Terrene is a multidisciplinary research project by DumoLab Research at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design with collaborators from the Polyhedral Structures Lab and Complex Fluids Lab.
Modern building practices contribute to nearly half of global greenhouse gas emissions, with 11% coming from manufacturing materials such as glass, steel, and cement. Fundamental flaws lie in energy intensive extraction and synthesis, transportation of non-local resources, and a lack of design for disassembly, reuse, and decay. Terrene 3 explores the enhancement of lightweight bio-based earthen construction in a wide leg arch by combining structural and material optimization methods. It uses graphic statics calculations and simple pervasive materials. ChitoSand, a thin bilayer of sand is bound by biopolymers, short fibers in the mix augment local tensile strength, a woven fabric substrate intensifies global bending capacity, and reusable falsework acts as scaffolding during curing.
NOTE: further detail on fabrication and materials characterization to come in upcoming publication.
+IMAGES: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxYZx7Zg8vs/
Team: PI: Dr. Laia Mogas-Soldevila. Undergraduate Researchers: Destynn Keuchel (Materials Science ‘26), Na Lee (Cognitive Sciences ‘25). Graduate Researchers: Liam Lasting (SOM, DumoLab Alum), Bingyu Guo (Harvard GSD, MDes), Mostafa Akbari (PSL Polyhedral Structures Lab, PhD).
Acknowledgements: Dr. Masoud Akbarzadeh (PSL Polyhedral Structures Lab) Abigail Weinstein and Shivani Chawla (DumoLab), Shravan Pradeep (Complex Fluids Lab, Postdoctoral Fellow), Michael Cellucci, Steve Szewczyk (Penn Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter).
Funding: Design, methods, and materials developed by DumoLab and PSL, primary funding from Johnson&Johnson Foundation WiSTEM Award and Penn CURF Grant to Dr. Mogas-Soldevila. Partial funding from NSF CAREER AWARD (NSF CAREER-1944691- CMMI), and the NSF Future Eco Manufacturing Research Grant (NSF, FMRG-CMMI 2037097) to Dr. Masoud Akbarzadeh.