Fabric-formed concrete panel
ExoSkeleton is a quilted concrete panel made from organic duck cloth canvas and cast concrete. Two layers of the canvas are quilted using reinforced stitching in a structurally stable configuration. The reinforced stitching is engineered to withstand the fluid lateral forces specific to the amount of uncured concrete relative to the diameter of the pocket created by the sewn fabric. The formwork is then hung in a vertical configuration supported at the top, similar to the arrangement of a shower curtain. At the base of the fabric, friction pilings or a trough are set plumb to the supports at the top of the fabric and serve as the foundation of the cured form.
Developed by Thompson Young Design, ExoSkeleton’s canvas fabric is configured to allow pumped concrete to self-support in compression and framed laterally by the tensile strength of the fabric within the diamond-shaped quilted pockets, which are connected to a foundation. The canvas can be removed once the concrete is cured, or it can be incorporated into the finish.
Concrete supports more than its own weight in compression, and the material nature of fabric offers high strength in tension. As long as the balance of concrete in compression relative to the tensile strength of the fabric is stable, concrete will stack. When coupled, the compressive stability of concrete and the tensile strength of fabric combine to frame the curing process of concrete to achieve infinite concrete configurations.
Contact: Thompson Young Design, Charleston, SC, USA.
