Masonry vaults are mechanically efficient structures but deemed uneconomical because of falsework construction. Even a craft like thin-tile vaulting, which does not require centering to support the vault during construction, needs time-consuming guidework to aid the builders follow the vault's geometry. However, this visual support can be digitized, using augmented reality to create digital guidework. The proposed methodology provides a framework that empowers vault builders to remain in control of their analog craft by providing only the right digital visual information. This methodology was developed through a preliminary prototype that led to a demonstrator built in an uncontrolled outdoor environment. Construction results showed productivity gain around 30% in terms of time, and shape accuracy under 1% of the span. The static holographic projection of the guidework could be extended in future research into an interactive aid, through mixed reality for further construction productivity and accuracy, as well as for training and design.

This paper explores the potential of traditional Spanish timber roofs as a structural system that blends framework carpentry with Islamic geometric patterns for contemporary construction. By integrating historical craftsmanship with modern engineering techniques, the research investigates solutions for spherical Lazo carpentry, where Lazo, or strapwork, designs fulfill both ornamental and structural roles. A key focus is the design, analysis, and fabrication of a four-meter-span Lazo pavilion, employing polyhedral projections to form modular spherical surfaces. Structural performance is evaluated through physical tests of materials and joints leading to an exploration of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the whole structure. The project also explores the construction and disassembly of the Lazo pavilion through defining the detailing of its different joints. The findings promise applications in spatial and shell structures, such as gridshells inspired by interlaced Lazo domes, providing a roadmap for designing structural Lazo discrete shells. Collaborating with architects, engineers, and master carpenters, this research enhances understanding across geometry, carpentry, structural mechanics, timber engineering, and architectural design while laying the groundwork for further exploration of this vernacular structural craft.

Structural design is a search for the best trade-off between multiple architecture, engineering, and construction objectives, not only mechanical efficiency or construction rationality. Producing hybrid designs from single-objective optimal designs to explore multi-objective trade-offs is common in the design of structural forms, constrained to a single parametric design space. However, producing topological hybrids offers a more complex challenge, as a combinatorial problem that is not encoded as a finite set of real numbers but as an unbonded series of grammar rules. This paper presents a strategy for the generation of hybrid designs of quad-mesh pattern topologies for surface structures. Based on a quad-mesh grammar, an algebra is introduced to measure the distance between designs, find their similar features, and enumerate designs with different degrees of topological similarity. Structural design applications are shown to highlight the use of topologically hybrid designs as a surrogate for obtaining multi-objective trade-offs.

This paper investigates the feasibility of adapting ancient historical construction techniques to cooperative robotic assembly methods to minimize centering requirements in masonry vaults. First, an overview of seven historical techniques is presented. Next, a classification framework is introduced to evaluate the automation potential of these methods, identifying the rib network as the most promising candidate. This is followed by two computational case studies on the cooperative robotic construction of planar masonry arches and multi-arch rib networks. These studies evaluated the impact of robotic reachability and support payload on the feasibility of centering-free construction. A conclusion based only on these simulation results is that high-payload fixed robots, in comparison to medium-payload mobile setups, allow for the construction of larger and more complex rib structures. This research is of relevance to architects and engineers interested in using a cooperative robotic fabrication framework to reduce centering in masonry vault construction.

Several structural systems rely on a specific hierarchy between their constitutive elements, which results in topological constraints on the feasible patterns that can describe them. Folded, corrugated, or creased surface structures require this bipartition, also called two-colouring, between independent wavy and smooth directions. Finding a valid pattern for complex design problems is not straightforward and identifying relevant ones is important as creasing can either strengthen or weaken a structure. This paper presents a way of tackling such a design problem, by focusing on the roof of the Great Courtyard of the British Museum, revisiting this structure with a creased shell to increase its bending stiffness in the key directions. The methodology includes two-colour topology finding of corrugated patterns, parametric structural analysis, and simple structural optimisation through data analysis for topological combination, which opens new research avenues for performance-informed topological exploration.