The essence of architecture can be defined by well-thought-out connections between elements, components, materials and systems. How things are juxtaposed, secured, fixed, or joined become iconic representations of an era and even narrate changing styles in architecture. For modern architects, the honest illustration of connections or the camouflage of systems under a coat of white was emblematic of either a rejection of ornament or exposing technology as new form of representation. During modernity, influenced by military engagement, industrialized and standardized connections became the focal point of much research proposing variable building kits from a limited number of interchangeable parts. Konrad Wachsmann’s contribution is well documented and was inspired by his training as a furniture maker. His work on prefab houses with Christof and Unmack, his explorations for mega-spanning space frame hangars for the US Air force and his most iconic collaboration with Walter Gropius, the General panel House were all based on his obsession with inventing a universally applicable connector.
Other well-known connectors, Unistrut's Moduspan, Mero’s sphere, the Abstracta modular system and the Canadian Triodetic aluminum connector, carried the same vision articulated to maximum architectural variability and structural potential with minimum components. The universal connector is based on the idea of connecting lines or surfaces from points or vertices which inform a geometric play of struts, posts, columns and beams, to achieve any shape or form: spheres, vaults, slabs or more organic free-forms. Reticulated structures, trusses or space frames famously deploy this vision toward maximum span with minimum weight and continue to inspire new generations looking to explore formal possibilities offered by new digital modeling, fabrication, and management tools. Universality today no longer relates uniquely to the plurality of forms, but also to data richness integrated in the connector’s underlying parameters making it possible to envision a type of self-developing connector coded to respond to all manner of generative data. Even with all these potentials, connectors like Unistrut and Triodetic still are used in the same way not because of a resistance to technology but because of this joinery's capacity to adapt to any forms, designed by digital or analog means, and flexible enough to respond to any era’s functional demands.
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| comparative analysis of two universal connectors |
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