Mikhail Grinwald and Karen Chi Lin Project Report – Centre Pompidou-Metz (2010) Shigeru Ban Architects Europe, Jean de Gastines Architectes, SJB Kempter Fitze AG May, 6 2011 ARCH 3603 : Structural Systems The Centre Pompidou-Metz was completed in May of 2010, designed by the offices of Shigeru Ban Architects Europe and Jean de Gastines Architectes, with structural engineering by SJB Kempter Fitze AG and digital modeling by DesigntoProduction Stuttgart. The center is a satellite location of the Centre Georges Pompidou Pa ris (Renzo Piano, Richard Rodgers), a museum of contemporary art in Metz, Alsace-Lorraine, programmed for three large exhibition and gallery spaces, auditorium, theatre and a central forum. The programmatic parti of the project is essential to the more formal aspects of it s architecture, which become a structurally expressive, yet fluid, aesthetic. Architecture and structure are physically and conceptually indistinguishable. Common in much of the work of Shigeru Ban Architects, a structural module is rigorously deployed throughout the project. Where its regularity and rigor are met by its formal ingenuity – the roof canopy surface – structural complexity enables its unique architecture. ARCHITECTURAL AND STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATION ROOF LATTICE STRUCTURE The specific focus of both the investigation and the model was the p rimary timber Glulam roof canopy and the central steel truss spire. Both act interdependently as gravity and lateral superstructure, and meet the approximately 405 foundation piles both directly and indirectly through a concrete slab. The roof spans an area over 8,500 square meters, and is developed as a projected grid of tessellated regular hexagons defined as a network of laminated timber beams of uniform cross-section, 44 by fourteen centimeters and measuring over sixteen kilometers in total length. Larger support beams travel along five effective spines, regulating the profile of the surface and measuring sixteen meters in length with an increased structural section of eighteen by 100 centimeters. These, more structural, members are double-curved timbers of spruce sourced from Austria and Switzerland for premium structural quality. Due to the extreme complexity of these elements, each was individually manufactured on advanced CNC-mills and brought in partially prefabricated sections to the site. The structural i ntegrity of the lattice, however, is in its combination of six independ ent bearing layers: three sets of two Glulam beams on each axis of the hexagonal grid and a series of rectangular cross section spacers fastened
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Shigeru Ban Architects Europe, Jean de Gastines Architectes, SJB Kempter Fitze AG
May, 6 2011
ARCH 3603 : Structural Systems
The Centre Pompidou-Metz was completed in May of 2010, designed by the offices of
Shigeru Ban Architects Europe and Jean de Gastines Architectes, with structural engineering by
SJB Kempter Fitze AG and digital modeling by DesigntoProduction Stuttgart. The center is a
satellite location of the Centre Georges Pompidou Paris (Renzo Piano, Richard Rodgers), a
museum of contemporary art in Metz, Alsace-Lorraine, programmed for three large exhibition
and gallery spaces, auditorium, theatre and a central forum. The programmatic parti of the
project is essential to the more formal aspects of its architecture, which become a structurally
expressive, yet fluid, aesthetic. Architecture and structure are physically and conceptually
indistinguishable. Common in much of the work of Shigeru Ban Architects, a structural module
is rigorously deployed throughout the project. Where its regularity and rigor are met by its
formal ingenuity – the roof canopy surface – structural complexity enables its unique
architecture.
ARCHITECTURAL AND STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATION
ROOF LATTICE STRUCTURE
The specific focus of both the investigation and the model was the primary timber
Glulam roof canopy and the central steel truss spire. Both act interdependently as gravity andlateral superstructure, and meet the approximately 405 foundation piles both directly and
indirectly through a concrete slab. The roof spans an area over 8,500 square meters, and is
developed as a projected grid of tessellated regular hexagons defined as a network of laminated
timber beams of uniform cross-section, 44 by fourteen centimeters and measuring over sixteen
kilometers in total length. Larger support beams travel along five effective spines, regulating the
profile of the surface and measuring sixteen meters in length with an increased structural section
of eighteen by 100 centimeters. These, more structural, members are double-curved timbers of
spruce sourced from Austria and Switzerland for premium structural quality. Due to the extreme
complexity of these elements, each was individually manufactured on advanced CNC-mills and
brought in partially prefabricated sections to the site. The structural integrity of the lattice,
however, is in its combination of six independent bearing layers: three sets of two Glulam beams
on each axis of the hexagonal grid and a series of rectangular cross section spacers fastened
The focus of the model was to accurately and precisely reproduce and investigate the
timber-lattice roof-canopy, structural mast or spire, timber-steel connections, Glulam pins and to
locate the eight foundation piles located at two of the primary piers, diagramming one of these
connections as a cut-away section detail. The program mass of the three cantilevers was formally
modeled as simple boxes and only implied the glazing in order to provide a formal context to
situate the canopy, mast and concrete slabs. Although the cantilevered, counter-weighted, system
is itself incredibly sophisticated, it is neither as structurally expressive, nor as characteristically
indicative of the project as both the mast and the canopy. The curtain wall system was omitted
from the model, as it is somewhat structurally independent of the canopy and would not develop
the clarity of the model or provide useful context or scale.
