterative factoring processes of reusable, plastically deformable material for double curved concrete formworks

The use of digital tools has shown its impact on architecture and deeply changed the way architects,
engineers and artists work. The effects of the digital age, bring forth new aspects within the planning
and manufacturing process. Digital programs allow the controlled generation of almost any form and
its production. In various projects of contemporary architecture, freeform generation has become
common. Especially for casting materials like concrete, still the most established and typically used
fabrication process is the subtractive milling of the mold materials .This process is well elaborated and
highly predictable, but time consuming and waste producing. The aim of the presented work faces this
problem with the prototypical manufacturing process of double curved formworks for complex facade
or shell structure based on a neutral formation of a reusable material.
To reach this goal, an iterative process-chain is developed, based on the interaction between a
computer, an industrial robot and a commercial 3D Scanner. This production process is set to
approximate a final formwork through continuous repetition of continous cycles. The main focus of
the formation process is set on two related objectives: First, on the sensory determination of the
current topology and the derived algorithmically initialized steps, and second, on the reversible plastic
deformation of a source material, which can be reused as often as desired, also after successful
deformation process and thus allows a resource-saving and economical production of double curved
formworks.