Company Details
Company NameGENCORK
AddressEstrada Nacional n.º 2, km 413.2, Bemposta, 2205-213
Abrantes
Portugal
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NameBrimet Silva
Job TitleCreative Director
EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.
Phone00351 910335586
Role of this organisation in the project being enteredmanufacturer
Category
  • Public Building - Public Buildings used by the public for any purpose, such as assembly, education, entertainment, government, healthcare, transport or worship. This will also include civic centres, community centres, libraries, visitor centres, culture, health + wellbeing, faith, education, sports venues and stadia, transport, central + local government, entertainment and event venues
Name of organisation entering the Awards (if different from above)GENCORK
Project Name (written how it should appear)CORKBIOMORPH BY GENCORK AT CORK MUSEUM
Project AddressRua do Choupelo 39, 4400-088
Vila Nova de Gaia
Portugal
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Client NameWOW World of Wine
Designer/Architect NameLe Brimet
Contractor NameSofalca ,LDA
Project Description

The CorkBiomorph panel exhibited at Wow Museum represents a new chapter on GENCORK´s history. A statement of an ambitious strategy that aims to join together matter, material, materialization and materiality. Sustainability as a starting point, generative design as the main creative process, and digital fabrication as a powerful tool, to reach human emotions, our ultimate goal.
The 150 m2 of GENCORK in a single wall, without repetition of any of the slabs, around 260 of them, in a public space of a museum, represents the materialization of a vision even prior to Gencork which was “to isolate with art, reaching as far as the eye can see.
The WOW project was a great challenge to test our capabilities with this wonderful material and the amazing scripts that generate the patterns. It’s the biggest wall that we have ever produced. The wall stretches over 21 meters and at the highest point reaches 9 meters. We machined on our CNC mills 262 cork slabs to create the surface, and if you look at it it’s seamless.
While working on the script that generated the surface, at this scale, we found a new possibility, to create an additional pixelated texture, that would bring the technological identity of the brand to a biomimetic pattern. It was a big risk to go through with this never tested new texture, because of the schedule there were no do-overs. We trusted the script and we couldn’t be happier with the result.
Cost of the project 50000 euros
Completion date : September 2020

Materials Used

It is only used cork of the branches (falca) for the manufacture of cork granules. These are block clusters in an autoclave, a process that’s 100% natural, without the use of additives. This technology, developed by Sofalca, consists of injecting water vapor through pellets that will expand and agglomerate with the resin of the cork itself. This “cooking” also gives the resulting cork a dark color, like chocolate.
The scale is impressive, the visual effect of our pattern corkbiomorph is remarkable. A giant step in our story, from construction material to a piece of art. Creativity as a Key Role to promote new perspectives and connect a group of creative people looking for extraordinary user experiences, full of emotions, and wow factor.

Sustainability

During the production of the steam, biomass is used, which is obtained in milling and cleaning the falca, and that’s what makes it a truly ecological production and without waste, with a 95% energy self-sufficiency. This super-material, cork, offers a huge range of advantages, because, in addition to being an excellent thermal and acoustic insulator and as well as antivibration, it’s also a CO2 sink, playing a key role in the environment.

Issues Faced

The digital process is one of the most important elements of GENCORK ´ s DNA. Adopting computational design strategies, the brand explores algorithmic scripts inspired by nature, as well as mathematics, geometry, and biomimetics, through parametric systems. With this process, it’s now possible to produce a huge range of different variations of a pattern, adapting it to any size or form.

Video Linkvimeo.com
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