More-than-human histories and the failure of grand state schemes: sylviculture in the New Forest, England

As James Scott’s Seeing Like a State attests, forests played a central role in the rise of the modern state, specifically as test spaces for evolving methods of managing state resources at a distance, and as the location for grand state schemes. Together, such ambitions necessitated both the elimination of local understandings of forest management – to be replaced by centrally controlled scientific precision – and a narrowing of state vision. Forests thus began to be conflated with trees (and their timber) alone. All other aspects of the forest, both human and non-human, were ignored. Through the lens of the 18th and early 19th century New Forest in southern England, this paper examines the impact of government attempts to shift the focus of state forests from being remnant medieval hunting spaces to spaces of income generation through the creation of vast sylvicultural plantations. This state scheme not only reworked the relationship between the metropole and the provinces – something effected through systematic surveys and novel bureaucratic procedures – but also dramatically impacted upon the biophysical and cultural geographies of the forest. By equating forest space with trees alone, the British state failed to legislate for the actions of both local commoners and non-human others in resisting their schemes. Indeed, subsequent oppositions proved not only the tenacity of commoners in protecting their livelihoods but also the destructive power of non-human actants, specifically rabbits and mice. The paper concludes that grand state schemes necessarily fail due to their own internal illogic: the narrowing of state vision creates blind spots in which human and non-human lives assert their own visions.

Church of St George and St Thomas

Abstract: A vibrant inner city parish needed space for meetings, language classes, children’s play and other support accommodation as well as a clearer link between the interior of the listed church and the space outside.

The project builds itself about the entrance to the church. The form is manipulated such that the intervention recedes from those entering the church, drawing them into the plan before becoming readable as an addition. The resultant poché between this entrance sequence and the fabric of the church is hollowed out to provide the required accommodation. These rooms are insulated and lined in cork to allow for their use separate to the main body of the church. With budget at a premium the construction methodology was developed from an analysis of traditional Irish boat building techniques, which allowed the use of the solid timber to act as the primary structure with no additional material support.

Constructed in solid walnut the intervention reads with the existing brick interior and yet is clearly identifiable as a contemporary addition.

Aims / Objectives Questions

1 To accommodate new space inside an existing protected structure.
2 To form a new threshold between interior and exterior.
3 To develop an affordable means of construction that would be durable and rapid to erect.
4 To make a contemporary addition in sympathy with the qualities of the existing protect structure, in line with best conservation practice and research.
5 Traditional forms of construction as a model for contemporary technologies.

Pull-out behaviour of axially loaded basalt fibre reinforced polymer (BFRP) rods bonded parallel to the grain of glulam elements

Synopsis: Bonded-in rod timber joints off er several advantages over conventional types of joint, including high local force transfer, very stiff connections, and improved ?re and aesthetic properties since the connection is completely hidden in the insulating timber members. More recently, the use of ?bre reinforced polymer (FRP) as a connecting rod, alternative to steel rods, in bonded-in rod connections for timber structures has been investigated. However, the investigation into the behaviour of such joints is limited, in particular, connections involving basalt ?bre reinforced polymers (BFRP) bars - which is the primary focus of this research. This paper presents an experimental programme conducted to investigate the behaviour of bonded-in BFRP bars loaded parallel to the grain of glulam members. Tensile pull-out tests were conducted to examine the effect of bonded length and bond stress-slip on the structural capacity of the connection. An analytical design expression for predicting pull-out capacity is proposed and the results have been compared with some established design equations. It was found that pull-out load increased approximately linearly with the bonded length, up to maximum which occurred at a bonded length of 15 times the hole diameter, and did not increase beyond this bonded length. The most signi?cant failure modes were failure at the timber/adhesive interface followed by pullout of the BFRP rod. Increased bonded lengths resulted in higher bond slip values compared to lower equivalent bonded lengths. The proposed design model gave the best predictions of pull-out capacity compared with other existing models.

