Parametric Dome_Design + 1:1 Fabrication

“A dome is a common structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere”

This project was developed during the third term of the MAA_IaaC 2007-2008, by a group of 20 students, under the tutorship of Marta Male-Alemany and with the assistance of Shane Salisbury.

The objective of the project was to design a dome-shaped pavilion and fabricate it 1:1 using the facilities of the FAB-LAB Barcelona, and to prepare an exhibition about the whole process.

The modeling was done in TopSolid – parametric and associative design software, which links entirely the design with the fabrication process, as every change in the model gives new updated fabrication files. The fabrication was done with a laser cutting machine (Spirit GE 100W). The materials used were 3mm corrugated cardboard and plastic zip ties for the connections. The final pavilion is about 3.5m (radius) by 2m (h), and consists of about 1000 different triangles, needing 5 days and 20 people working in shifts all 24 hours to cut and assemble. The pavilion has integrated motion sensors and leds that light up according to the amount of people around it. A really interesting project that put us all the way into the world of digital fabrication.

The process was very demanding from the very first moment, since each decision made would affect and be affected by time and materiality issues. The decision about the final size of the dome, the number of the components, were directly linked with the strength and the price of the material, the time it would need to cut and assemble, the people needed to attend and carry out all that. One very important and frustrating at moments fact was that the final design was mostly developed taking into consideration the capabilities of the lasercutting machine we would use ( the bed is 450×900mm and it cannot cut metal). But even that, was one of the greatest lessons about CAM fabrication!

The final presentation was articulated in three parts, consisting of a:the process of design and fabrication, b:the detailed presentation of the final product and c:the process of work in terms of team work and organization. All that of course were completed by all the initial models produced during the design and fabrication research, and a video demonstrating the soul of the project.

Check out the whole process of the project: The Dome @ IaaCblog