Frame and Form

Structural, sustainable and social, How would not we love this project??
Located in the remote Mapungubwe National Park in South Africa , this building has been designed to blend into the landscape and local history. The center will house a museum on the important culture of the region, allowing its visitors to learn more about the history of this region of southern Africa.

The need to use materials and technology that empowered the local community, pushed Peter Rich to an intelligent use of structural design to build a sustainable, local, economic and elegant building. A building where form and function go hand in hand with no useless ornament .

Project Sketch. Centro INTERPRETACIÓN Mapungubwe

The main structural part of the work is the tile vaulting, traditional construction technique that dates back 600 years and was developed all over the Mediterranean.

Integration into the landscape center

To avoid having to import conventional fired bricks a local production of handmade-pressed and sun-baked clay bricks was organised. These flat bricks get enough compressive strength using much less energy in its production and they create local industry and knowledge.

dome partitioned

The structural design team optimized the elegant geometry of the vault through a system of thrust-line analysis developed at the MIT. This system is based on ensuring that the geometry is designed to withstand loads with a network of thrust-lines which allow masonry to work exclusively under compression. Computer technology outside, one of the main secrets of this design ‘craft’ structures is to reverse the geometries created by suspension systems. A suspension system, like a rope tied between two points, describes a specific geometry strictly governed by the tension of each of the points under his own weight. Grasping this geometry and inverting it, upside down, we goet a domed structure that optimizes the compression of the system. Anyone who has visited the work of Gaudi would have been able to enjoy its inverted models for structural design in works like the Sagrada Familia.

load lines of a masonry arch

The Mapungubwe Interpretation Center, has the largest dome spanning 14,5 meters with a maximum thickness of 30 centimetres formed by sheets or layers of flat brick without any reinforcement. Most of 300 000 bricks used were produced by two dozen local workers for a year. At the same time, training workshops in this type of masonry have made it easier for local builders to learn and apply their new knowledge in future works in the region.

large central dome

As shown in the following photos of the construction process, the technique is based on the first layer of thin bricks placed with fast cement, over the guiding geometry, are arranged one or more sheets of bricks and cement mortar, This system makes them much lighter than other vault building systems.

laying of the first sheet of bricks

When designing a reinforced structure without reinforcement, production and costs are greatly simplified while reducing the energy cost of construction. The technique of tile vaults minimizes the use of framework , saving time, shuttering material and money.

construction process

Usually uses a thin formwork or moving guides, pero muy frecuentemente sin cimbra ya que el yeso tiene un fraguado tan rápido que permite poner un ladrillo al lado de otro haciendo que se sostengan entre ellos lo cual hace innecesaria la cimbra o cualquier tipo de estructura de madera como encofrado provisional de la bóveda.

guide structure to highlight the geometry of a dome

guides detail collaborating not structurally

The building has been clad with stone from a local quarry in order to add static load that stabilizes and protects the vaults while integrating the whole in the landscape.

detail finished with local stone

training workshop on the technique of tiled vaults

construction process

detail the dramatic arch support hyperbolic

As a conclusion we suggest that vaults are an excellent structural solution which makes much sense in developing areas where you can get elegant designs, safe, sustainable and integrated into local society providing tools for self-development.

Centro INTERPRETACIÓN Mapungubwe

Meta-Information

Recently the interpretation of Mapungubwe Center has been awarded the prize World Building of the Year. Here you can see an interview with Peter Rich in Barcelona where the 4 th to 6 of November was held on World Architecture Week.

Graphical applications developed by the MIT team to an easy understanding of the physics of masonry vaults. You can click on the images below and see how they work thrust-lines in masonry arches. [Eng]

The natural arch (click to launch the application)

The flyer (click to launch the application)

The collapse of the arch (click to launch the application)

Credits:

Customer: South African National Parks
Designer: Peter Rich Architects
Builder: Usna Builder
Structural Monitoring Vaults: James Bellamy
Structural Analysis of Domes: Philipe Block
Location: Mapungubwe National Park, South Africa