Nàdarra Wall
designed by Barry Wark
Real-scale wall, 3 x 3 m
Dubai (UAE), 2022
Nàdarra gives form to the evolving conversations around architecture and ecology, considering the interconnectedness of all matter in the design of an architectural surface.
It does so by utilising circular materials and SANDHELDEN´s 3D printing technology; celebrating the inevitability of vegetation growth and weathering on all buildings; and creating ambiguous forms that are both natural and artefactual at the same time, a reflection of our increasingly synthetic world.
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The project engages with the importance of materials and their life cycles in the built environment, employing advanced 3D printing sand technology, the parts can be fabricated, installed, and then recycled up to 8 times after use.
Nàdarra takes advantage of 3D printing's ability to create virtually unlimited geometric possibilities without the need for complex mold making.
This has further environmental benefits as it, therefore, does not waste any material beyond what is used in the parts themselves during their fabrication.
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Motivated by the recognition that all buildings eventually erode, stain and weather, the project is designed to display its interconnectedness with its environment in other words, its ecology.
It moves beyond the idea of an impossibly clean architecture, instead creating crevices and pockets for water and seed retention that can accelerate and promote the growth and presence of non-human organisms within its surfaces.
The walls form implements biophilic design principles, such as multiscalar detail, organised complexity and highly differentiated but similar geometries that evoke the bulging and pocketing of the moss that grows within the surface itself.
It has mysterious qualities as a product of the ambiguity surrounding its age, origins and fabrication process. It is striated with traces of chisel marks yet is eroded and smoothed as if by the weather; its has the stereotomy of ancient construction yet each part employs a complexity almost unimaginable to make by the human hand.
Nàdarra aims to draw people close through this engagement and questioning, bringing attention to the effects of the environment upon its surface.
It considers its connection with the environment positive and attempts to breaks down the false duality between architecture and nature, instead considering the importance and beauty in the interconnectedness of all matter.
Available on request.
Material:
Post-processing:
3D Printer:
Location:
Quartz sand (SH – P14)
Infiltration
"VX1000" by voxeljet
Museum Of The Future (Dubai - UAE)
Barry Wark
Barry Wark is an architect, designer and teacher based in London. His work explores the manifestation of nature in architecture, augmented by emerging digital design and fabrication technologies.
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He operates both in academia at The Bartlett School of Architecture through design research; and in practice where he implements his speculative work. As a leading proponent of computation and Biodesign, he often gives lectures and exhibits his work internationally.
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