Concrete is a magical material that has fascinated architects throughout
history. Vitruvius in his ten books on architecture (De Architettura) referred
to the cindering of limestone as producing a magical powder that when mixed
with water hardened to a stone like substance. Liquid stone, the monolithic material composed of water, sand,
Portland cement, and gravel poured over and around a grid of steel is one of
industrialisation’s great building materials. The experimentation with reinforced concrete contributed to
modernism as it lent itself to the idea of frame structures or slab structures
freeing the exterior and interior walls from their historic structural roles.
Within modernism’s love affair with concrete, many shared the dream of
the mass-produced concrete house or housing system. Prototypes ranged from
on-site produced to the off-site pre-cast. The difference between the two
methods was the amount of work done in the factory. The two extremes of on-site
or off-site also induced a potential hybrid of maximizing reinforced concrete’s
potential with the flexibility of on-site construction. Thomas Edison’s process
for pouring buildings, in a single pour, was one of these proposed hybrids.
Edison’s patented system of pouring houses developed in 1917 looked to optimize
on-site construction by industrializing the formwork and the pouring process
into one synthetic strategy.
Having limited success Edison’s system conceivably foreshadowed one of
history’s most daring proposals. Having experience in the invention of ground
moving machines Robert G. Letourneau of Letourneau incorporated set out to
invent a machine that could transport concrete moulds and forms on-site, set
them in place, and then lift the forms to be transported elsewhere once the
pour was complete. The enormous machine was the basis of the Tournalayer Home
construction process.
The Tournalayer’s capacity to carry the factory to the site was based on
a double skin mould. The mould in which the concrete was poured was set on-site
and lifted when the concrete was set. Analogous to a double sandcastle mould
into which one could pour concrete, set the mould onto the ground, tap and then
lift, leaving a surface skin or a monolithic concrete shell. The formwork
included windows, doors and various technical openings. The houses were simple
in design but could be varied into a number of models within the Tournalayer’s
basic modular dimension. Built in different countries from the United States to
a few prototypes worldwide, the notable success of the concept was the ability
to use, set, lift and transport the formwork bringing industrialisation of
building the building site.
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| The Tournalayer at work - photo link
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