Between The Extractible & The Non-Extractible
ETS 5 Diploma 17 Yee Fei Tan
Reclaiming local sense of place amidst landscape transformation as a technical byproduct Addressing the economy of thinness in Slate production and extraction Expanding material language of slate with reciprocity to its current landscape
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Building A Clean Slate
Between The Extractible & The Non-Extractible
[Introduction] a. b. c.
Architecture within the Unit Project Components - 3 Proposed project Brief
[Research and Background Context] a. b. c.
Slate Landscape and Production Slate Properties and Craft Techniques Material Testing on Slate Waste
[Expanding Architectural Language of Slate] a. b. c. d.
Material Assembly test Material Systems test Development of Catenary Chain System Study of Tensile Membrane Structures
[Final Design] a. Final Design Strategy – Single Chain, Tiling Surface, Form-finding, Overall Building Structure b. Detailings [Conclusion] Fragility and Fissility
ETS STATEMENT - BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE
To explore the role of the slate landscape as a tangible and intangible resource for North Wales in its transition into a post-industrial society. With the economy of ‘thinness’ as the main driving force behind heritage slate production, the ETS projects seeks to embrace fragility and fissility of Welsh slate into the project’s materialisation. The core idea is to ‘improvise’ or ‘re-adapt’ the use of the material in conjunction with its current industrial and geological context. Aims to provide a building process and spatial experience to transcend its long history of heritage standards and finally asks...
How can the building design provide a new relationship/interface between the community and the landscape, between global industry and local heritage?
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
ETS METHODOLOGY
Material Test 1 - Understanding Slate Splitting Behavior Material Test 2 - Directionality of Material Assembly Structural System Test - Connection/Joining/Bonding Form Finding Test - Woven Tiled Surface Behavior Development of Material System - drawing and 3-D modelling Referencing - Existing Applications of Slate, and self-supporting structural systems
INTRODUCTION DEFINING ROLE OF ARCHITECTURE
LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION AS A TECHNICAL BYPRODUCT
Positioning Architecture within, rather than in relation to the Industry ‘Modernism in architecture emerged as an aesthetic implementation of ideas first developed by engineers and scientific managers’, - Mauro F. Guillén The built environment that emerges from industry has long been the subject of aesthetic enquiry and production. The established representational potential of architecture currently emphasises the aesthetic aspects of the relation between the organisation of industrial production and the rise of modernism. Architects merely re-interpreted scientific management in aesthetic terms. How could we start mobilising it for industry? Architecture as an agent for industry Architecture generates building typologies that facilitate specific forms of work – such as the office, the laboratory, or the factory. While the factory has long been the model for other building types, which had to be ‘like the factory’, the workspaces of the ‘knowledge economy’ today encourage the social nature of collaborative work, while blurring the boundary between life and work. Architecture as a conduit for material economy and industrial circularity Possible shifting professional position of the architect through design and macro-economic context that privileges the manufacturer over the client - Andrew Rabeneck Architecture serves other industries in so far as it is a conduit for the sale of manufactured goods and services in itself. ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
DIPLOMA 17 UNIT ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION
REBUILDING A SENSE OF LOCALITY VIA NOTIONS RESOURCE, LABOR AND SOCIAL VALUES
Latent Territories: From the Ground Up Brief Excerpt The research of DIP17 focuses on two main considerations: developing architectural form for its capacity to engage the body; and critically rethinking the politics of how architecture is produced. This year, we will reflect on the implications of material production and manufacturing processes in architecture, in relation to the question of technique. Our ambition is to unravel the associated social conditions, cultural constructs and related political contexts, and to reveal their pervasive role in every design and construction methodology. We will speculate, design and develop sophisticated but affordable spatial and constructive strategies with a social aim, and which represent attempts to engender antagonistic agency. The projects will be at the scale of a cultural project and ambiguously situated at the intersection between architecture, landscape and art. Through research on key architectural precedents and a deep understanding of contemporary and historical manufacturing techniques, projects will respond to a series of historical, socio-economic and environmental issues and discuss their forms of transformative capacity, democratic accessibility and collaborative agency. Tutors: Dora Sweijd and Theo Sarantoglou Lalis
INTRODUCTION PROJECT COMPONENTS ON LANDSCAPE
1. Current human practice of extractivism - Industrial-Ecological Awareness For long, architecture of the built environment has thrived at the invisible expense of socalled ‘environmental externalities’, where local consequences of production have been disregarded for the communities formed around material production . Robert Smithson understood this very well and produced works that projected the landscape as a space for dialectical thinking, where the construction of a landscape in one place is related to transformation another - a reciprocity - and that between the two places was a space to think and see.