Slievabawnogue Housing:Two Dwellings in A Disused Quarry

This project involves the construction of a dwelling in the outskirts of Dublin City. Situated in a disused quarry, the house act as an inhabited bridge, spanning between natural and man made outcrops, service structures and a shared entrance staircase. The houses language derives from the structure necessary to achieve these spans.
The section internally is modeled to present a variety of scales of spaces. More intimate living spaces and bedrooms occur in a lower, north-facing wing. Taller living spaces address the south.

Incorporating rainwater harvesting, wood-gasifying boilers, on site wind powered electrical generation, solar thermal panels and very high levels of insulation the houses are close to energy neutral. The fact that the house is constructed in massive timber construction means that 250 tonnes of carbon are sequestered in its construction. The design includes a 25yar replanting strategy to replace the existing coniferous-forested surrounds with native species in a coppiced planting strategy to allow ongoing fuel for the house, and cash crops to be sold on.

Located in an area of outstanding natural beauty the planning and design of the house involved research into patterns of rural development, the relationship between man made interventions and the natural landscape and the technology of the vernacular. This latter research forms part of the themes being explored under the Kevin Kieran Arts Council / OPW Bursary

Aims / Objectives Questions

1 To design and construct a low energy place to dwell.
2 To investigate the relationship between man-made interventions and new construction in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
3 To derive a language of construction that is contemporary in nature but refers to precedents embedded in the vernacular.
4 To develop a low-carbon form of construction that allows the construction of the house to act to sequester carbon
5 To make a contemporary addition in sympathy with the qualities of the existing site

The machinist landscape:Land Art Generator Initiative (Competition)

THE MACHINIST LANDSCAPE: AN ENTROPIC GRID OF VARIANCE
‘By drawing a diagram, a ground plan of a house, a street plan to the location of a site, or a topographic map, one draws a “logical two dimensional picture”. A “logical picture” differs from a natural or realistic picture in that it rarely looks like the thing it stands for.’
A Provisional Theory of Non-Sites, Robert Smithson (1968)

Between design and ground there are variances, deviations and gaps. These exist as physical interstices between what is conceptualised and what is realised; and they reveal moments in the design process that resist the reconciliation of people and their environment (McHarg 1963). The Machinist Landscape interrogates the significance of these variances through the contrasting processes of coppice and photovoltaic energy. It builds on the potential of these gaps, and in doing so proposes that these spaces of variance can reveal the complexity of relationships between consumption and remediation, design and nature.
Fresh Kills Park, and in particular the draft master plan (2006), offers a framework to explore this artificial construct. Central to the Machinist Landscape is the analysis of the landfill gas collection system, planned on a notional 200ft grid. Variations are revealed between this diagrammatic grid measure and that which has been constructed on the site. These variances between the abstract and the real offer the Machinist Landscape a powerful space of enquiry. Are these gaps a result of unexpected conditions below ground, topographic nuances or natural phenomena? Does this space of difference, between what is planned and what is constructed, have the potential to redefine the dynamic processes and relations with the land?
The Machinist Landscape is structured through this space of variance with an ‘entropic grid’, the under-storey of which hosts a carefully managed system of short-rotation coppice (SRC). The coppice, a medieval practice related to energy, product, and space, operates on theoretical and programmatic levels. It is planted along a structure of linear bunds, stabilized through coppice pole retaining structures and enriched with nutrients from coppice produced bio-char. Above the coppice is built an upper-storey of photovoltaic (PV); its structures fabricated from the coppiced timber and the PV produced with graphene from coppice charcoal processes.

Additional Accommodation Church of St George and St Thomas

A vibrant inner city parish needed space for meetings, language classes, children’s play and other support accommodation as well as a clearer link between the interior of the listed church and the space outside.

The project builds itself about the entrance to the church. The form is manipulated such that the intervention recedes from those entering the church, drawing them into the plan before becoming readable as an addition. The resultant poché between this entrance sequence and the fabric of the church is hollowed out to provide the required accommodation. These rooms are insulated and lined in cork to allow for their use separate to the main body of the church. With budget at a premium the construction methodology was developed from an analysis of traditional Irish boat building techniques, which allowed the use of the solid timber to act as the primary structure with no additional material support.

