Double Curvature Façade

Convent in Bologna
6 November 2018
House 313
14 September 2018

Prototype of a double-curved façade, discretized by linear wooden beams.

This prototype of a double-curved self-supporting façade, discretized by linear wooden beams, is an INDEXLAB project to which Ergodomus provided support for the type of joint with flat connecting plates and FEM analysis.

With the algorithmic modeling the base surface was generated, then it was discretized by applying linear elements. At this point the difficulty is evident, as by discretizing a shape with a double-curved surface the connections between the elements will inevitably all be different. Managing the design and fabrication of each beam and connection becomes really complex and very expensive in terms of time and energy with standard working methods.

The innovation introduced by this facade prototype is the integrated system between computational logic and digital and robotic manufacturing methods.
The algorithm developed by INDEXLAB allows you to automatically generate the joints and connections between the beams, subsequently for each individual element the geometric information is extracted to produce a processing file for CNC machines or robots.

INDEXLAB was founded in 2010 by Pierpaolo Ruttico, architect and engineer (Ph.D.). Pierpaolo Ruttico is a research fellow at the Politecnico di Milano.

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