TED Community » Mark Ballantine

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Sustainable, frustration-free construction methods

An idea worth spreading

With netting, sheets of fabric, and simple sewing techniques anyone can create form-work for concrete, grout, sand and microbes structures.

Imagine tubes of fabric, netting sewn within as reinforcement for both the concrete and the form-work. Tubes connected to other tubes by netting to temporarily hold the desired structure. These tubes, in all shapes and sizes pumped or filled with fibrous concrete similar to inflating a balloon animal with air.

These structures are light weight, stay-in-place forms, that can be dropped (prefabricated) into any area, inflated with air to unfold the form-work for layout. Then strategically filled with concrete. A new solid structure, ready for use by the next day.

Applying higher order fibers and high tech fabrics can add engineered, calculable strengths where needed. Specialized self-consolidating concrete, ceramic, and clay blends can enhance the properties of these structures.

Talk to me about

Anything related earth, humanity, art and design.

People don't know that I'm good at

Cooking, soccer, fly fishing.

My TED Story

I am in my infancy as the TED story goes, however, I am an avid, ravenous researcher and student of the TED talks and auxiliary features: As well as web threads relating to such talks.

Comments

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• A comment on Conversation: Guaranteed job placement through government-sponosred career training

  Oct 14 2012: I would have reservations with the opinions of professionals directly assessing the juvenile "me". My own experience reflects your idea. My father saw the potential engineer in me and pressed me toward that end. I wanted to be a biologist, "Medicine Man", explorer. But he was paying for school so he won and we both lost. He assessed based on his own bias', greatest financial opportunity for his kid and not the spirit that was my driving desire.
  
  Translated to your idea: The database of society "now" needs could corrupt the opinions of the very professionals tasked to marry the juveniles with these needs: Spock's philosophy, "the needs of the many out weight the needs of the one", would win out.
  
  The military uses a very similar system which works very well in satisfying it's own needs regardless of the talent or spirit of the individual being assessed. The individual is committed to the assignment for 3 or 4 years after which they can seek other "open" assignments, stay in their current assignment, or leave the military. Other similar programs exist as well.
  
  I am not, however, against your idea but the assessments must be spirit, desire and talent focused to be successful. The juvenile must be in the drivers seat and allowed to be as ridiculous (to the ears of the wiser us) in the determination of his or her fate. Failure is an acceptable outcome and a reassessment under the same guidelines must be appreciated without shame, humiliation, or ridicule to be a great success.

• A reply on Conversation: Balloon Forming: Creating permanent structures of any shape, everywhere

  Oct 3 2012: Maybe this will help: Local fairs have "bouncy" houses made of rubber, vinyl, ropes and air pumps. These play houses can be made in different shapes, sizes and esthetic quality. When deflated, they package nicely and are very mobile.
  
  Upgrade the materials, incorporate an internal mesh reinforcement to hold the concrete together, and use netting, strapping and guying as a temporary positioning control measure countering the hydraulic forces and other variables until the form is filled. Turn buckles or similar adjustment tools will aid in truing up the structure (Plumb, Level and Square) prior to complete curing.

• A comment on Talk: Shyam Sankar: The rise of human-computer cooperation

  Oct 3 2012: Shyam's talk provides sufficient stimulus for my liking. Be damned the ongoing hammer and man cooperation argument. This is the first time and place that I heard of "Foldit" and it's ability to subjugate the mental masses to solve a very complex problem. I want to introduce Foldit to Cheryl Hayashi, (TED Talk: The magnificence of spider silk), 3-d printing, Janet Echelman (TED Talk: Taking imagination seriously) and myself. Our art, science and sustainable humanitarian efforts can and will benefit by any cooperative, collaboration.
  
  Should the financial market guru's agree, then Foldit may very well be the next big investment. It is therefore, worth a bit of energy and time on my part to investigate this further.
  
  See you in the future,
  
  Mark

• A comment on Talk: Ben Goldacre: What doctors don't know about the drugs they prescribe

  Oct 3 2012: Thank-you for waking me up.
• +2

  A comment on Talk: Janet Echelman: Taking imagination seriously

  Oct 2 2012: Hello Janet,
  
  I am a construction designer using netting and fabric as a construction form for concrete and other structural media. I am seeking collaborators to help develop emergency housing, civil buildings and structures using my balloon forming systems. Your mastery and knowledge in net-works is remarkably awe inspiring. And my hope is to glean some of your insights and apply it to our process.
  
  To our mutual benefit,
  Mark

• A reply on Conversation: Balloon Forming: Creating permanent structures of any shape, everywhere

  Oct 2 2012: Fabulous, very good information and amazing artwork.
  Thank you

• A reply on Conversation: Balloon Forming: Creating permanent structures of any shape, everywhere

  Oct 2 2012: Thank you, I begin a very exciting hunt.