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COMPUTATIONAL REGIONALISM BAMBOO TECTONICS

DESIGN-BUILD RESEARCH AND DIGITAL FABRICATION
PRIMARY INSTRUCTOR: VERNELLE NOEL
TEAM: HARRISON MARX-ASCENCIOS, AND SARAH KSHETRY
SUMMER 2025

SILPA-SHELL INVESTIGATES TRADITIONAL THAI BAMBOO CONSTRUCTION THROUGH THE LENS OF COMPUTATIONAL REGION- ALISM. VERNACULAR TECTONIC LOGICS ARE ABSTRACTED, DIGITALLY MODELED, AND RE-EXPRESSED USING CONTEMPO- RARY, DIGITALLY FABRICATED MATERIALS. EMPHASIZING REVERSIBLE ASSEMBLY, MATERIAL EFFICIENCY, AND ADHE- SIVE-FREE CONSTRUCTION, THE PROJECT CULMINATES IN A PAVILION SYSTEM THAT TRANSLATES CRAFT-BASED PRINCIPLES INTO A SUSTAINABLE, MODERN TECTONIC LANGUAGE.

[A] RIB-INDEXED POLYMER ROOF SKIN
[B] FRICTION-FIT INTERLOCKING PLYWOOD
[C] KEYED FLOOR DIAPHRAGM
[D] INTERLOCKING LATERAL BRACING
[E] KEYED FLOOR JOISTS
[F] INTERLOCKING LATERAL TIE
[G] THROUGH-BOLT ASSEMBLY
[H] KEYED BEARING BLOCK
[I] CAST-IN REBAR
[J] PRECAST SOCKETED FOOTING

CONNECTION DETAIL ASSEMBLY SEQUENCE

CONSTRUCTION LOGIC

[A] DIAGRAM 1

SHOWS THE POP-AND-SLIDE INTERLOCKING MECHANISM USED IN OUR X-BRACING ASSEMBLY. THE PHOTO BELOW ILLUSTRATES THE THAI BAMBOO TECTON- IC JOINT THAT INSPIRED THIS DETAIL AND INFORMED THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR STRUCTURAL BRACING SYSTEM.


[B] DIAGRAM 2

ILLUSTRATES THE ROOF’S SLOTTING MECHANISM, SHOWING HOW EACH POLYMER PANEL INDEXES INTO THE PRIMARY ARCH RIBS DURING ASSEMBLY. THIS SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED AFTER STUDYING THAI BAMBOO TECTONICS AND THEIR INTERLOCKING ROOF STRATEGIES. THE PHOTO BELOW SHOWS THE TECTONIC PRECEDENT THAT INFORMED THIS MECHA- NISM.

[C] DIAGRAM 3

SHOWS THE ASSEMBLY OF THE PRECAST FOOTING SOCKET AND ARCH BASE, DEMONSTRATING HOW THE FOUNDATION DETAIL FITS TOGETHER. THE PHOTO BELOW REFERENCES THE THAI CONTEMPORARY BAMBOO TECTONICS THAT INSPIRED THIS CONNECTION STRAT- EGY AND INFORMED THE FINAL DETAIL.

FULL-SCALE PROTOTYPE

ASSEMBLY, TESTING, AND SPATIAL INTERACTION
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