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Form Follows Performance: Structural Optimisation and the Cost-effectiveness of Digital Fabrication

The presented paper describes a series of studio-based research projects on structural optimisation and the cost-effectiveness of digital fabrication that aim to balance stress distribution across thick walls or a rib density of slabs. As a consequence of the structural optimisations, the results tend to be non-uniform shapes that are not ideal for cost-effective fabrication. This paper introduces a few simple models to balance structural optimisation and fabrication cost-effectiveness. It involves relatively simple structural simulations as the design inputs, and then converts the simulation results into various architectural forms using parametric 3D modelling tool (McNeel Rhinoceros v4, Grasshopper v0.8) before fabricating them using digital fabrication technologies. The major challenge of this study is how to translate simulation results into architectural components/overall building shapes and how to fabricate complex forms in a cost-effective manner.