Development and application of precast hyperboloid shells in East and West Germany from the 1950s to the 1980s
| Author(s): |
Tanja Scheffler
|
|---|---|
| Medium: | conference paper |
| Language(s): | English |
| Conference: | Interfaces: Architecture, Engineering, Science, Annual Meeting of the International Association of Shell & Spatial Structures (IASS), Hamburg, 25-27 September 2017 |
| Published in: | Interfaces: Architecture . Engineering . Science |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Abstract: | Precast reinforced concrete shells have been employed all over the world for decades. Nevertheless they are often overlooked compared to the competing approach of monolithic shell structures which dominates the current architectural history debates. But in the 1950s, the idea of prefabricating thin hyperbolic shells on an industrial scale was widespread and put into practice on either side of the iron curtain: both the East German structural engineer Herbert Müller (“Schalenmüller”) and the West German architect Wilhelm J. Silberkuhl developed comparable roof shells. The “Silberkuhl shells” were used worldwide, mainly for large industrial and sports facilities. The East German “HP shells” were first considered a new element of the standardized modular construction system. Later they were recognized as variable means for the creation of individually designed public buildings. These precast shell structures are characteristic products of that former era of structural engineering. This text will discuss these two hyperboloid shell systems, and it will show that these simultaneous developments took place on an equal footing even during the Cold War. |
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10077810 - Published on:
21/04/2018 - Last updated on:
05/03/2019
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