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...

[@express375]

a long stick replaces the bag?

[@raymondkapanda6977]

Awesome

[@shivaargula4735]

Interesting. Were you using any kind of feedback from the air pressure to determine if the wood could be bent further or just doing it at set intervals? If you figure out a way to continuously hold down the supports properly instead of having to do it manually, you could automate the whole system.

[@ulrikebergmann5383]

cool !

[@EV-wp1fj]

Really innovative idea, but lose the bag and just use a scissorjack with a buck placed on top of it. So much simpler.

[@vonwelflingeybers7758]

Agreed, simplicity is always a winner, especially on an outdoor location like this.

[@nauy]

I’d be impressed if they didn’t use million dollar CNC machines and spendy air bladders to build this. It could’ve been done easily with hand tools, a high lift jack, and a bit of water.

[@visistamedicals7246]

M janardhanreddy proddatur omomomomomomomomomomomomom