The Summer Workshop will explore the structural, architectonic, environmental and social dimensions of TRC and its application, especially in the context of social housing in Latin America as a socially and environmentally sustainable “lightweight” material.
Building upon the TRC Prototype Pavilion initiated in 2019 at EPFL Fribourg and prior research from the Brazilian architect Lelé in Argamassa Armada (ferrocement), our upcoming summer workshop aims to craft 1:1 TRC elements for Social Houses in Nicaragua. The teaching team has fostered a collaborative partnership with Grupo Sofonias, an organization dedicated to community development in the rural region of Jinotepe, Nicaragua.
We will also explore the application of LC3 cement for TRC, a sustainable binder developed at EPFL for implementation in Latin America. This experimentation, made possible through collaboration with the LMC lab at EPFL, represents a significant advance towards sustainable construction practices.
Our working method is a reiterative process of developing through testing at EPFL Fribourg. Architecture, environmental engineering, and civil engineering students will develop a concept of social housing design and build structural elements in textile reinforced concrete, fabricate formwork in folded metal, prepare the textile reinforcement, mix and cast concrete and conceive and test the materials, structural elements and the assembly and behavior of the TRC elements.
Project Team 2024
Patricia Guaita, Architect and Lecturer, ALICE IA ENAC EPFL
Raffael Baur, Architect and external Lecturer, ENAC EPFL
David Fernández-Ordóñez, Civil Engineer, fib and ENAC SGC EPFL
Enrique Corres, Civil Engineer, Construction Assistant, ENAC SGC
Beatrice Malchiodi, Post Doc, LMC EPFL
Invited experts
Sergio Kopinski Ekerman, Architect, Professor FAUFBA, Brazil
Francis Benavides, ONG Grupo Sofonias, Nicaragua
Sergio Moraga, ONG Grupo Sofonias, Nicaragua
Contact
For further information, please contact [email protected]
Photos 2023
Photos 2022
