Architectural hybrid material composites: computationally enabled techniques to control form generation

This paper explores the potential for new hybrid composite material applications in Architecture by re-thinking the role of fabrication in the process of form-generation. Our work presents the development of composite materials system consisting of two flexible materials, which, when acting together, allow for variable states of stiffness and gain structural capacity through the process of fabrication. This morphogenetic act occurs at the moment of making as a result of the symbiotic interaction between the two materials, their geometric arrangement and the fabrication process. Our aim is to investigate a novel approach for integrated design, where the fabrication process of a composite material actuates and enhances material performance. Our findings include a formal vocabulary of initial, pre-stretched geometries and their post-stretched counterpart, as well as comparisons between physical experiments and digital simulations of such composites.