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Hypar Lightweight Roofing Workshop

  • 29 Jun 2013
  • 03 Jul 2013
  • Fifth Wind Farm, Cobourg, Ontario

Hypar Lightweight Roofing Workshop
June 29 to July 3, 2013
$300
Onsite housing $10/night or camping $5/night, $5/meal

Hypar is a shortened version of hyperparabolic, and hypar roofs are one of the most exciting and fascinating architectural developments of the past half-century. This workshop is being taught by George Nez, who developed this system of lightweight roofing, and a rare opportunity to learn from the originator!

Whether used in developing countries as emergency shelter or village homes or used in North American locations with high snow loads, these roof systems use a minimum of structural members and rely on hyperparabolic geometry and fabric with a latex-modified concrete to provide strong, durable and very lightweight roofs for buildings small and large.

George will lead the participants in the design requirements for hypar roofs and the construction of an entire hypar roof. Among the classroom topics covered will be an overview of forms, purposes, calculations, blackboard geometry, and roof characteristics for various climates and loads. Participants will then frame, stretch fabric and pour the latex cement on a full-sized roof in the workshop.

Come and join this workshop with George Nez on how to build a lightweight concrete Hypar roof onto a hexagonal straw bale studio building. This is a unique opportunity to learn about a form of construction that defies most conventional thinking about roof structures and could revolutionize your outlook on building design!

For more information or to register, contact Joanna or Henry Weirsma at; fifthwinds@gmail.com

For pictures about the process, CLICK HERE; http://www.flyingconcrete.com/hypar.htm



George Nez pioneered and wrote the book on hypar roofs, along with Albert Knott. His latest book called, Latex Concrete Habitat con be found at Amazon. 

Dr. George Nez serves as a technical advisor on TSC Hypar roof systems. Formerly a city planning director and professor, he has served in UN and USAID development projects in Ghana, Egypt, the Persian Gulf countries, Thailand, S. Korea, and coordinated post-earthquake planning of Skopje, Macedonia and Managua, Nicaragua. In Ghana he initiated roofs-first preparation of 20 new and enlarged villages for emergency resettlement, in the Volta Basin hydroelectric program, where the roofs-first construction allowed families to move into their own new houses and complete walls using traditional methods. 

Since retirement he has continued training: for the Nuba Water Project of South Sudan, for the Birambye L’Esperance Orphanage project in Rwanda, the Sheik Yassin school in Wardak Afghanistan, introducing bamboo framed thin shell roofing in Bangladesh Architectural Research Institute, and thin-shell roofing over compressed earth brick walls in Uganda. He has researched this system since 1980 along with engineers Evan Curtis of National Park Service and Albert Knott of Knott Testing Laboratory, Denver.

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