Non-site (Slate from Bangor, Pa) In 1968, Robert Smithson collected geologic materials from quarries, mine dumps, and other industrial landscapes (which he called sites). He gathered them as sculptures alongside maps and other site documentation into the gallery space (as ‘non-sites‘). These works projected the landscape as a space for dialectical thinking, where sites are externalised spaces which displace and supply material for urban development and non-sites the concentrated cultural capital.
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
ON COMM
2. ‘Post-industrial landscapes as places to generate new cultural practices’ - A Proposal for a Film Center This project believes that the anecdotal connection between the two places can be addressed through the adaptation of photodocumentary practices as a successive form of cultural production in flux with the forces of landscape transformation, learning from the land as a form collective social understanding. In 1970s, the famous Dusseldorf School of Photography was
Photography Practice emerging from Industrial Landscapes Photography was first used as tool for illustrating industrial processes, machinery and buildings in science and engineering. As cameras and photographic processing became more accessible, it became a tool for social documentation around mining communities. Eventually, photography becane tool for post-industrial documentary, in attraction to its landscapes and suburban sprawl aesthetics. 1976 - The photographers Hilla and Bernd Becher officialised as a fine-art program at The Düsseldorf School of Photography,
MUNITY
ON BUILDING
3. ‘Designing in reciprocity with the Industry’ - Material Constructs
founded as a fine-art program in Germany, guided by the practices of photographers Hilla and Bernd Becher which were birthed as a form of Industrial Archaelogical response. This suggests the didactic potential of the post-industrial setting as a foundation ground for photodocumentary practices.
Having chosen slate as a material, the project proposes a tectonic and construction system which explores alternative material usage in challenge of the economy of thinness in production. This shall expands material language of slate beyond heritage applications, representing an architecture that deconstructs the traditional specifications that established the notion of extractibility in slate. This encourages the industry to move past the heavily nationalisted system of resource circularity, labor conditions and social values.
ETS 5 - Prompts ‘It is the political function of photography to renew the world as it actually is from within, in other words, according to the current fashion.’ - Walter Benjamin
Germany. Becher’s geographical and taxonomical documentation of neglected industrial structures according to their functional forms yielded a new aesthetic that promoted photography as a widely accepted art medium.
1. How are secondary or waste slates classified? 2. How has the use of slate evolved and what are its future prospects? 3. What are the experiential and performative aspects in reaction to the landscape? 4. How can the building design provide a new relationship/interface between the community and the landscape, global industry and local heritage? Expanding material language of slate in conjunction to its current socio-geological landscape. In other words, it is to reclassify slate’s material value (beyond its economical one as the heritage roof shingle) with a more experiential aspect Exploring design possibilities using free form materials uncovered from the slate landscapes, to ultimately address industrial circularity.
[Thesis]
The Inextractible Land as a Didactic Resource The Inextractible Land as a living social context for a cultural site Quarries’ morphological forms become regional landmarks and may be more favored through the local cultural factor behind the transformation. With the shifting resource availability and marketability of products, this project argues that the repurposing of the ‘‘non-extractible’’ landscape should ultimately generate social values for the locals, in development with economical practice that drove its transformation in the first place.
[Opportunity]
Slate Landscape from Extraction to Production Ratio of waste production to finished products is 10:1 In North Wales, there are estimated to be 730 million tonnes of slate waste, of which 370 million tonnes are in the Bethesda and Blaenau Ffestiniog districts. Current extraction is increasing this amount by 6 million tonnes a year.
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Current Outlook of Wales
1. Policy The Wellbeing of Future Generation (Wales) Act 2015
3. Social Appeal of the Slate Trail
2. Economic Conversion of Quarries into Tourist Centers
Promoting Circularity between the Industrial & Cultural Landscape Current legislative and economic reforms have aimed to attract the external market rather than creating local empowerment with the industrial landscape.
land
re-extraction
economic
re-classification of material
social
re-bonding with the landscape
The project proposes to transform the ‘non-extractible’ site into a communal place for social learning, smallscale production, accessible nature. Aims to establish of socio-economic opportunities through new modes of material consumption and social inhabitation of North Wales - that is currently in transition to the post-industrial stage.
PROJECT COMPONENT 1 On Landscape
Site Context - Welsh Landscape and Slate Production In 1878*, Wales saw a vast expansion in slate production as well, making it the world’s largest slate supplier of century. Welsh slate began to earn the title of ‘the material that roofed the world’. Prior to this, economic development was difficult due to the topography of the country, which made mainland transportation arduous. It is this same topography, however, that heralded the touristic romanticistion of the Sublime Picturesque in the 18th Century, as well as the abundance of slate material made exploitable during the Industrial Revolution. In the recent year of 2021, these post-industrial topography had been officialised as a UNESCO Heritage Site, placing a static preservation of landscape and a futher enforcement of heritage values in association with Welsh slate. These conflicting aproach to the landscape have been found cyclical and ironic through time.
