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Saltatur Masă by Masoud Akbarzadeh

Saltatur Masă by Masoud Akbarzadeh is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 A' Design Award de Argint in Design de Mobilier Competition Category.


ArgintMobilier· 2020

Saltatur Masă

by Masoud Akbarzadeh

Client: Polyhedral Structure Laboratory

A' Design Award de Argint Winner in Mobilier Category

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The Design

About Saltatur Masă

Saltatur este o masă cu deschidere mare, concepută ca o structură compozită prefabricată. Masa combină un corp din beton solicitat exclusiv la compresiune, tije de oțel post-tensionate și un blat din sticlă ultra-subțire. Blatul din sticlă are forma unui arc funicular cu trei articulații, cu o deschidere de 3,75 metri. Forma structurală a fost dezvoltată prin statică grafică tridimensională, astfel încât corpul din beton este menținut în compresiune de tiranți solicitați la tensiune, în partea superioară și inferioară. Sistemul spațial discret reduce volumul de beton și amprenta de carbon, păstrând în același timp masa necesară pentru performanța structurală.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Argint

Saltatur Masă a câștigat A' Design Award de Argint, o recunoaștere extraordinar de prestigioasă acordată designurilor de top, superbe și impresionante. Câștigătorii Argintului sunt lucrări extraordinar de strălucite și extrem de creative, care ilustrează expertiza, talentul și perspicacitatea remarcabile ale designerilor lor. Se așteaptă ca Saltatur Masă să fie o lucrare minunată, de referință, remarcabil de profesionistă și profund inovatoare. Acest design câștigător al A' Design Award de Argint este o invenție foarte notabilă și admirată, care aduce beneficii și împinge limitele artei, științei, designului și tehnologiei. Saltatur Masă este o creație extrem de invidiată, care trezește dorințe, aduce sentimente pozitive și stârnește uimire și mirare.

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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