firts steps of a circular economy in construction & design: tools for a circular design and construction: about lightness, simplicity, modularity, a clever design and aesthetics

1. SHUKHOV’s RADIO STATION
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
IN 19th CENTURY RUSSIA
www.blieberg.eu

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Whenever in history there was a
shortage of building materials,
creativity was needed and often a
circular approach was the answer.
In 1890 in Russia, Vladimir
Shukhov invented the
hyperboloid structures.

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These hyperboloid structures
not only achieved great strength
and rigidity, but also used as
little building material as
possible.
His invention could be seen as
one of the early circular
construction solutions.

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In the beginning of the 20th
century, Russia severely suffered
the effects of World War I and the
Civil War.
Steel was a scarce good, not to
mention the shortage of qualified
workers and the lack of
performant construction
equipment.

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Shukhovs design for the radio tower
in Moskow deals with this shortage
and scarcity:
The tower is composed of 6 sections,
placed on top of each other. Each
section is a “single cavity hyperboloid
structure of rotation”, made of a
steel lattice structure.
The design minimizes wind load,
which is the main hazard for high-
rising constructions.
a clever design is a first
step in, and a key-factor of
a circular economy

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The amount of steel needed for
such a hyperboloid structure is
far less than for a traditional
structure of trusses (*).
More over: reclaimed materials
from disassembled bridges and
factories were used. Scarcity of
materials is a driver for a circular
economy.
Lightness and re-use as a
characteristic of a circular economy

7. www.blieberg.euAs there was a lack of skilled
workers, people had to be
trained on the construction site.
This demanded an easy-to-build
design.
Simplicity as a characteristic of a
circular economy

8. www.blieberg.euSimplicity was therefore
essential in his concept:
indeed, although apparently
curved, his hyperboloid towers
are a steel latticework frame,
made of straight (!) iron bars
with equal lengths, easily
assembled, by riveting them on
each node..
. Modularity as a characteristic of a
circular economy

9. www.blieberg.euHis tower construction could be
carried out without any cranes
and scaffolding, using the
telescopic method:
the upper sections were
assembled inside the lowest one
and were lifted onto each other,
with pulleys and winches

10. It surely was not an item in the
construction of the tower in
these days, but the filigree
design is of a delicate and
ephemeral quality.
Aesthetics do play a role in
giving buildings a long life (**).
And this is what circularity in the
design and construction is about.
..
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11. Epilogue:
in 1990, the VRT held a design
and build competition for a
similar radio tower, +300 m high.
The winning entry needed
11.000m³ of concrete (half of it
under the ground) and +1100 ton
of rebar steel.
Shukhov would have done the
job with twice this amount of the
reinforcement steel alone, and
without any concrete at all (***).
www.blieberg.eu
5.

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kris@blieberg.eu
image credits
1. photo: unknown, from
constructionweekonline,
article-29669-
2. Maxim Fedorov
3. Olegs Belousovs
(*)If the tower would have been built to its proposed
height of 350 m, its mass (2200 ton) would have been a
mere third of the Paris Tour Eiffel (approx. 350 m as well,
and 7300 ton). In the event, the tower only reached
160m instead of the planned 350 m, because of a
shortage of steel.
(**) The proposed demolition in spring 2014 ignited a
passionate, international conservation campaign. In
2017, the tower was put on a list of protected landmarks.
(***) If regulations and the weight of technical
equipments would be the same.