Interview with Alex de la Chevrotière, CEO of the MAADI Group...126 aluminium: sympathetic and...
Transcript of Interview with Alex de la Chevrotière, CEO of the MAADI Group...126 aluminium: sympathetic and...
126 127thoughts from kew gardensaluminium: sympathetic and powerful
Interview with Alex de la Chevrotière, CEO of the MAADI Group
Michael Stacey – Alex, I understand that you have come all the
way from Canada to attend this symposium. In Canada with
MAADI Group you design and fabricate all-aluminium bridges?
Alex de la Chevrotiere – Yes. But I actually do more that just
bridges, designing and fabricating all types of civil and marine
structures. All the structures are engineered by the MAADI Group
and fabricated in our workshop. We are known for all-aluminium
pedestrian bridges, because we have made so many.
facts from exemplar case studies and contemporary case studies.
MS – Thank you for taking part in today’s symposium. Are there
things you might take away to influence the future practice
of KieranTimberlake? Or issues that in your opinion need further
research?
BF – Today we discussed the way in which as architects we have
to wrestle with complex assemblies. This is a continuous discussion
over many years, may be even decades. When it comes to
paradigms of recycling, paradigms of manufacturing, designing
with materials and placing them where they make the most sense.
There definitely is an area of research that needs to be expanded
upon. Certainly people are working on this, research that begins to
match life cycle impacts with the durability of materials. We have
made a start but there is more research to be done in this field.
Our practice at KieranTimberlake is trans-disciplinary; we have
purposely set up processes in which we interrogate questions about
architecture and the built environment. Our practice is constantly
evolving. As we find new questions to ask, new methods to deploy
and new ways to make real connections between design, form
making, performance making and knowledge.
TCS Book Three Aluminium and Life Cycle Thinking begins to
evidence the way in which in-depth research, the framing of
important questions, can then be taken up and looked at and
then become actionable. For us we are interested in actionable
information and I think this is actionable.
Fig 5.19 Cellophane House at MOMA, New York, USA, 2008.
Architect KieranTimberlake
Fig 5.20 A prototype deployable military bridge, designed and fabricated in aluminium alloys by MAADI Group for the Canadian Army, 2017
MS – What is your response to visiting the Hive designed by
Wolfgang Buttress, here at Kew Gardens?
AdlC – Beautiful, for me it is a mixture of hard architecture,
science and nature, and engineering, focused on the plight of the
honeybee. It’s a beautiful project and I was delighted to meet
the artist.
128 129thoughts from kew gardensaluminium: sympathetic and powerful
Fig 5.21 46,3m welded aluminium alloy bridge, designed and fabricated by MAADI, being craned into postion, 2014, published with permission from the oil extraction comapny
MS – What is your most inspirational aluminium-based work of
architecture or product?
AdlC – It’s a good question. I have experienced many good
aluminium projects in my career, for example Mazzolani
Superdome structures. But as an engineer the aircraft structures
are a source of inspiration, they have proven that aluminium is a
structural material.
MS – Do you think the construction industry has a lot to learn from
aerospace and automotive industries, which we can transfer into
architecture and infrastructure?
AdlC – Yes, unfortunately we work in a conservative world. I think
the aircraft industry and the military bring us many developments
using aluminium, which we all can profit from. As you know, we
worked with the Canadian Army designing deployable bridges.
For the military the first price is not the key question, it is durability
and sustainability. The total cost of ownership is important to them.
Thus aluminium is the metal often selected in this context.
MS – This year you have designed and tested a rapidly deployable
bridge for the Canadian Army.
AdlC – We have been mandated by the Canadian Army to provide
a rapidly deployable bridge that can be used in earthquakes
including the one that recently hit Haiti and hurricane zones in the
Gulf of Mexico. The bridge can be delopyed in 80 minutes, without
the use of a crane. It is assembled by hand by eight troopers from
prefabricated aluminium elements. The bridge is not welded, it is
assembled using cast aluminium nodes and bolts that go through
the neutral access of each members. Thus only a few components
are needed to make a bridge.
MS – Is there renaissance in the specification of all-aluminium
pedestrian bridges and why is this the case?
AdlC – MAADI Group has been involved in the design and
assembly of bridges for many years now. Earlier in my career I had
been working for a large dock manufacturer, fabricating large
structural aluminium gangways. Aluminium has proved to be an
outstanding material, even in a salty, humid marine environment.
We should be prompting the use of aluminium, it is a material for
the future. It lasts forever.
MS – Thank you for taking part in today’s symposium. Are there
things you heard or learnt that may to influence the future practice
of your company?
AdlC – I have met very nice people. I would congratulate you on
your book Aluminium: Flexible and Light. This was a missing ‘piece’
in my field and now we have a book that shows creativity in the
use of aluminium, not just by engineers but also architects and
designers. This series of books will open the minds and creativity of
many people. I have met many very interesting people and for me
this is the start of a long collaboration.
MS – Merci beaucoup, Alex.
AdlC – Thank you, Michael.
130 131thoughts from kew gardensaluminium: sympathetic and powerful
Fig 5.21 Canadian Army Tactical Bridge, 2020, designed and fabricated by MAADI Group. Deployable in 4 meter modules up to 24 meters