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
An inquiry of current physical preservation of industry by UNESCO, and the touristic practices endorsed.
PROPOSED CULTURAL CENTRE BRIEF Aim - The Dialectical Landscape as an Autonomous, Collective, and Regenerative Narrative Medium
As the dramatic slate landscape of Wales manifests itself as a reciprocal result of the economy of thinness in slate production, Wales must reposition itself away from the localised/traditional material values attached to slate production. To beyond its nationalised heritage - the following shall happen: 1. Shifting touristic preservation of slate landscape to a generative use of the landscape itself as transformative resouce 2. Geological reflection through photo-documentary program - a successive form of cultural production
Site Program Young filmmaker and photographer residency, in collaboration with local mountaineers, industrial archaelogist, environmentalists, geologists... o platform to cultivate a collaborative nature in the art and science of photodocumenting, borrowing the local context of the post-quarried landscape to foster global narratives of the extractive industry ‘The Dialectical Approach’: inserting the program within the post-extractive site itself as practicing grounds deploys such landscapes as a ‘living social context’ (The Author as Producer, Walter Benjamin) To renew the world as it actually is from within 1. Library and Archive = 300 m2 2. Community Exchange = 350 m2 3. Craft Production = 400 m2
Chosen Plot Situated on an elevated plot upon entry to Llanberis, home to the largest UNESCO-preserved disused quarry, National Slate Museum , and the Grade-I listed landmark of Dolbaldarn Castle. Llanberis is geographically situated between the two other quarry towns which are linked via the presence of slate bedrocks formed in the Cambrian Epoch. In the 18th Century, this site has had a history of attracting dramatic landscape portrayals in the interpretation of the sublime and the picturesque. In the 19th Century, this town became home to one of the biggest slate quarries of the time - Dinorwig quarry. In the 20th Century, the town began shifting away from slate production to the tourism industry. In 2018, a 4-year running Llanberis Film Festival has been discontinued due to funding. In 2021, the slate landscape has been titled UNESCO Heritage site. The plot is situated at the perphery of the UNESCO demarkation, overlooking the the lake, the quarry, and the town at a high vantage point. 1. Town Area - 45.62 km² 2. Population - 2,144 (2020), 18-64 y/o 63% 3. 700,000 annual visiting tourists (2021)
Desired Output: Located at the intersection of the urban-industrial landscape, the proposed complex is a manifestation of an extended slate landscape, an intersectional space between knowledge exchange, craft production, and communal leisure.
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
1. Organisational Principle/Pattern according to Slope, Viewpoints, Natural Lighting for Program 2. Tectonical Decision according to physical scale, acoustics, and landscaping COMPOUND 1 - Library and Archive = 300 m2 library room (1) 12m x 9m = 108 m2 archive room (1) 10m x 8m = 80 m2 meeting rooms (2) 5m x 8m = 40 m2 40 m2 (2) = 80 m2 COMPOUND 2 - Community Exchange = 400 m2 auditorium, 150 seats (1) 16m x 12 m = 192 m2 gallery hall (2) 22m x 4m = 88 m2 88 m2 (2) = 176 m2 projection room, round (1) 8m x 8m = 64 m2 COMPOUND 3 - Craft Production = 400 m2 computer labs/classrooms (3) 12m x 8m = 96 m2 10m x 6m = 60 m2 6m x 6m = 36 m2 = 192 m2 infinity studio, U-shaped (3) 8m x 6m = 48 m2 48 m2 (3) = 144 m2
post-production lab (4) 4m x 3m = 12 m2 12 m2 (4) = 48 m2
Lighting considerations BLINDED SPACE (underground) archive room (1) auditorium (1) projection room, round (1) infinity studio, U-shaped (3) post-production lab (4) INDIRECT SUNLIGHT library room (1) gallery hall (x2) DIRECT SUNLIGHT computer/classrooms (3) meeting rooms (2) entrance foyers (3)
RESEARCH On Landscape
‘THE LANDSCAPE ATTRACTIVENESS OF ABANDONED QUARRIES’ - A STUDY - Attractiveness of post-exploitation area as a sign of social acceptance - Manmade Preservation as a natural succession of the ‘picturesque’
UNESCO officially designates Wales' slate areas as World Heritage Site in 2021
landscape attractivenes 1. vertical magnitude 2. human negligence and natural succession 3. boundary contrast with surroundings 4. accessibility 5. legal protection 6. human activity
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Land is a Resource, but it is neither
Infinite nor simply Recoverable.
