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Technology and Design
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ETFE
Technology
and
Design
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_...
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Annette
LeCuyer
--
------
------
VVlth
contnbut
Ions
y
Ian
Liddell,
Stefan
Lehner
a
id
Ben
Mor
ris
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-----
4
The enclosed sample is Fluon ETFE
film
of 250 microns thickness
which was used on the National Aquatics Center in Beijing.
Wewould like to
thank
AGC
Chemicals for
their
kind donation
of these samples.
Graphic design: Esther Mildenberger, envision+
Cover photograph: Ben McMillan
This book is also available in a German edition:
ISBN 978-3-7643-8562-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008920812
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek
Die Deutsche Bibliothek
lists
this
publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in
the Internet at .
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether
the whole or
part
of the material is concerned, specifically the
rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and
storage in data banks. For any kind of use, permission of the
copyright owner must be obtained.
2008 Birkhauser Verlag AG
Basel· Boston· Berlin
P.O.
Box 133, CH-4010 Basel, Switzerland
Part of Springer Science+Business Media
Printed on acid-free paper produced from
chlorine-free pulp. TCF
00
Printed in Germany
ISBN 978-3-7643-8563-7
987654321
Contents
10
Introduction: Pleasure. Powerand
f-'a\/lOCid
32
Material Matters:
ETFE
42
Stefan Lehnert II
Risk and
RAliilhilitv
46
Soft Structure
70
The Performative Skin
94
Variable Skin
"""""--""-""""-"-"-""
""""---""----"-"-"""""
114
Life
126
The Communicative Skin
136
The Climatic
I-mtolr"'o
146
Ben Morris II
ETFE
Futures
150
Credits
155
TheAuthors
156
157
Index
""---------------"------"----"-----"-"""-"--""""""-""-"-""---"-"""""-"
-"""----"-""
159
Illustration Credits
160
/i,~~n()\'Jle~~~rn~n~s
_
Ian
Liddell
Sustaining
New
Technologies
--
-------
It is rare to have a new material introduced into the building
construction industry
that
has had such an impact on
the design and performance of buildings as
ETFE
foil. Over
the past century there have been numerous examples of
new materials and technologies
that
have been advanced
by inventive engineers. In many cases, these materials have
been popular for a
brief
period and then have died away
to a lower level of use. Concrete shells were developed
in the 1950s and flowered in the 1960s,
but
the change in
building economics and design fashion and the exacting
requirements of concrete technology finished them off.
Fabric architecture blossomed in the 1980s and 1990s
but
since then has been in decline. Likewise, there was a
marked change in the use of glass when
float
glass was
introduced around 1955. With toughening and laminating
techniques, larger panels were possible. However,the
weight of glass and problems with fracture and seals have
meant
that
multi layer construction on roofs is
still
risky
and expensive. Now, ETFEfoil cushions are providing
new opportunities for lightweight, tough and durable en-
closures, and there seems to be every reason for building
applications of
ETFE
to continue to grow and diversify.
