JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #113 - June 2017 - 38

CONSTRUCTlON
education

"This material that starts out as cloth can be
shaped to any form imaginable"
interview

alphonso pEluso,
Studio Associate Professor
of Architecture
Director of Design Communications
IIT Architecture Chicago

Without getting ahead of the presentation that he will give at the Future
of Composites in Construction trade show 20-22 June in Chicago, we asked
Alphonso Peluso, Studio Associate Professor of Architecture and Director
of Design Communications at IIT Architecture Chicago, a few questions
about his approach to composite materials and how they are integrated
into architectural studies.

When did you start teaching composite materials at the IIT College of Architecture?

Alphonso Peluso: My students and

How do your students look at these new
materials, for which there is little experience in
architecture?

I began working with composites in 2014. I
was teaching a design studio titled "Design
as a Performative Material Practice" and the
focus was to design and build a full-scale
temporary structure out of carbon fibre. The
project was named the FIBERwave Pavilion,
and it was quite well received. The project
was written about in several architectural
blogs including The Architect's Newspaper. I
should add that my students and I have only
worked with carbon fibre.

A.P: Initially, they view the material as very

What is the place of composite materials in
the training programme?

What do you think is the main interest of using
architectural composites but also the main
obstacles?

A.P: The topic is part of an ongoing elective
seminar course that I teach each semester.
Since the FIBERwave project, my students
and I have completed a full-scale building
facade panel made entirely out of carbon fibre
called "carbonSKIN" and, last semester, they
built a rolling sofa called "Rolling Vitruvius"
for the annual SOFAexpo in Chicago.

Do you think that incorporating composite
materials in a project can change its nature?

A.P: Absolutely. This material that starts

out as cloth can be shaped to any form
imaginable, then when it is infused with
resin and hardener, it becomes as strong
as steel and is ultra lightweight. The
design possibilities that this opens up for

38

architecture are unlike any material that has
been used in buildings before.

exotic. Typically, their go-to material is wood
and acrylic and these materials are mostly used
for making architectural models. So the fact
that they will build something full scale out of
this material that they have never worked with
before is very exciting and intimidating at the
same time. By making small-scale prototypes,
they learn very quickly that working with
carbon fibre requires a great deal of attention
and craft.

A.P: I think that currently the main interest

is two things. The first is what do we do with
it? Do we replace structural steel columns
and beams with it? Do we make floors and
ceilings out of it? Do we clad buildings with
it? In these early stages of its use, the building
industry does not know a whole lot about the
material. The second is that the material is so
lightweight and thin in relation to how strong
it is. So what does that mean? Will this save
money when building a building? Will it be
easier to construct? How do we analyse the
structure? As you can see, along with these
interests comes a lot of questions.
A few obstacles are fire safety, building codes
and structural analysis. Once there are people

jec composites magazine / No113 June 2017

dedicated to working on and solving
these obstacles, the use of composites in
architecture will grow at a fast pace.
More information:
http://arch.iit.edu/

Carbon Fiber structure called 'FIBERwave
Pavilion' designed by IIT Architecture students led by Alphonso Peluso 2014

Focus
The College of Architecture's programmes
of study emphasize investigations in
architectural and landscape architectural
design and technology, while expanding
the significance of these investigations
through a rigorous application of critical
thought and intellectual inquiry. The
College draws strength from its unique
traditions and circumstances, such as its
Miesian legacy as a preeminent school
of modernism, its location in Chicago
with its profuse architectural heritage
and devotion to enhanced landscapes,
and the city's present-day connections to
progressively minded, global practitioners.
The students, faculty, and alumni foster an
academic environment that is intellectually
stimulating, professionally challenging,
committed to innovation, and international
in scope.
http://arch.iit.edu/
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #113 - June 2017