However, we can use it in many different ways.
Video Documentation: Landscape The dramatic slate landscape itself as a reciprocal result of the economy of thinness in slate production
https://youtu.be/3G2goqptP7s
RESEARCH On Landscape - Geological links
Current Production: 35,000 tons /year, supplying 85% of British roofing slates
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Total Peak Production: 485,000 tons/year, with 17,000 men in year 1898
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
CURRENT PRODUCTION On Landscape
Value of Heritage : From Quarrying to Tourism JW Greaves and Sons Ltd. decided in 1972 to venture into the tourism market, opening the Llechwedd Slate Caverns to the public. It has also formed diversification plans within the energy sector as we explore the possibility of installing wind turbines on the site to compliment the hydro-electric turbines
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
UNESCO Heritage (Component 1) - Selected Boundary 1.4 Port Penrhyn
the harbour for Penrhyn slates
1.7 Penrhyn Castle Park
the extravagant neo-Norman dwelling of the Penrhyn family who financed Penrhyn Quarriy
1.3 Penrhyn Slate Quarry Railroad and Penrhyn Slate Quarry Railway
1.6 Bethesda – Village
created by quarrymen who preferred not to live on the Penrhyn estate
two historic systems which exported slate from 1801 to 1962
1.2 Felin Fawr Slate-slab Mills historic processing and engineering complex
1.5 Mynydd Llandygai – Settlement
1.1 Penrhyn Slate Quarry relict stepped benches with extensive areas of slate tipping to either side
planned housing for quarrymen and their families
Chosen for their scale, and the technology transfer and the transformation of a minority rural heritage into a modern industrial society UNESCO title Criteria 1. exhibits an important interchange of human values (1780 to 1940), on developments in architecture and technology v - innovated global architectural roofing - innovated narrow gauge railway operations - advanced railways for transcontinental exports 2. exemplifies a landscape that illustrates, in a dramatic way, the ‘combined works of nature and of man’ through the large-scale exploitation of natural resources. 3. exemplifies the industrial transformation of a traditional human settlement and marginal agrarian land-use pattern
CURRENT PRODUCTION On Landscape
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Typical Section of Underworkings
Current State of Quarries
Berwyn Quarry Operating at a limited scale, but at full range
1875 - ongoing
1. Small Smale Operation & Manufacturing
Current Output: From Quarried blocks to Bespoke Prod-
Blaenau Ffestiniog Quarries ‘Untopping’ operations of old underground mines
1846 - ongoing Peak production : 23,788 tons/year, with 513 employees
2. Untopping Old Mines & Reclaiming Waste Heaps
Current Output: Secondary Aggregates / Synthetic Slate
Penrhyn Quarry Small scale quarrying on new pits
1770 - ongoing Peak production: 100,000 tonnes/ year, with 3000+ employees
3. Part Quarry, Part leisure ground
Current output: Roofing Slates
Dinorwig Quarry Disused quarry converted into a park and an hydropower plant since 1969
1787 - 1969 disused Peak production: 100,000 tonnes/year, with 3000+ employees
4. Leisure ground
Current output: NONE
SlateWaste Current Experiments / Application
Roofing slate mining has some characteristics. Slate only needs some cuts to be ready, not like other natural rocks that require further manufacturing such as polishing, consolidating or chemical treatment. On the other hand, the amount of waste in roofing slate mining is rather high. Only between 9-7% of what is extracted is finally transformed into shingles. The rest goes directly to the pit. There has been several attempts to take advantage of the enormous volume of wastes. Some researchers published several papers on obtaining ceramic foams using the slate powder. Other researchers have tried to produce rock wool using this powder mixed with mussel’s shells. More authors have tried producing concrete, bricks or different ceramic materials using wastes. The results showed that it is possible to create new materials coming from slate powder, but this does not mean a real solution to the wastes problem. The amount of powder required is ridiculous compared with the total amount of wastes, and the slate powder did not have any special advantage for any of these industries. It is not really worth for them to use it. In addition, transportation is not very cheap. J.E. Oti from the University of Glamorgan, UK. studied the limitations expressed so far (waste volume vs. used volume, distance) but they also specify all the possible uses for the slate wastes. In any case, it is not possible to provide an outlet for the massive pits. It is something we have to live with. On the other hand, technology and environmental legislation have improved very much the design and arrangement of the pits. Nowadays companies cannot just throw away the wastes wherever they want, and they must provide a restoration plan, which includes seeding. Roofing slate industry is becoming more and more aware of environment; do not forget that CO2 emissions are the lowest of all roofing materials
Study of Compaction Characteristics of Soil with the Addition of Slate Mining Waste
Current uses of Slate Waste 1. Local fill and road building 2. Ornamental crushed rock Slate waste could, theoretically, supply some 50% of UK crushed rock sales. This amounts to a market size of some 59 million tonnes/annum. Penrhyn quarry has recently started to send slate waste by sea from Port Penrhyn to Liverpool and Manchester and it is anticipated that up to 200,000 tons per year could be sent to each destination. It is also planned to establish a rail terminal at Blaenau Ffestiniog from where slate waste from Oakeley quarry will be sent to English markets.