Constructed in solid walnut the intervention reads with the existing brick interior and yet is clearly identifiable as a contemporary addition.

Aims / Objectives Questions

1 To accommodate new space inside an existing protected structure.
2 To form a new threshold between interior and exterior.
3 To develop an affordable means of construction that would be durable and rapid to erect.
4 To make a contemporary addition in sympathy with the qualities of the existing protect structure, in line with best conservation practice and research.
5 Traditional forms of construction as a model for contemporary technologies.


Principal Investigator: Clancy Moore Architects –Colm Moore

Co-investigator(s): Andrew Clancy, Mathew O’Malley

Funding partner/ Client: Select Vestry of St George and St Thomas

Finance. €35’000

Date (start – finished) Start June 2008 – Completed December 2008

Pull-out behaviour of axially loaded Basalt Fibre Reinforced Polymer (BFRP) rods bonded perpendicular to the grain of glulam elements

The behaviour of Basalt Fibre Reinforced Polymer (BFRP) loaded perpendicular to glulam timber elements was investigated. It was found that pull-out load increased approximately linearly with the bonded length up to maximum which occurred at a bonded length of 250 mm (~15 times the hole diameter) and did not increase beyond this bonded length. Failure mode of the samples was mostly shear fracture which was located at the cylindrical zone at the timber/adhesive interface. Increased bonded lengths resulted in corresponding decrease in interfacial bond stress. At 250 mm bonded length, the pull-out capacity of the proposed design model was about 2% lower than that of the tests. The results also showed that the bond stress of the theoretical model (at the ascending and descending branches) of the stress–slip curve was approximately 5–10% of that of the experiment.

Glued-in Rods

Glued-in rods (GiR) have been successfully used for both constructing new and strengthening existing timber structures. The research and development of connecting and strengthening timber structural elements with GiR has been going on since the 1980s. However, agreement regarding design criteria for these applications has not been reached. Today, some few technical approvals for specific adhesives suitable to GiR exist, but an approach for the design of connections or reinforcement with GiR has not been included in the European design code EN 1995 so far. Therefore, it is desired to gather the current state of knowledge to enable application in practice of the existing and documented knowledge and experience. This state-of-the-art review (STAR) summarises results from research done regarding connections and reinforcement with GiR. The review considers manufacturing methods, mechanisms and parameters governing the performance and strength of GiR, theoretical approaches and existing design recommendations. For GiR applied as reinforcement similar rules and requirements apply as for GiR being used as connectors.

Carvel Chair

A chair made using traditional boatbuilding techniques, which shape timber into incredibly strong and light shell forms. Made with wind felled larch, copper roves and rivets, steel bar

Improved model for interfacial stresses accounting for the effect of shear deformation in plated beams

A significant increase in strength and performance of reinforced concrete, timber and metal beams may be achieved by adhesively bonding a fibre reinforced polymer composite, or metallic such as steel plate to the tension face of a beam. One of the major failure modes in these plated beams is the debonding of the plate from the original beam in a brittle manner. This is commonly attributed to the interfacial stresses between the adherends whose quantification has led to the development of many analytical solutions over the last two decades. The adherends are subjected to axial, bending and shear deformations. However, most analytical solutions have neglected the effect of shear deformation in adherends. Few solutions consider this effect approximately but are limited to one or two specific loading conditions. This paper presents a more rigorous solution for interfacial stresses in plated beams under an arbitrary loading with the shear deformation of the adherends duly considered in closed form using Timoshenko’s beam theory. The solution is general to linear elastic analysis of prismatic beams of arbitrary cross section under arbitrary loading with a plate of any thickness bonded either symmetrically or asymmetrically with respect to the span of the beam.

