Authors
Cyril Douthe, Romain Mesnil, Olivier Baverel, Tristan Gobin, Xavier Tellier, Nicolas Ducoulombier and Nicolas Montagne
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to present the design and fabrication of an innovative timber structure, built on the campus of l’Ecole des Ponts ParisTech. The structural principle of the pavilion, spanning 6.5 meters with a structural thickness of 14cm, is derived from nexorades, also called reciprocal frames by some authors. Nexorades are constituted of load-bearing elements which support each other along their span and not extremities. The paper applies a novel form-finding method based upon translation of the edges [1]. The method yields a linear subspace for shape explorations, which can easily be computed. The form-finding technique also allows for the covering of nexorades with planar facets if the geometry before transformation is covered with planar facets [2].
