Construction Manual for Polymers + Membranes: Materials and Semi-finished Products, Form Finding and Construction (Detail Construction Manuals)

Whether it be as translucent sheets, broadly stretched membranes, and inflated foil cushions or in graceful, organic curves, architecture today is utilizing plastics in the most disparate forms and for a wide variety of purposes. Innovative technical developments are constantly improving its material properties; at the same time, there is a growing new awareness of its potential as a construction material. While plastics used to be employed primarily as an inexpensive variant on traditional building materials, they are increasingly regarded in the construction world today as a serious and viable alternative, be it as supporting structures, roofs, facades, or elements of interior design and decoration. Thanks in large part to this inherent self-sufficiency, plastics are currently enjoying an unprecedented surge in popularity, even among the international architectural avant-garde as multiwall sheets or corrugated, fiber-reinforced panels, or as filling between glass panes. And the new generation of ecological bioplastics also pays tribute to the debate on sustainability, ridding plastics of their lingering reputation as environmental offenders. From the history of plastics and membranes in architecture to their material properties and requirements in construction and design, the Plastics and Membranes Construction Manual cuts to the chase, providing the kind of solid and comprehensive overview of the subject that readers have come to expect from the Im DETAIL series. Selected project examples round off the reference work and make it indispensable for the day-to-day life of the professional planner and for every architecture library Ob als transluzente Platten, weit gespannte Membranen, luftgefülltes Folienkissen oder in organisch geschwungener Gestalt: In den unterschiedlichsten Formen und Anwendungsbereichen finden Kunststoffe Verwendung in der Architektur. Innovative technische Entwicklungen verbessern stetig seine Materialeigenschaften, gleic From The History Of Plastics And Membranes In Architecture To Their Material Properties And Requirements In Construction And Design, This Text Provides A Comprehensive Overview Of The Subject. Part A. Polymers And Membranes In Architecture : The Discovery And Development Of Polymers -- The Dream Of The Polymer House -- Development Of Tensile Surface Structures -- Structures With Transparent And Translucent Envelopes -- Potential, Trends And Challenges -- Part B. Materials : Polymers -- Fibres -- Adhesives And Coatings -- Natural Fibre-reinforced Polymers And Biopolymers -- Part C. Semi-finished Products : Primary Products -- Fibre-reinforced Polymers -- Semi-finished Polymer Products -- Foil -- Textile Membranes -- Building Physics -- Environmental Impact Of Polymers -- Part D. Planning And Form-finding : Loadbearing Structure And Form -- Detailed Design Aspects -- Part E. Building With Polymers And Membranes : Building With Semi-finished Polymer Products -- Building With Free-form Polymers -- Building With Foil -- Building With Textile Membranes -- Complex Building Envelopes -- Part F. Case Studies -- Part G. Statutory Instruments, Directives, Standards. [authors, Jan Knippers ... [et Al.]]. Co-authors: Jan Cremers, Markus Gabler And Julian Lienhard. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 287-289) And Index. English Translation Of The 1st German Edition. Whether as translucent tiling, wide-spanning membranes, air-filled foil cushions or in organically curved form: Plastics are used in architecture in the widest variety of forms and application areas. Innovative technical developments constantly improve their material properties. Plastics today are an alternative to be taken seriously in the building trade, whether they are used in the supporting structure, roof, facade or interior furnishings. The 'Construction Manual for Polymers + Membranes' returns to the basics of the series by addressing an individual building material. From the material properties to the requirements for drafting and construction, it encapsulates well-founded and comprehensive expertise in familiar DETAIL quality. Selected project examples complete the reference work and make it indispensable for day-to-day planning