Book chapter
									Case Study
									Conference Paper
									Paper
							
							2022
A Joint of Many Worlds: Entangled Stories in Battaile en Ibens’s 78+ Construction System in Timber

					
																															© Eric Crevels				
				
							
					
					
						ABSTRACT							
					
								This paper explores the distinct networks of technical and embodied knowledge present in the development of the 78+ construction system in timber, designed in the 1970-80s by Flemish design office Battaile Ibens. It develops the history of the knooppunt, a joint of a particular material and technical complexity that structures the system’s wooden beams and cross-shaped columns, and argues for the understanding of architecture and construction as complex constellations of different crafts and skills, including but not limited to architectural design and engineering. Design and technical decisions are traced in parallel to economic and marketing strategies, weaving together social and material phenomena that shaped the system’s history. From the initial designs and prototyping, through publicity decisions and appearances in international expositions, until its idealization in the office’s approach, the history of the knooppunt exemplifies the interplay between different stakeholders and knowledge orbiting the technological development of construction systems.
			
							
									Eric Crevels
						
					
	
	
	
	
																	Book chapter
																	Case Study
																	Conference Paper
																	Paper
															
							2022
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						A Joint of Many Worlds: Entangled Stories in Battaile en Ibens’s 78+ Construction System in Timber
											
																	Eric Crevels
										
													
									
																																																							© Eric Crevels								
							
																																																							© Eric Crevels								
							
																																																							© Eric Crevels								
							
								ABSTRACT							
							
												This paper explores the distinct networks of technical and embodied knowledge present in the development of the 78+ construction system in timber, designed in the 1970-80s by Flemish design office Battaile Ibens. It develops the history of the knooppunt, a joint of a particular material and technical complexity that structures the system’s wooden beams and cross-shaped columns, and argues for the understanding of architecture and construction as complex constellations of different crafts and skills, including but not limited to architectural design and engineering. Design and technical decisions are traced in parallel to economic and marketing strategies, weaving together social and material phenomena that shaped the system’s history. From the initial designs and prototyping, through publicity decisions and appearances in international expositions, until its idealization in the office’s approach, the history of the knooppunt exemplifies the interplay between different stakeholders and knowledge orbiting the technological development of construction systems.
						
					















	



























	




	


	

























