Efficient and Expressive Thin-tile Vaulting using Cardboard Formwork

This paper presents research in the construction of freeform, thin-tile vaulting, demonstrated through a full scale prototype with the application of an expandable cardboard formwork

system. This form of complex structural design is enabled through Thrust Network Analysis (TNA)

– a novel three-dimensional design tool for exploring funicular form. These freeform shells present new challenges for tiling patterns, sequence of building and especially the structural stability and guidework during construction. A continuous formwork system was developed using 2-D CAD- CAM cutting and gluing processes. The combined implementation of traditional thin-tile vaulting, TNA and the efficient cardboard formwork allows the construction of increasingly complex forms with the same (or even improved) benchmarks of sustainability and economy – radical form with efficient construction.