CorkVault Aarhus: exploring stereotomic design space of cork and 5-axis CNC waterjet cutting

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and construc- tion of CorkVault Aarhus, which was designed using parametric and physics simulation software and realized from ECA cork sheets cut using a CNC waterjet cutter. We recount the lessons learned through the intensive two-week workshop that explored the limits of the mate- rials and tools through prototypes and culminated with the assembly of the final free-form vault structure. Various vaults and arch proto- types provided pedagogical and research value, building up knowledge essential to the final structure built, a human scale pavilion designed and built in three days and made of a thin shell of cork pan- els working only in compression. Three driving concepts were crucial to the experience: stereotomy as a supporting theory, expanded cork agglomerate (ECA) as the main material and water jet cutting as the principal means of fabrication. The complex vault shape called for precise 5-axis cuts supporting a new paradigm in building stereotomic components for architecture.