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Material Future of Slate Composites?
THINNER POSSIBILITIES
Slate-Lite 0.4 mm thick layer of natural slate, adhered to a 0.8mm polyester layer and a fiberglass layer that provide strength, flexibility and dimensional stability.
£ 2.08 60% recycled slate Size : 300mm x 336mm
1.2mm thick 1.50 kg / m² light
Composite or synthetic roofing slates are made of a mixture of commonly used roofing materials this can include materials such as fiberglass, recycled slate, cement and asphalt
£ 3.13 natural slate Size : 400mm x 250mm
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311501520>
Non-typical/ Non-Construction Uses of Slate Sculpturing SCULPTURAL TECHNIQUES
Current market for Welsh slate Still used for roofing purposes, both new and replacement while pulverised slate has many uses. Other markets are cladding and flooring for prestige buildings and luxury items like kitchen worktops. Small but relatively expensive items for the tourist industry are also widely produced.
Carving
Chipping
Historical Development of Slate Uses Tools, Material Finishing, and Building Application
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
The ‘Splittable’ Nature of Slate Material Properties
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism perpendicular to the direction of metamorphic compression.
Mineral composition mica (in small, irregular scales), chlorite (in flakes), and quartz (in lens-shaped grains).
Low-Grade Metamorphosism - low enough to be cleaved/split with ease - high enough to be structurally strong and impermeable
UNCLEAVED - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HIGHLY CLEAVED
Slaty cleavages - main direction for splitting Grains - secondary direction for splitting (undesired)
Slate colors - caused by small amounts of iron (red-brown), organic carbon (black), chlotire (green) and other additives, minerals, or mixture.
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Commodification for the Roof The material that “roofed the world” !
Slate for Roofing
1. Cleavability - ease for splitting means more sheets produced 2. Grain elongation - low elongation means stronger sheets 3. High Density - low-water absorbance rate (waterproof) 4. Low ferrous metallic and carbon content - rust and corrosion-proof
The criteria for slate quality is predominantly determined by its performance as a roof. Optimal durability: 120 years+
Commercial Decline 1. Higher upfront cost than synthetic materials (e.g asphalt shingles, cedar shakes, and metal roofing) 2. Heaviness means harder to install 3. Competition from mass-produced foreign imports (Spain, Brazil, China, India)
The rise and fall in demand for Slate production driven by its criteria as roofing material
Past Labor Conditions On Community Slate Production as a Cultural Identity
“As a young boy, I certainly wasn’t aware that I was living in an industrial town to any great extent. There’s no smoke or grime here -
“But the people here are aware of the quarries, even when they are in decline. There is an ambivalence in our attitude to them.
A 5-mins walk lead you into the green countryside. The great slate keeps here are part of the natural landscape.
On one hand, we hear stories of the exorbitant profits of the quarries and on the other, we hear a young man dying of silicosis without any compensation given to the family.”
Current Labor Conditions On Community
Research and Development of Slate Products
Mechanisation of Labor from Extraction to Customised Products
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
‘new Sasso K600 cnc saw, Laiti automatic cross cutter, GMM axia saws and BM Panda gang saw’
Labour Management and Hierarchy of Occupation 1. Quarrymen Proper Teams of 4 Job rotation between rockface extraction and shed works (splitting and dressing) 2. Bad-rockmen and Rubbish men Teams of 3 Bargaining bad-rock Agreed payment with management, for every ton of badrock
3. Rubbish men Teams of 2 One clears the remaining rubbish from the galleries One makes the giant tips of waste rock around the quarry. Pay is fixed by the ton
The Caban Culture
4. Rybelwrs trainees who wander looking to give assistance 5 years to become a full miner Occasionally paid by the crew
The ‘Caban’ was a designated room in which the quarrymen would gather together to sing, eat, write poems, discuss daily lives and debate about Welsh politics. A president of the Caban is honorably elected, unpaid, to resolve disputes.
