Formwork as a design tool

Abstract

An integral counterpart to the free form potential of concrete is the formwork which gives it its solid shape and texture. Naturally, the formwork takes up a bulk of the cost and labor time in reinforced concrete construction. However, despite its importance., formwork currently receives little attention from architects and is rather innovated by contractors. Therefore, in hope to align architecture and engineering through an interlacing of knowledge that have developed on each side of the concrete divide, this thesis reexamines formwork as an instrumental tool of formative process and investigates new potentials for concrete structures, reconsidering the material, fabrication, and construction methods of formwork and ultimately introducing digital technologies that might inform these aspects from design to construction.