Mario Rinke | University of Antwerp (original) (raw)

Papers by Mario Rinke

Academia Press eBooks, Dec 31, 2022

Technology, Architecture + Design, Jul 2, 2023

International Journal of Architectural Heritage

E3S Web of Conferences

Situated within the broader scope of the ERASMUS+ research project Crafting Circularity: Rethinki... more Situated within the broader scope of the ERASMUS+ research project Crafting Circularity: Rethinking Sustainable Design and Construction in Architecture Education, the present paper is an early contribution on project-based learning-through-making methodologies and their implementation in architectural curricula. The construction industry exploits vast quantities of raw materials, produces more than a third of global waste, and causes a large portion of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. However, while new models tackling resource scarcity emerge in practice and an array of R-strategies is discussed within the research community, education is yet to adjust, architectural education in particular. If architects are a decisive agent of change, this needs to be distinctly reflected in the reorientation of teaching. This project discusses strategies for translating current research findings on circular construction practices into architectural education. The various components of the p...

Beton- Und Stahlbetonbau, Sep 1, 2012

Journal of Cleaner Production, May 1, 2021

The concept of a circular economy has been proposed as a key component of a solution for the fini... more The concept of a circular economy has been proposed as a key component of a solution for the finiteness of earth's resources. As one path, the research on the direct reuse of construction components focusses on strategies for designing buildings for disassembly in the end-of-life stage. This is of particular importance because it can reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry. The recently published ISO 20887 also advocates to design buildings for disassembly and to use standard-sized components. However, to the authors' knowledge the role of standardisation in this process remains unexplored. Therefore, in this paper the evolution of standardisation is studied in order to identify the drivers for standardisation and currently available standards that aid and support the claims of the ISO 20887. This study concludes that most standards are introduced from an economic, rather than an environmental point of view. Also, ISO 20887 seems to be the first actual standard addressing the idea of reusing building components. Through an integrative discussion of the available types of construction standards, the problem areas obstructing the required further standardisation are identified: protectionism of contractors whom perceive standardisation as a threat, protectionism of manufacturers whom are reluctant to change the organisation structure, and designers whom seem least aware of the need to implement the circular economy in the construction sector. Finally, a corresponding trajectory is proposed for future standardisation to tackle these problem areas and to actually perform its role as an essential enabler for circular Reuse in the construction sector.

CRC Press eBooks, Aug 1, 2021

Many factors contributed to the early success of glue-laminated timber (glulam) in Switzerland fo... more Many factors contributed to the early success of glue-laminated timber (glulam) in Switzerland following its introduction in 1908. A strongly interconnected network of established players was decisive for the early acceptance and development of such a recent building material. Within this network, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) played a decisive role through their early and broad involvement. In the formation of a new practice, they simultaneously represented a wide range of institutions. This paper discusses the role of the SBB in the development of early glulam in Switzerland between 1910-1945.The agency of the SBB will be analyzed here across two levels: the material practice of glulam, i.e., the construction of the material on the one hand, and the social construct of it, i.e., the construction of the material culture on the other. Based on archival material documenting the design process and construction phases of SBB buildings, this demonstrates how a productive network was formed through the agency of SBB and which relationships were crucial to its existence.

World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2023)

The rise of multi-storey timber architecture has been recognized by multiple actors in the field.... more The rise of multi-storey timber architecture has been recognized by multiple actors in the field. Most contributors discuss new timber buildings made with engineered wood products (EWP) almost entirely technologically, neglecting both spatial-architectural and organisational-functional aspects within buildings. Furthermore, even though today's timber structures are designed for longevity, studies show that more than half of all buildings are demolished not because of technical deficiencies but because of vacancy. This suggests that most buildings have an insufficient potential for adaptation. This paper critically discusses current approaches of adaptability in timber construction and examine their relevance and effectivity within the larger theoretical framework of architectural adaptability. For this purpose, both areas are discussed based on existing literature and compared in their central aspects. Based upon three case studies in Europe, the principles of adaptability for timber buildings are visually traced and analysed. In conclusion, precise demands for zones of changeability and permanence within the building can be predicted and timber components can be applied accordingly in a targeted manner. The paper proposes strategies for designing a timber construction that is differentiated according to the functional layers and designed to be able to adapt over time.

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Apr 1, 2022

HAL is a multidisciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific re... more HAL is a multidisciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

Waste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy

The reuse of construction components is considered as a higher value process in a Circular Econom... more The reuse of construction components is considered as a higher value process in a Circular Economy (CE) than recycling. However, this is not yet widely adopted as many barriers still prevent the successful integration of the concept. The ISO20887 standard advocates that the implementation of construction standards will benefit circular reuse. Yet, these standards still need to be developed. To better understand the views of the construction sector, a survey was sent to the network of the Green Deal on Circular Construction (GDCC), led by Circular Flanders. The survey (number of recipients = 629, response rate = 16%) investigates the current implementation of Design for Disassembly and the reuse of construction components. Additionally, it investigates the respondents’ view on how a further morphological standardisation of components and connections, as well as standardisation of procedures can facilitate this reuse of construction components. The result is a concrete set of action p...

Holz: Stoff oder Form : Transformationen einer Konstruktionslogik / Rinke, Mario [edit.], 2014

The beginning of the twentieth century marks a decisive point of transition for timber constructi... more The beginning of the twentieth century marks a decisive point of transition for timber construction. After the development of large span structures in the nineteenth century using new structural and constructional typologies based on newly established scientific methods, the construction industry sought to push the construction of the material itself. Based on the experience with the fabrication of smaller, precisely shaped timber components, German master carpenter Otto Hetzer was granted the first patent for glue-laminated timber in 1906. One of the earliest contributors to the glulam development is the Swiss engineers Bernhard Terner and Charles Chopard who acquired the Hetzer patent in 1908 and the exclusive right in Switzerland. Apart from their celebrated large-scale structures, many exceptional smaller applications are part of their portfolio, mostly in roof structures and low-rise urban developments. The small-scale structures, in particular, demonstrate how this is not a radical shift but rather a transitional process with a dominant driver of functionality and traditional external building appearance. This paper examines the process of applying the new glulam technology to the traditional roof scheme and its standard structural components. Based on the planning process of a sports hall, which stands for a standard typology of early small-scale glulam construction, the transitional introduction of glulam is driven by applying simple and successful patterns and radicalising technical features through practical constructional considerations.

The 19th century is generally considered the time frame in which the disciplines of architecture ... more The 19th century is generally considered the time frame in which the disciplines of architecture and engineering irrevocably parted ways. Although the development of civil engineering as an independent discipline had already begun before the industrial revolution, it proceeded rapidly during the period of industrialisation in conjunction with several other influences. Among those were processes of social transformation in Europe, the development of specialised fields of activity in all professions as a function of changed conditions of production, fundamental technology euphoria in the widespread belief in progress, as well as the development and application of new materials. Especially the building material iron and the associated new types of constructions and typologies can be characterised as typical for that phase of industrialisation. A period of experimentation and discovery occurred in the quest for appropriate methods and forms of construction - built objects continuously c...