ULTRA + GESTALTEN

Topological Interlocking Assemblies are modular structures that unfold structural capacity by kinematically constraining their building blocks through interlocking. While masonry bonds bind their elements with mortar, assemblies with intricately interlocking modules exclusively constrain their elements through inherent geometrical and topological properties. Topological Interlocking Assemblies are not compression-only structures, the self-supporting arrangement works in all directions. The concept only recently re-emerged in material science. Planar materials fail when cracks are able to propagate through the entire dimension of an element. Topological interlocking assemblies are broken down into small-scale elements already. Thus the approach increases material strength by fragmenting the material. The concept of toughening by fragmentation, the reversibility and novel design and fabrication methods like 3D printing make it worth the revisit this forgotten concept.The research started in 2011 as a design studio at the Staedelschule Architecture Class (SAC) in Frankfurt and was further developed at the Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm and the DDU, TU Darmstadt.