“We are determined that quarrying will not end.” -Michael Bewick, director of owners JW Greaves 19 quarrymen at Llechwedd in Blaenau Ffestiniog have been off work without pay since Easter after the rock face became too unstable.
While surveying for new slate beds, Welsh Slate Ltd. now produces roofing slate, architectural & hard landscaping products, aggregates and minerals from both quarried slate and waste heaps.
Uncertain job security Unstable corporate control and ownerships New machineries and more redundancies
Loss of community The closure of quarries equate to the closure of miners’ welfare hall, places that had been social, cultural and intellectual centres of local life
elites
Current Production
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Video Documentation A Look Inside Current Production
https://youtu.be/mGBy8RWvQyI
The Economy of Thinness A market demand
transported blocks best splitting takes place after fresh-quarrying to avoid drying out
hand-spliting blocks to sheets a process yet to be automated (1 inch slab = 9 sheets3mm)
trimming blocks on saw bed to a manageable size by individual craftsman
1:4 goods-to-waste ratio
Standardised Dimensions Slate spandrels, panels, and wall facings are recommended in thicknesses of 1”, 1¼”, and sometimes 1½”. Standard economical lengths are up to 6’-6” and widths up to 4’-0”.
Thickness 0.8mm thinnest recorded, whereas 9mm is mm commercially practical
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Standardised Tools
Video Documentation: Traditional Craft and Construction A look into the traditional slating method
https://youtu.be/io-oqFCXT8w
Traditional Slate Roofing
Source: British Library
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Technical Requirements of Slate Pitched Roofs
Attachment slate on roofs The benefits of hook fixing are [11] There is no need to create a hole in the tile, which can sometimes weaken the slate. Narrower tiles can be used and hence this makes it easier for the roofer to create roof features such as valleys and domes. Hook fixing is particularly suitable in regions subject to severe weather conditions, such as Scotland and parts of Wales, since there is a greater resistance to wind uplift as the lower edge of the slate is secured.
Data obtained from ‘Roof Construction Manual: Pitched Roofs by Birkhauser’
Architectural Applications
Welsh Miner’s Housing
Welsh Warehouse Walling
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Welsh Fencing
Sculpture
Roofing
Walling
Cladding
Paving
Rustic walling – quarried and manufactured from rustic bed seams. Rustic walling generally gives a rugged natural finish, which is graded and selected to enhance its natural look and usually requires laying by a skilled stonemason. Pillared walling – slate has two workable planes: a cleavage plane and a pillaring line. The pillaring line is similar to the grain in a piece of wood. In good-quality slate, the pillaring line is at 90° to the cleavage plane. Pillared walling is usually produced with a pillared face. The back can be pillared, sawn or gauged. Cleaved walling – split in the same plane as a roofing slate or paving tile with a lightly textured riven surface. In general, cleaved walling is used in either fixed or patterned course heights as any adjustments must be cut with diamond blades. Sawn walling – has a manufactured sawn face finish. Sawn walling is produced to higher tolerances, making it easier to lay, and can be fixed with tighter joint lines than traditional stone walling. Mortar and Adhesives are used to tighten joints
Material Testing - Collecting Samples
Slate The word “slate” is believed to come from the Old French escalate, meaning fragment, from the verb esclater, to shatter.
SCAVENGED MATERIAL
MATERIAL LIBRARY
Reasons for Defects 1. cleavability 2. grain - secondary direction of splitting 3. mineral composition - mica (in small, irregular scales), chlorite (in flakes), and quartz (in lens-shaped grains) 4. Weather-durability - criteria: high-tensile rock low-water absorbance thermally stable electric insulator rust-proof lifetime (120 years roofing)
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Typical Certification
Material Testing -Splitting Waste Rocks
Outcome of splitting test
DIY rig platform is used for pounding on rocks at a stabilised angle. Sharp Chisel placed against the grain pattern edges of the rock. A hammer is used to give pressure to the back of the chisel to split rocks open. Hand drill is used to make holes through the rocks.
Expanding Architectural Language of Slate
Conceptual Sketches
/Elements/ 1. Traditional Frame with a straight/triangular profile 2. Thin slate as shingles for frame 3. Crushed Slate as filler for 3D fillet/draping 4. Vertical layering of thicker materials to form roof-domes and roof-trenches 5. Metal column/trusses to support bigger spans
Slate Cabin by TRIAS: Proposal vs Outcome
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Challenging Directionality of Assembly
Material Testing - Assembly
Conceptual Sketches
Horizontal heavy to deploy, but potentially structural
Directionality in Laying Slates dependency on frame / guide?
