Saltatur 餐桌 by Masoud Akbarzadeh is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 A' Design Award 银奖 in 家具设计 Competition Category.

银家具· 2020

Saltatur 餐桌

by Masoud Akbarzadeh

Client: Polyhedral Structure Laboratory

A' Design Award 银奖 Winner in 家具 Category

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The Design

About Saltatur 餐桌

Saltatur是一款大跨度桌子，采用预制复合结构设计。该桌子将纯受压混凝土主体、后张法钢筋与超薄玻璃桌面融为一体。玻璃桌面塑造为悬链线三铰拱形，跨度达3.75米。其结构形态运用三维图解静力学开发而成，因此混凝土主体通过顶部与底部的受拉系杆保持受压状态。这种离散空间系统在减少混凝土用量与碳足迹的同时，保留了结构性能所需的质量。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 银奖

Saltatur 餐桌是 A' Design Award 银奖得主，这是授予顶级、华美而令人印象深刻的设计的极为崇高的认可。银奖得主是极其卓越、极具创造力的作品，展现出其设计师杰出的专业技能、才华与敏锐。预计Saltatur 餐桌将成为一件出色的典范之作，兼具非凡的专业性与深刻的创新性。这件赢得 A' Design Award 银奖的设计是一项备受瞩目、令人钦佩的发明，造福并拓展艺术、科学、设计和技术的边界。Saltatur 餐桌是一件令人羡慕的创作，它唤起渴望，带来积极的情感，并激发惊叹与赞叹。

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