ABSTRACT
Composites have seen a relatively short but dramatic growth in architectural uses over the last 20 years. Fiber-reinforced composites have been in use since the late 1940s, typically used in marine contexts for their durability, light weight and water resistance. Composites, as with most plastics, require a mold and therefore require the production of each object twice. Composites provide a designer the flexibility to design and fabricate these forms with minimal increases in cost. This chapter explores other uses of composites which are attempting to explore more efficient uses of composites while not sacrificing their aesthetic performance. Many of the projects highlighted in the chapter are constrained primarily not by their material, but by the character of the material onto which they are molded. Achim Menges' at the V&A museum has worked with composites to create formwork which is able to be moved to the fiber, more precisely locating strands of fibers in ideal locations.
