Since 2004 The choice of appropriate materials for elastic gridshells is at the root of the development of these structures at the Navier laboratory, but things actually came out the other way round. Historically, the expertise of the laboratory is material science and we were looking for "taylor made" applications [...]
Since 2007 Elastic gridshells are usually transformed from a flat configuration to their final three dimensional form. In their final form, the stresses in the bars could be very high due to the curvature of the bars. In this research project different strategies were used to optimise the [...]
Since 2013 Elastic gridshells are often covered with stretched membranes. While this solution is economical, it offers poor performances in terms of acoustic or thermic insulation. This restricts the application of elastic gridshells to temporary buildings. This page shows two research projects proposing alternatives to membranes for the [...]
Since 2004 The gridshells built by the Navier laboratory are made of a flat composite grid deformed elastically to obtain the shape desired. The design of the gridshell is based on many numerical simulations and on experience acquired during the fabrication of several full-scale prototypes. [...]
Since 2013 Gridshells can encounter extremely large displacements before the ruin of any element. This phenomenon, known as buckling, is critical for the reliability of structures and should be avoided. Shells and gridshells are extremely sensitive to buckling. The influence of the forces brought by the shaping process [...]
Since 2014 Free-form architecture challenges designers and makers. Non-standard geometries bring many issues for the rationalisation of facades and structural layout. This research investigates two fabrication constraints relevant for glazed structures: the covering of doubly-curved shapes with planar facets, and the proper offset of support structure. [...]
Since 2000 Systems consisting of beams mutually supporting each other have been known for centuries, they are referred as reciprocal systems. Numerous illustrations of such structural systems can be found in the book of O. Popovic Larsen. The term 'nexorade' describes the spatial generalisation of the flat beam [...]
Since 2010 Nexorades are simple to built and assemble but the bending moment generated by the engagement length limit the structural potential of theses structures. Two strategies were investigated. The first strategy was to develop the concept of creating a double layer system in order to increase the [...]
