APPLICATION OF DEPLOYABLE BAR STRUCTURES IN ARCHITECTURE: PROPOSAL FOR UNIVERSAL MULTIFUNCIONAL MODULE

Deployable bar structures are made of lightweight materials, and that is one of the reason why they do not require high transportation costs, are easy to assemble (by unfolding) and disassemble (by folding) and are able to successfully respond to many requirements when in the shortest possible time it is necessary to provide architectural structures for various purposes. In this paper, the deployable bar structures are analyzed with the aim of forming a universal multifunctional space which could be used as a facility for temporary housing, healthcare, education and similar purposes. Due to the fact that geometric shape of a certain space significantly determines the function of that space, and the way it is used, detailed analyses of the geometric shapes of these structures have been conducted. Comparison of the forms explored so far with the existing architectural deployable bar structures has resulted in two distinct geometric forms: singly curved (barrel vault) and doubly curved (dome). It was concluded that the application of these forms in the form of freestanding modules provides limited opportunities for organizing functional content due to the specific locations of certain connections between elements, as well as the complicated design process. This is one of the reasons for rare application of these structures in architecture. The proposal of a multifunctional “Universal module 6” which consists of unified singly curved modules in combination with doubly curved and prismatic forms came as a result of the conducted analyses. Proposals for forming more complex architectural spaces of higher capacity provide a wider range of applications of these structures and opens new possibilities for their use.