Transient Materialization: Ephemeral, Material-Oriented Digital Fabrication

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between digital and material-based fabrications in architecture. The notion of transient materialization proposes that immaterial architecture is a trigger for investigating new possibilities for digital fabrication through space and time. This project is mainly inspired by the beauty of nature, focusing on soap foam bubbles, which have an n-hedron structure and are usually blown by air. The paper questions this structure’s materiality, examines its physical performance and ephemeral characteristics, and expands on its meaning through an experiment in digital fabrication. In addition, we present the first phase of this technology, in which an anti-gravity and programmable foam structure was achieved. The experiment demonstrates the different shapes possible for dynamic and transient soap foam structures.