DfD for (not against) Architecture
"The whole is to the
part as the part is to the whole.” Frank Lloyd
Wright
Background
“DfD is a new concept
for the design and building community and is an important contributor to Design
for Environment (DfE). DfE is a comprehensive consideration of design related
to environmental and human health impacts over the life-cycle of a product. Design
for disassembly (DfD) is a growing topic within manufacturing industries as
greater attention is devoted to the management of the end-of-life of products.
This need is driven by the increasing disposal problems of large amounts of
consumer goods, and the resultant pollutant impacts and loss of materials
resources and energy that is embodied in these products.” [Guy and Nicholas]
DfD should be applied to
life-cycle of buildings due to the huge amount of material resources consumed
annually around the world in their construction, renovation and destruction.
Principles of DfD
Typically,
there are about a dozen or so principles of DfD. They include the following:
·
Accessibility,
·
Documentation of
disassembly information,
·
Durability,
·
Exposed and/or
reversible connections,
·
Independence,
·
Inherent finishes,
·
Recyclables,
·
Refurbish ability,
·
Re-manufacturability,
·
Reusability, and
·
Simplicity. [http://www.sabmagazine.com/blog/2009/10/27/design-for-disassembly/]
It is possible to divide
these principles into two broad groups: those that promote keeping components
separate, safe and easily re-usable; and those that demand simplicity, exposed
and accessible connections and standardization of parts and design.
Hypothesis
“In the more recent past, the International
Style of architecture has embodied many concepts of DfD, albeit with
significant failures regarding aesthetics, occupant control, and overall
sustainability.” [Guy and Nicholas]
It is possible to
implement DfD without having to compromise design principles. Current DfD principles
unduly restrict the architect to simplistic designs with joints that are
necessarily visually, physically and ergonomically exposed. When DfD is applied
to the manufacture of other products (e.g., cars, electronics, appliances,
etc.) there does not appear to be a similar need to sacrifice design complexity
for ease of disassembly. It is possible and necessary to develop a DfD
methodology for architecture that is devoid of these three principles.
Detailed Strategies
“God is in the detail” Mies van de
Rohe
Beyond the main DfD principles, there are more detailed strategies that are advocated to encourage the re-use and recycling of materials. These include minimizing the different types of materials in order to decrease the complexity and number of separation processes; allow for parallel disassembly to reduce the time required to disassemble; and separating the structure from the cladding. [Guy and Nicholas]
It will be argued that
these detailed strategies can be respected without having to adhere to
simplified and standardized design principles.
"In details are the possibilities of
innovation and invention and it is through these that architects can
give harmony to the most uncommon and difficult or
disorderly environment generated by a culture.” Marco Frascari
Architecture requires that
we preserve detail. Detailing is the most important means of avoiding building
failure. In essence, detailing is the joining of building materials, components
and parts in a functional and aesthetic manner. [Marco Frascari]
STRATEGY 1: Integrate
advanced computational techniques into DFD principles in order to maximize the
material potential and to push design exploration of connection detail.
STRATEGY 2: Creating
a meeting point for top-down and bottom-up approaches where the idea of the
building as a whole will be affected by the smallest components of the system.
STRATEGY
3: Transition the design from mass-production to mass-customization by
creating parametric relations between each building component which, ideally, will
result in visual diversity of the building as a whole.
