Cork Arch
In Collaboration with Jen Chenyu Zhang
Travel Studio • Portugal Material Studies
Lisbon Fabrication Lab • Winter 2018
The Threshold project approaches the concept of “threshold“ by studying both the materiality of cork, the spatial relationship on site, as well as the urban typology of Lisbon. Cork, the oak tree bark, serves as the natural barrier between the inner tissues of a tree and the exterior. Through the industrial process, cork is manufactured as the interstitial layer of material composite. From wine stoppers to wall insulations, cork composites are deployed as soft tissues which buffer sensitive components from exterior contact.
The intervention investigates the spatial potential of the soft transitional material. While framing the entrance of the carpenter shop, the cork arch isolates the pedestrian from homogenous cement plating of the arcade. The thickness of the arch elongates the transitional experience from the inside to the outside, emphasizing the sense of departing and arriving, which is a common characteristic since the Golden Age of Discovery.
Site Intervention
Machine Milling
The low-density cork panels are milled into modularized pieces, and the composite rubber cork is milled into the repeating connecting members. The expediency of machining low-density cork is ideal for shaping large piece of material such as insulation layers and acoustic panels. The modular dark cork panels retain the ideal compressive property of the cork and the rubber composite’s elasticity performs in both compression and expansion.
Construction
The structure consists of two part: using cork composite panels as the facade, and the cork rubber as supporting material in between. Panels are fastened with rubberized cork and connected with a set of screws for stronger joinery. The tectonics of the arch with the keystone introduce compressive force acting toward the two existing columns. The compressive load path creates an ideal situation for the property s of the cork panels.
