Branching column formed in a geotextile form-liner.
Fabric Formwork
Fabric formworks for reinforced concrete construction and architecture is an emerging technology with the capacity to transform concrete architecture and reinforced concrete structures.
The natural tension geometries given by flexible fabric membranes provide extraordinarily light and inexpensive formworks, some using hundreds of times less material than conventional formworks, and some providing zero-waste formwork systems. The flexibility of a fabric formwork makes it possible to produce a multitude of architectural and structural designs from a single, reusable mold. The use of a permeable formwork fabric produces improved surface finishes and higher strength concrete as a result of a filtering action that allows air bubbles and excess mix water to bleed through the formwork membrane.
A flexible fabric mold awakens concrete to its original wet, plastic nature by naturally producing concrete members with complex sensual curvatures. The sculptural and architectural freedom offered by this method of construction is matched by new possibilities for efficiently curved structures. Research at CAST has produced simple methods for forming beautiful and efficient beams, trusses, panels, vaults, slabs, and columns.
The Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (C.A.S.T.) is fundamentally interested in finding simple ways to reduce the amount of material consumed in construction, while at the same time, making these constructions more beautiful. We are also committed to making these methods accessible to as many people as possible.
The pages and downloadable articles provided here offer detailed information on the methods we have developed. The Resources section provides links to fabric formwork research and construction technologies developed by others around the world. This website offers our research as an “open source” technology, and encourages others to advance the sculptural, architectural, structural, and sustainable possibilities opened by this work, either independently or in partnership with C.A.S.T.
