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Conference Paper: Peer reviewed

SmartNodes Pavilion – Towards custom-optimized nodes applications in construction

by Crolla K., Williams N., Burry J., Muehlbauer M.

ABSTRACT |Recent developments in Additive Manufacturing are creating possibilities to make not only rapid prototypes, but directly manufactured customised components. This paper investigates the potential for combining standard building materials with customised nodes that are individually optimised in response to local load conditions in non-standard, irregular, or doubly curved frame structures. This research iteration uses as a vehicle for investigation the SmartNodes Pavilion, a temporary structure with 3D printed nodes built for the 2015 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture in Hong Kong. The pavilion is the most recent staged output of the SmartNodes Project. It builds on the findings in earlier iterations by introducing topologically constrained node forms that marry the principals of the evolved optimised node shape with topological constraints imposed to meet the printing challenges. The 4m high canopy scale prototype structure in this early design research iteration represents the node forms using plastic Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM).

KEYWORDS |Digital Fabrication; Additive Manufacturing; File to Factory; Design Optimisation; 3D Printing for Construction

CITATION | Crolla, Kristof, Williams Nicholas, Burry Jane, and Muehlbauer Manuel. “SmartNodes Pavilion – Towards custom-optimized nodes applications in construction”. in P. Janssen, P. Loh, A. Raonic, M. A. Schnabel (eds.), Protocols, Flows and Glitches, Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) 2017, Hong Kong, pp.467 – 476