Digital tools and experimentations for structures realised with the active bending

The research presented in this paper deals with the experience gained by a Research Unit from DiARC Naples on the topic of active bending structures, in the specific domain of timber post-formed gridshells. The design of specific digital tools aimed at controlling architectural and construction issues of such structures can be considered as one of the most important achievements to guarantee the buildability of these lightweight and ecological structures. So far, the research group experimented the design and construction of more than 10 among pavilions and full-scale prototypes of timber gridshells. This paper traces the method to design elastic gridshells starting from their form in a strict relationship with construction issues, with the aim at freeing the initial concept stage under the surveillance of buildability and allowing the implementation of the bespoke tools as well as of the construction methods

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Maker: the return of the builders. A possible digital transition for Architecture

This contribution attempts to answer the following question: how will the digital revolution affect architecture in the near future? To try to formulate a convincing answer, only very faint signals that come from courageous experiments are available, a result mainly of research work rather than market-proposed stimuli. A handful of researchers in a select number of Universities, armed with extraordinary digital skills and maker-type instrumentation, are creating new experimental constructions in which highly complex design is combined with extremely simple construction, which do not require the manufacturing skills and expensive equipment that populate traditional construction sites. By establishing these lines of development, it would be possible to bring architecture close to the people and restore a central role for the designer in the making of buildings