Vertical lighter, high-performative cladding
Exploring Forms and Tectonics - Variety of Profiles calling for different construction techniques to follow
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Proposed Assembly Matrix Compressive structure comprising of catenary and timbrel vaulting
Hybridizing Elements
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
slate arch
slate dome by Goldsworthy
timbrel vaulting
Slate Vaulting A Possible Lineage
Mapungubwe Visitor Centre Timbrel vaulting shell via Tile Bricks Architect: Peter Rich
Consultant: Philippe Block
Timbrel Construction The majority of the materials come also from the local environment and enhance the identity of the building. Soil cement tiles were locally produced by the indigenous people, roughly shaped stones for the cladding of the domes and the construction of walls. Minimal formwork and no steel reinforcement were used for the vault shaped roofs.
<https://architectureindevelopment.org/project/33>
Model for Cultural Skills Transfer Local Material Production - Testing - Labour Training
Construction and Design Principle Form based on Vaulting + Landscaping
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Scale of 18m span vaults
Material System Test - Experiments
Chain System - various catenary arcs for profiling
Recommended slate sizes depending on pitch angleso ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Material Systems - Forces and Performance
Chain System - various catenary arcs for profiling
Stack - Heavy load suitable for foundations
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Vault via mortar - thin/light but the uneven and fissile edges of slate makes bonding between tiles difficult
Vault via mechanical joints - alternative to mortar but mechanical joints create higher pressure points, downward, through each tile
Material Systems - Catenary Chain System - advancing
Front View
Front Surface of Woven Srf Each white tile representing a slate tile with perforations
Top View
Use of Steel Masts as a Supporting Structure for the woven ‘fabric’ Back Surface of Woven Srf The white string is representative of metal wire cables
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Arch outwards (compression) is achieved post-erection, via additional tensioning
Top Layer - Waterproof overlapping layer is attached atop
Bottom Layers are woven to form a continual srf
Proposing 3 layerings of tiles
Surface Tensioning 1 - Dynamic Relaxation
Structural Masts (x2) at the top corners ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Surface Tensioning 2 - Compressive form via post-tensioning
Roof edge could meet the ground at different heights as openings
Structural Masts (x1) at the centre of top edge
Precedents ILEK, Stuttgart Lightweight Tensile Structure - Fibre-cement (Eternit) cladded - Mineral Wool insulated
- from the small-scale fabric structure to the large-scale cable net structure - achieving large free spans by separating the cable net and cladding - hence separating both structural and weatherproofing functions
Structural Principle ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Construction Sequence
Wooden Plaths are attached for interior enclosure Experiments in Structural detailing - The form originated in a tulle model and was checked after its construction by means of a soap skin model. For design reasons (e.g. connection details, material thickness), the shape deviates from the minimum surface at the high point, since the surface is introduced tangentially at the high point. 1966 - 1:1 Prototype (460 sqm - 1/17th of the area of the Expo Pavilion) was erected with a mesh size of 50 x 50 cm made of 12 mm stranded spiral ropes completely prefabricated. Tests on vibration behavior, deformation behavior and the like were carried out. It was also used to test assembly and detailing. 1968 - Permanent Structure (1-day relocation process) The perimeter cables are hooked into the prepared foundations and the net was prestressed by erecting the pylon and tightening the guy points. The vertical glass frames of the facade are prestressed to minimize the deformation of the edge rope for the glass panes.
Interior Detailing Source: IL-8, ‘Nets in Nature and Technics’
Research Tensile Structure, Form, Knots Information
Tensile structure spanning ranges The internal forces are axial, in tension, and are highly efficient in resisting loads. Considerably lightweight for a large-spanning structure.
Buildings with tall masts provide high level anchorages for cable/rod system. It can be internally or externally supported via multuple masts. This ETS shall combine both Masted and Membrane Structure, with a combination of the following systems: Support Systems An open system has a cable around the perimeter of the fabric-loads can be massive and require large foundations-most sculptural form. A closed system has rigid members around the edge. Closed system structures require smaller foundations. Open and closed systems can be combined. A support structure can be edge tripods, central masts or pushups. In a closed system the edge will be supported continuously by a “kader” in an extruded section. ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Source: IL-8, ‘Nets in Nature and Technics’
FINAL DESIGN STRATEGY Designing on Slope - 3 Roof Arches blended to the landscape
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
TILING STRATEGY Estimating Tile Srf Form and Quantity of units
~ 120 m2 surface
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
[Waterproofing Layer] 947 2-holed tiles
[Bottom Layers] 1894 4-holed tiles
[Total] 2841 Tiles
~120 m2 unrolled
FORM FINDING STRATEGY Kangaroo Physics via
3. Mesh with added Springs, Anchors, Vertex Loads
1. Base Surface 2. Mesh
1
2
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
4. Output A - Concave
3
Output B - Convex
4
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Tensile fabric structures are an environmentally sensitive medium. Allowing for various forms that are lightweight and flexible The slate fabric here interacts with the environment and expresses natural forces.
