AIRSHELL - Bending timber with air

MSD PhD student Alessandro Liuti completed the construction of AIRSHELL, the first timber gridshell structure ever formed by means of a pneumatic formwork.
Gridshells derive their lightness and strength from combining material and geometric properties into a form-resistant structure.
Inspired by the work of Frei Otto and Dante Bini, this new system combines the use of an inflatable membrane and an Arduino board - the former used as a dynamic formwork, the latter to monitor the height of the structure and the membrane pressure throughout the forming process.
AIRSHELL was conceived by integrating digital design techniques with small-scale prototypes, which helped simulating, prior to construction, the technology and behaviour of the system.
The project was supervised by Dr Alberto Pugnale (www.albertopugn...) and Dr Toong-Khuan Chan at the Melbourne School of Design.
Manufacturing and prototyping were developed in collaboration with:
Prof Alessandra Zanelli (Politecnico Milano / Textiles Hub) www.textilearch...
Prof Sergio Pone (University of Naples Federico II / Faculty of Architecture / Gridshell.it) www.gridshell.it/
Dr Sofia Colabella (EPFL Lausanne / Gridshell.it) www.gridshell.it/
Other technical partners include:
Serge Ferrari en.sergeferrari...
Grottaroli Wood Engineering Solutions www.grottaroli.it/
Green2 www.greenquadro...