Kieran Stephen - Refabricating architecture: how manufacturing methodologies are poised to transform building construction

refabricating
ARCHITECTURE

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ISBN: 978-0-07-170908-8
MHID: 0-07-170908-8

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For Barbara, Christopher, Caitlin and,
Marguerite, Harrison and Veronica

A book of this nature is not the work of the authors alone. Research on the concepts behind refabricating Architecture began within our University of Pennsylvania Master of Architecture Research Laboratory. The many students that we have had during the past four years have contributed to the opportunities presented by the challenges this book addresses. We extend our thanks for their insight and hard work. Dean Gary Hack and Richard Wesley, the former Chair of the Department of Architecture within the School of Design, have substantially supported the work in our laboratory. It has enabled doors to be opened anew and innovative walls to be constructed involving technologies seen and unseen.

The College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects awarded us the inaugural Benjamin Latrobe Research Fellowship in 2001 for a proposal which has become this book. We are grateful to the College and their first jury of Harold Roth, Cesar Pelli, Harry Cobb, Harrison Fraker, and Charles Redmon for their faith in the promise of the proposal and our work. From that initial grant we were able to incorporate a research agenda into our office. At this writing this agenda has shown results with four architects dedicated to research topics ranging from off-site fabrications to innovative wall assemblies and interior components employing new ways of assembly and materiality.

Our research has taken us to near and far places. In Ridley, Pennsylvania and Everett, Washington we were given extensive time and tours of Boeing assembly plants. Bob Young and Tom Strevey were our hosts and guides. They have been immensely helpful to us with additional materials, images, and information. Similarly, in Detroit, Paul Kleppert and Ray Shashaani at DaimlerChrysler initiated us into the moments of process engineering. They sent us to Toledo, Ohio; we met with Ted Roberts and toured the DCX Jeep Liberty and Wrangler plants. These are plants where new and old world manufacturing exist side-by-side. Distant were memories of the 1960s tours of the River Rouge plant which loomed large in the comparative thoughts we took away from our tour. Vince Brooks, Design Chief at Delphi Systems in Troy, Michigan, has provided ongoing insight into how the automotive industry has turned its world upside down in the past decade. In Philadelphia, we have twice visited the Kvaerner Philadelphia shipyard, a new technology yard where the first container ship built on the East Coast of the United States in nearly four decades is nearing completion. Jennifer Whitener led us through tours of their innovative operation, answered questions, and supplied images. We could not have tested our theory without having access to these corporations.

There are individuals who have provoked us with their thoughts and the opportunities that they saw in our thesis. They have each caused us to think differently about our different thinking. These include James Becker of Skanska USA, Dave Richards of Arup, Norbert Young of McGraw-Hill, Sara Hart and Charles Linn of Architectural Record, and Marc Zobec of Permasteelisa. Collective intelligence is good.

We have a wonderful group of collaborators near us in Philadelphia. Our office. No more creative and energetic place exists. Without the dedication of our staff on a daily basis these ideas would remain dormant: unwritten, unsaid, unenacted. Jonathan Fallet began the work. No one has done more than Richard Seltenrich in working at and on the ideas of the book, crafting imagery, extending the potential and provoking further thought. Sarah Williams has, off-site refabricated our words into proper text. Karl Wallick, an invaluable collaborator and contributor, has worked with us closely since participating in the initial research studio four years ago. His contributions may be seen woven into the workings of all the research studios, in the crafting of SmartWrap at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, and in the words and images of this book. He has been pivotal in the execution and extension of our research and practice agenda into refabricating Architecture.