DIGITAL MODELING AND FABRICATION OF FORMWORK
The wood canopy structure is a true projection of a three-axis hexagonal grid onto a
curvilinear surface. The timber framework consists of approximately 1,800 CNC-milled Glulam
beam segments, generated from an advanced NURBS parametric model created by
DesigntoProduction for the project ( production photograph and diagram, figure 9.) (see actual
construction processes attached). Although digital modeling was essential to the geometry and
manufacture of individual members, “the roof form was not [itself] determined by a digitalmodel, but by gathering clearly defined boundary conditions: the position of the roof’s edge,
position and angle of the column connections, the locations of the flat zones…”2 In plan, the roof
is defined by a regular hexagon, reiterating the intricacy of the structural grid at the enlarged
scale of the entire project, its programmatic organization and the site. In the model, a similar
methodology was used to define and create a form in which scale basswood strips were formed
to the complex surface. Similar to the DesigntoProduction teams’ methods, a hexagonal grid,
traced from the reflected ceiling plans published by Shigeru Ban Architects, was projected onto a
single NURBs model (digital render , figure 10.). This surface was an accurate reproduction of
the structure, developed from studies of plan, section, axonometric and a simple triangulated
2 Scheurer, Fabian. "File-to-Factory Production and Expertise." Detail: Analogue and Digital (2010): 482-86. Print.
model using Rhinoceros 4.0. The regularity of the hexagonal grid deforms at the base of each
pier, and was three-dimensionally manipulated in the digital model to maintain the developed
surface according to photographic and sectional images.
This surface was patched using line-of-best-fit calculations (three-dimensional patch
commands) over the triangulated surface and between two-dimensional sections. The hexagonal
grip was then projected onto this initial surface, and then re-patched and joined to create a fluid
and continuous surface (digital render , figure 11.). This final surface was CNC-milled from a
high-density four-pound insulating foam, with one-eighth inch depressions milled to define the
doubly-curved path of each member. Where the surface became increasingly complex, a felt-tip
marker was used to CNC draw the path of each strip onto the surface, as using a convential drill
bit would damage the foam with the mill housing. The formwork was milled in two sections, and
glued together prior to assembly.
PHYSICAL MODELING
Scaled basswood strips (one-eighth inch on the long axis) were soaked in cold water for
several days to soften the wood fibers and improve the flexibility of the wood, both across the
shot and long axes to accommodate extreme double-curvature. After testing the basswood at
points of varying flexibility, strips were individually cut, sanded and glued into place, layer bylayer. At each layer, each node was pinned into the foam until it was dried into place and secured
with a small amount of wood glue. At each layer, pins were removed; the following layer was
attached and pinned back into place. Between each of the parallel layers, a series of basswood
spacers, cut and sanded to three-eights of an inch in length were individually glued alternating
between each node, supporting the following layers. A total of six layers of basswood strips were
cut and formed to the prescribed geometry and three layers of wood spacers were glued into the
lattice. When the lattice was fully formed, inverted on the milled formwork, each pin was
removed and the canopy lifted off of the form. Pins were re-inserted into the holes at each node
and cut to the thickness of the completed canopy. To complete the structure, basswood eaves
were glued and clamped over the edge conditions and the structure was completely sanded to
smooth out irregular curvatures. Methodologically, the model-making process is very similar to
the construction at the full-scale, assembled layer by layer and secured with pin connections.
However, unlike the CNC-milled timber used in the completed project, only the inverse surface
geometry was digitally fabricated to ensure accuracy. The entirety of the presentation model,
apart from the milled base, was hand-crafted.
SCALE
The model represents only a section – approximately one fourth – of the timber roof
canopy, from the two piers facing the project’s main entrance and spanning to the spire
connection. Given the formal complexity of the project and the precise iteration of its hexagonal
module, the model is investigates the formal, methodological and technical development of this
surface. Members were layered, spaced and laminated in a way that conveyed the structural
concept of the project at a resolution appropriate to the scale: approximately one-twelfth of an
inch is equal to one foot (one-eighth of an inch equals 44 centimeters). At this scale, some of the
detail of the structural connections was appropriately abstracted. Pins were placed at each node
of the canopy, but are simple metal pin connections reinforced with glue rather than doweled
pre-stressed connections. Laminated members were modeled as single-ply one-eighth inch
basswood strips. Basswood elements were cut to a lapped edge and meet the mast at a scale
plastic ring attached to the truss work and secured with simple metal clips. For the sake of
clarity, the PTFE membrane was not modeled, as it would require a development of the entire
roof geometry and may have obscure the detail of the canopy model itself. Where both piersIndependent of the continuous canopy, a small section of the lattice was modeled at a third pier,
detailing the connection to the pier to the concrete slab and pile caps as a cut-away section. The
completed canopy and soldered mast were attached to the milled base and secured into place
with a quarter-inch thick Rockite slab. During the casting process, a piece of foam was used to
complete the base relief. After the Rockite had set, the foam was removed to reveal a cross-
section of the slab, into which the foundation connections were simply modeled. The process and
production of the model were carefully documented to clarify the translation of full-scale
mythologies, as well as the abstraction of structural details, to those appropriate for the scale of
the model (see physical modeling process attached).
Structural expression and methodological precision are essential to a fundamentally
architectural understanding of the Centre Pompidou-Metz. The model attempts to inventory
Detail and Diagram of Steel-to-Timber Connection at Mast, and Section Through Connection. 2008. Photograph. Detail: Timber Construction 2010. 1040-045. Print.
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