Saltatur Mensa by Masoud Akbarzadeh is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 Praemium A' Design Award Argenteum in Designatio Supellectilis Competition Category.
ArgentumSupellex· 2020
Saltatur Mensa
Client: Polyhedral Structure Laboratory
Praemium A' Design Award Argenteum Winner in Supellex Category
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- Verified Award Winner
- Verify Award Status for #99680
The Design
About Saltatur Mensa
Saltatur est mensa magni spatii tamquam structura composita praefabricata designata. Mensa corpus concretum ad solam compressionem, virgas ferreas post tensione firmatas et lamellam vitream pertenui coniungit. Lamella vitrea in formam arcus funicularis trium cardinum efficta est, quae 3,75 metra transit. Forma structuralis per staticam graphicam tridimensionalem exculta est, ita ut corpus concretum vinculis tensionis in summo et imo in compressione teneatur. Systema spatiale discretum volumen concreti et vestigium carbonicum minuit, dum massam ad efficientiam structuralem necessariam servat.
The Recognition
About the Praemium A' Design Award Argenteum
Saltatur Mensa victor est Praemii A' Design Award Argenteum, honoris eximie amplissimi formis summi generis, pulchris et conspicuis dati. Victores Argenti opera valde splendida et creandi ingenio praedita sunt, quae praestantem peritiam, talentum et acumen auctorum suorum ostendunt. Exspectatur Saltatur Mensa opus mirabile, exemplare, valde professionale et penitus novum fore. Haec forma Argento victa inventum notabile et admiratum est, quod ad fines artis, scientiae, formandi rationis et technologiae promovendos confert. Saltatur Mensa creatio est, quam multi invident, quae cupiditates excitat, sensus bonos affert et admirationem miraculumque movet.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The Saltatur demonstrates innovative research in the design and fabrication of a prefab, discrete, spatial composite structure consisting of a spatial, compression-only concrete body, post-tensioning steel rods, and an ultra-thin glass structure on its top in the form of long-span furniture. Using discrete spatial systems would minimize the volume of concrete and the carbon footprint while preserving the necessary mass for structural performance and specific architectural detailing.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- 195 cm (W) x 308 cm (L) x 90 cm (H)
- Tags
- composite, ultra thin spatial concrete, design for reassembly, funicular structures
- Production Technology
- There are multiple design innovations in various phases of the realization of this project, from conceptual structural design to fabrication. The structural form of the project was developed using 3D/polyhedral graphic statics with a very particular control over the magnitude of the horizontal forces in the system. As a result, the entire concrete body of the structure is held in compression by the tension ties at the top and bottom of the structure with no horizontal reactions at the supports.
- Design Challenge
- Challenges include the concrete casting of complex 3d nodes, detail development that can allow for easy assembly and disassembly, ultra thin (4mm) glass top spanning 3 meters to support the applied loads and its self-weight.
- Research
- The structural form of the furniture was designed using a newly developed method of 3D Graphic Statics, which is the extension of the existing 2D methods proposed in 1864. A node-based assembly was considered as a method of construction. An innovative detailing was developed that allowed fixing the members in their exact locations in the structure to avoid the possible spatial collision of the branches of the nodes during the assembly. The ultra-thin glass structure on the top was formed into a funicular geometry as a three-hinged discrete arch spanning 3.75 meters.
- Inspiration
- The project has been inspired by the works of Gaudi and extends his works to a three-dimensional compression and tension combined system of forces in the form of a long span table. The structural form has been inspired by the Greco-Roman wrestling technique, Salto, which includes lifting, returning, and taking down an opponent to the mat. The geometry of the table lifts the glass top, rotates, and transfers the loads to the ground. The word 'salto' means 'to dance' in Latin. The name of our structure is Saltatur, which means 'a dancer' in Latin.
- Project Duration
- 2 years, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
- Operation Flow
- The Saltator is an ensemble of compression and tension forces held in a twisted configuration of equilibrium. The geometry of the structure was inspired by the Greco-Roman wrestling technique, Salto. The word 'salto' means 'to dance' in Latin, which also inspired the name of the furniture, Saltatur, 'a dancer' in Latin. The form was designed using the geometry-based method of 3D graphic statics. The structure shows how we can minimize the volume of construction materials and reduce the carbon footprint of a structure while preserving the necessary mass for structural performance.
- Patents
- N/A
- Team Members
- Masoud Akbarzadeh, Ali Tabatabaei Ghomi, Mohammad Bolhassani, Mostafa Akbari, Alireza Seyedahmadian, Konstantinos Papalexiou, Jingchu Sun, Hanqing Yao.
- Image Credits
- Copyright: Polyhedral Structures Laboratory
Image credit: Polyhedral Structures Laboratory
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