Mass-Customization of Integrated Green Wall Building Blocks through Clay Printing Formwork (2024-04)¶

Fabricating customized green wall modules with 3D clay printing (3DCP) formwork can facilitate integration with building systems such as self-supporting structure while treating stay-in-place clay molds as plant media. However, to realize such designs in realworld construction, further researches are needed to explore pathing strategies to allow for uneven distribution of plant media space and integration with lateral reinforcements. Moreover, measures for masscustomization need to be explored for automated printing path generation and cumulative error control. This research presents a 3DCP-formwork-based design solution for multi-functional green wall building block mass-customization, featuring enlarged, uneven distribution of plant media spaces, and building system integration with modular conduits. Fabrication of distinctive mold components, including plant media spaces, linking paths and boundary molds are automated by pattern-filling path generation algorithms under a discrete framework. A sustainable hybrid formwork setup is introduced to address fabrication speed and calibration between different fabrication procedures. An empirical construction experiment is conducted to validate the proposed methodology in a real-world interior renovation project.