Fabric Buildings News: Hybrid Tower from the Royal Danish Academy

The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts recently revealed their Hybrid Tower. This new “soft tower” uses bent GFRP rods that have been embedded into a knitted fabric to create an architectural structure. A series of tension cables keeps the fabric building intact. Special elastic materials were developed specifically for the project, creating a structurally sound tower that can stand up to the natural elements, including gusts of wind and other changes to the environment.

The hybrid tower is a fabric building that was constructed by cutting out large patches of fabric, which are then knitted together using a special knitting machine that’s been programmed to produce a physical replicate or the tower’s original design. Every aspect of the knitting process has been designed to make the tower more structurally sound, resulting in a ready-made structure that can be condensed, transported and erected in a fraction of the time it takes to build a tower made of wood or metal. The tower was built in a controlled environment and then transported to the destination, Largo do Toural, 4810 Guimarães, Portugal. Measuring nine meters high, this lightweight fabric building can be carried by only 6 people, making it easily deployable in so many situations.

Using elastic fabric material in an architectural environment is still a relatively novel idea in the construction industry and can pose a direct threat to more established construction materials like lumber, concrete, and metal. The stability and efficiency of this new fabric tower is proving that fabric structures can be just as robust and durable as more traditional building materials, yet fabric is more flexible, less expensive and significantly lighter. The tower was on view for just three months, and during that time it proved its value in terms of stability, strength and overall performance. This shows that “soft architecture” is here to stay and may have profound implications on how the world views the construction process. We’re likely to see similar fabric buildings used around the world in the years to come.

For more information about fabric structures, talk to the professionals at Shelter Structures.