FINAL DETAIL JOINTS, CONNECTION
outdoor pavement tiles
rain gutter
ground anchorage
slate roof tile
ROOF TO LANDSCAPING
References of Foundation anchors from Olympic Park, Munic
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
rock wool insulation
ROOF TOP RIDGE
ridge capping
wooden plath-to-cable joint
intersection knots
edge knots
CONNECTION BETWEEN LAYERS
Edge Knots Reference
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
LAYERINGS OF WOVEN TILES, WOODEN PLATHS, INSULATION - via cables, joints, and structural masts
Embracing fragility and fissility of Slate Combining traditional techniques of slate tiling and the tensile structure principles ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Designing in reciprocity with the landscape
Landscaping Dry Stone Walls in the UK
Southern and Central England
The Pennines
Wales
The South West The South West
The Lake District
Scotland and the Isle of Man
Ireland
https://www.conservationhandbooks.com/dry-stone-walling/walls-in-the-landscape/characteristic-regional-walls/
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
OUTDOOR Terracing
STRUCTURAL RETENTION walls
STRUCTURAL RETENTION walls - slender
Source: Time Saver Standards for Landscape Architecture
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Building A Clean Slate
Between The Extractible & The Non-Extractible
Embracing fragility & fissility In response to our problematised relationship between craft, industry and landscape (as established within the Diploma 17 Brief), this ETS provides alternative perception of Slate as a roofing material. From investigating the natural properties of the material – to the manmade processes in the context of the slate industry, this ETS sought to establish a comprehensive understanding of material reciprocity in our landscapes. THE Old & the New The proposed material system enables a series of tensile roof forms - an environmentally sensitive medium which highlights slate as the principle reactive material – not just structurally but also socio-environmentally within the context of the Welsh slate industry. Thus, the building’s form shall rely on the strength and weight of slate stones pieced together onto a collective surface – one which shelters the landscape inconspicuously. Thanks to the flexible chain system, the geometry of the roof surface is independent from elements such as the rigid wooden frame found in traditional slate roofs. This technique may initially be found counter-intuitive with bulky stone materials, but the fissility and thinness associated with slate shall prove the combination to be otherwise. Modern digital tools such as the Kangaroo plug-in have been effective in providing design control over the resulting form of such system. Traditional techniques such as the overlapping of tiles are incorporated to ensure waterproofing. Various non-roofing techniques such as vernacular slate walling and slate paving are additionally proposed to complement the ambition of the design intended to showcase the versatility of slate and to integrate to the local heritage more seamlessly.
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Blackness With the current design development, the resulting space is a large-span and immersive ground for social gathering revolving around experiencing the roofscape – above and under. In the next steps, the project shall express the design further -- within the unit to utilise the darkness of the material as means to contrast the introduction of lighting. Thermal control may also be introduced to create ephemeral spaces that fit the program of a film centre. Sound experience could be used, lastly, to enhance the user’s sensory experience in conjunction to the natural climactic conditions - wind flutterings may result in subtle clanging of stones in certain interiors, etc. Building Lifecycle Despite the labor-intensive and time-consuming construction process, the proposal shall counter the fast-pace construction industry and offer easy re-usability of such structures, as demonstrated by the ILEK pavilion relocation. The woven slate tiling surface gives adaptability to suit different shapes and slopes, ease of repair, the allowance for movement, and above all, the texture of animated roof surfaces; these benefits outweigh the cost of manufacture and laying. Using secondary/defected slate products, material cost of the building shall be no more than if it had been erected with the heritage methods. Slate is a durable material with low primary energy requirement - it should be explored more as an option for architectural applications.
In summary, the ETS Design encapsulates the material expression of slate through its heritage and innovative potential in architecture, which in turn, creates circularity between industrial & cultural landscapes.
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Appendix
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Building on a slope - projected plan on slopes - sweep forms of various pitched angles - lighting possibilities for different programs
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
Design Intent for Proposed Film Centre
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
A cultural space for geological reflection and community building through visual experiences
Tectonic Studies A convex internal enclosure concave external enclosure lighting domes as spatial divisions
Tectonic Studies B convex and concave oblique surfaces - inverted
CENTRAL SPACE
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
ENTRY
HALLWAY
Film and photographic spaces for expression, communication, production.
References - Film Centers Requirements and Facilities
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan
ETS 5 | BUILDING A CLEAN SLATE | Yee Fei Tan