Andrea Rolle (M.Sc.)
Chien Hao Lee (M.Sc.)
Sharon Ann Philip (M.Arch. with Distinction)
Zaqi Fathis (M.Arch. with Distinction)
2015 – 16
Rapid increase in population and limited resources calls for alternative styles in living and building. This research aims on using locally sourced and harvested salt as a building material in desert regions.
Found in nature in various forms; be it crystals on salt flats, the halite mineral or an industrial byproduct, it is a considerable amount of untapped resources. These resources will be used to make a building material whose physical and chemical properties will be tested for various conditions which will provide data for digitizing the material to ease accurate computational models and structural optimization. Rapid and Slow prototyping techniques will be combined in the construction process extending from micro-scale structures derived from robotic tool paths to responsive macro-scale structures.