Experimental investigation of thermal inertia properties in hemp-lime concrete walls

Hemp-lime concrete is a sustainable alternative to standard building wall materials, with low associated embodied energy. It exhibits good hygric, acoustic and thermal properties, making it an exciting, sustainable building envelope material. When cast in temporary shuttering around a timber frame, it exhibits lower thermal conductivity than concrete, and consequently achieves low U-values in a primarily mono-material wall construction. Although cast relatively thick hemp-lime walls do not generally achieve the low U-values stipulated in building regulations. However assessment of its thermal performance through evaluation of its resistance to thermal transfer alone, underestimates its true thermal quality. The thermal inertia, or reluctance of the wall to change its temperature when exposed to changing environmental temperatures, also has a significant impact on the thermal quality of the wall, the thermal comfort of the interior space and energy consumption due to space heating. With a focus on energy reduction in buildings, regulations emphasise thermal resistance to heat transfer with only less focus on thermal inertia or storage benefits due to thermal mass. This paper investigates dynamic thermal responsiveness in hemp-lime concrete walls. It reports the influence of thermal conductivity, density and specific heat through analysis of steady state and transient heat transfer, in the walls. A novel hot-box design which isolates the conductive heat flow is used, and compared with tests in standard hot-boxes. Thermal diffusivity and effusivity are evaluated, using experimentally measured conductivity, based on analytical relationships. Experimental results evident that hemp-lime exhibits high thermal inertia. They show the thermal inertia characteristics compensate for any limitations in the thermal resistance of the construction material. When viewed together the thermal resistance and mass characteristics of hemp-lime are appropriate to maintain comfortable thermal indoor conditions and low energy operation.

Of no fixed form: The Irish Pavilion at Venice 2014 and beyond

This paper explores the theme of exhibiting architectural research through a particular example, the development of the Irish pavilion for the 14th architectural biennale, Venice 2014. Responding to Rem Koolhaas’s call to investigate the international absorption of modernity, the Irish pavilion became a research project that engaged with the development of the architectures of infrastructure in Ireland in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Central to this proposition was that infrastructure is simultaneously a technological and cultural construct, one that for Ireland occupied a critical position in the building of a new, independent post-colonial nation state, after 1921.

Presupposing infrastructure as consisting of both visible and invisible networks, the idea of a matrix become a central conceptual and visual tool in the curatorial and design process for the exhibition and pavilion. To begin with this was a two-dimensional grid used to identify and order what became described as a series of ten ‘infrastructural episodes’. These were determined chronologically across the decades between 1914 and 2014 and their spatial manifestations articulated in terms of scale: micro, meso and macro. At this point ten academics were approached as researchers. Their purpose was twofold, to establish the broader narratives around which the infrastructures developed and to scrutinise relevant archives for compelling visual material. Defining the meso scale as that of the building, the media unearthed was further filtered and edited according to a range of categories – filmic/image, territory, building detail, and model – which sought to communicate the relationship between the pieces of architecture and the larger systems to which they connect. New drawings realised by the design team further iterated these relationships, filling in gaps in the narrative by providing composite, strategic or detailed drawings.

Conceived as an open-ended and extendable matrix, the pavilion was influenced by a series of academic writings, curatorial practices, artworks and other installations including: Frederick Kiesler’s City of Space (1925), Eduardo Persico and Marcello Nizzoli’s Medaglio d’Oro room (1934), Sol Le Witt’s Incomplete Open Cubes (1974) and Rosalind Krauss’s seminal text ‘Grids’ (1979). A modular frame whose structural bays would each hold and present an ‘episode’, the pavilion became both a visual analogue of the unseen networks embodying infrastructural systems and a reflection on the predominance of framed structures within the buildings exhibited. Sharing the aspiration of adaptability of many of these schemes, its white-painted timber components are connected by easily-dismantled steel fixings. These and its modularity allow the structure to be both taken down and re-erected subsequently in different iterations. The pavilion itself is, therefore, imagined as essentially provisional and – as with infrastructure – as having no fixed form. Presenting archives and other material over time, the transparent nature of the space allowed these to overlap visually conveying the nested nature of infrastructural production. Pursuing a means to evoke the qualities of infrastructural space while conveying a historical narrative, the exhibition’s termination in the present is designed to provoke in the visitor, a perceptual extension of the matrix to engage with the future.