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sections with little or no temporary support
required. They
can be designed, for example, to be self-registering to
simplify placement and alignment of the discrete elements.
Furthermore, their geometry and/or that of their parts can
be tailored to prevent local sliding failure and to guarantee
stability in intermediate construction states, without the need
for mortar or other forms of ‘assembly glue’.
Controlling Force Flow
Following the geometry and logic of compressions, to
design and discretise structures results in low stresses and
therefore allows for the use of less, and even weak, material:
more
specifically,
materials that take (humble amounts of)
compression, but no tension or bending, such as stone, brick,
unreinforced concrete, adobe, compressed soil and recycled
waste. It also enables the removal of (steel) reinforcements,
which are subject to corrosion and/or fire damage, and
therefore contribute to the detriment of many
structures. This
presents opportunities in developing or generally resource-
constrained environments where high-performance materials
are often unavailable.
By ‘pre-cracking’ these structures to create hinges that
determine the location of thrust lines in all load cases,
their behaviour can be dictated further to avoid bending at
all
times. ...
