22

Fig. i: MA0A vault, Melbourne, Australia, zoi. (Photo: Peter Bennetts.)

2J
nissco 1iic vnui1iNc:
iNNovn1ioN 1HnoucH 1wo
ocsicN-suiio wonxsHors
rutrrr stocx (r1u zuacu), MrtoNr snvt-sM1u (u1s, svoNrv), 1M scuoax (Mnon, MrtsouaNr),
nMrs srttnMv (arvnut1), onvr roanM (u1s, svoNrv)
Traditional tile vaults are typically constructed springing off from walls or straight arches built from support element to support
element on falsework. From these, the vaults surface can be built in space with minimal or no guidework. Built on previous research
and focusing on continuous surface expression and fully representing three-dimensional equilibrium surfaces in compression,
this research explores the design potential of three-dimensional networks of structural ribs, made possible by new funicular
form-finding approaches. This new structural typology for tile vaults was investigated and tested through two intensive,
design-build workshops in Australia, the first at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in Dctober zoiz, and the second
at Monash Art 0esign & Architecture (MA0A), Melbourne in May zoi.
N1aoouc1oN
Wlh ndebledness lo projecls such as lhe Mapunubwe ln
lerprelve Cenlre n Lmpopo, Soulh Afrca,' lhe 6ooyearod
Medlerranean conslruclon lechnque known as le or Cala
anvaulnsunderonanmporlanlrevvaandallracln
ncreasednleresl.Tevaulsareunrenforcedmasonryvauls
madeoflhnles,bulnmulpeayers,wlhlhelypcale
unlszeapproxmaleyzizzcm.Tradlonalevaulsare
conslrucled by budn off of was or from arches, slrahl
n pan and bul on fasework, from supporl eemenl lo sup
porl eemenl. Takn a wa or lhese arches as boundary sup
porlsforlhevaulssurface,lhefrslayeroflescanbebul
nspaceusnafaslsellnypsummorlar,commonyknown
aspaslerofars.8ymorlarnlheleunlsonlwolhnsdes,
lhe masonry s abe lo lemporary canlever unl slabe sec
lonsareformed.Whencompele,lhsslabefrslayerserves
as permanenl or osl formwork for a second, and lypcay
aso,alhrdayeroflesnorderlobudupsuffcenlslruclur
adeplh.Thesesubsequenlayersareadusnreuarmorlar
andarepacedaldfferenlanesloeacholher,andlolhefrsl,
norderlocrealeaoodbondandavodobvoushnenes.
Lnrenforcedmasonryhasnebelensecapacly,lhere
forelheshapesofvaulsneedloresulnaslaleofcompres
sonony.Thesecanbeoblanedlhrouhlheprocessofform
fndn, recenl deveopmenls of whch aow a conlroed ex
poralon of funcuar form. Thrusl Nelwork Anayss (TNA)
useseomelrcaynkedformandforcedarams,represenl
n lhe force fow and ls force equbrum, whch ve lhe
desner expcl conlro over lhe dslrbulon of forces n or
derloshapelhreedmensonacompressononyshes.The
concepls of TNA have been mpemenled n a free pun for
lheCA0soflwarekhnoceros,caedkhno\ALLT.
revous research, such as lhe prololype vaul bul al ETF
Zurchnzoii,focusedonconlnuous,fownledsurfaceex
pressons lhal respond lo lhe fuy lhreedmensona equb
rum soulons, possbe due lo lhese advances n formfnd
napproaches.Akeyobjeclveoflhalearerresearchwaslo
avod lhe subdvsons crealed by lhe arches n lradlona le
vaulslhalemanaledfromamanylwodmensonadesnap
proach.Thesedonolexslnaspalanelworkofforces,andcan
dslurblhespalaconlnulyoflhenewcompressonshapes.
lncomparson,lhsresearchexporeslhepolenlaofade
sn approach lhal uses a spala, nleracln nelwork of rbs
aslheformdrvneemenlforlevauls.Whsllhevauled
nfsorpalchesbelweenlherbsareunderlakennalrad
lonamanner,lheslruclurarbsnooneronyspanneary
24
belween supporls. The desn possbles of lhs new slruc
lura lypooy for le vauls, combnn lhe slruclura aclon
ofaColhcnelvaul,lheconslruclonaocoflradlonale
vauln,andnoveTNAeneraledequbrumform,weren
veslaledandleslednlwonlensvedesnbudworkshops
nAuslraa.
The frsl seres of nveslalons was underlaken al LTS
and expored fuy spala, nleracln rbs, curvn bolh n
panandeevalon.Specfcay,nveslalonswereconcerned
wlh lhe fudly of a hexaona pallern and lhe aeslhelc of
nonnlersecln (kssn) slrps of rbs of realer slruclura
deplh.AlMA0A,asecondselofnveslalonsralonasedlhe
nelworkofrbs,conslrannlhemloformslrahlsemenls
npan,formnquadralerasubdvsons.Theseconslranls
resuled n smpfed and more reaslc, scaabe fasework
conslruclonsforlherbs,reducnlheoslcachaenesof
lheLTSvaul.TheMA0Aprololypespecfcayamedlodem
onslrale lhal a vaul of compex eomelry coud be oblaned
from a smpe underyn slruclura lopooy lhal respecled
conslruclonsequencn.
roaM rNoNo
Toexporelhenewrbvaullypooy,nlhefrslnslance,lhe
slrucluraaclonoflhevaulswasabslracledlojusllheequ
brum of lhe rbs. The coarse subdvson aowed lhe con
lroedandfaslexporalonofdfferenlformdarams,.e.rb
ayoulsnpan,usnonyfewconlros.Consequenly,lheds
lrbulonsofnlernaforcewererepresenlednanae,com
prehensbemannerbylhesmpeforcedarams.
lnlheLTSvaul,conlnuousundualnslrpsofhexaona
unlswereoblanedwlhrbslhalonyjusllouched,wlhspacer
nks ncuded n lhe nelwork lopooy lo manlan lhe neces
sary(rb)offseldurnlheformfndn.ForlheMA0Avaul,lhe
exporalons favoured nlersecln rbs and lhereby adopled a
slrelched rd slraley as lhe rb ayoul, resuln n peasn
nlerseclonscoselosquareanes.Furlher,loapproxmaley
modelhearchandvaulshapesnbelweenlhosenlerseclons,
one subdvson was used, vn one mdnode per semenl
andanodenlhemddeofeachquadralerapalch.
lnasecondslae,lheowpoydesnswerelhenrefned.Al
LTS,asmpesubdvsonschemewasusedlooblanasmoolh
y undualn and conlnuousy archn soulon. The shapes
of lhe vauled palches spannn lhe hexaona unls were ob
lanedseparaley.Theseposlprocessnslepswereenabedby
lhe use of seecled deep, wde slruclura rbs comprsn slff
enedLchannes(seebeow)nwhchlheslrucluranesofac
lon coud be ncey conlaned. For lhe MA0A vaul, lhe fna
eomelry coud be easy oblaned by conslrucln nlerpoal
ncurveslhrouhlhenodesoflhelopeveformfndn.The
rbarchesnbelweenpalcheswereslrahlened,madepossbe
lhrouhlhenpanearchaclonachevabenlherbswdlhs.
coNs1auc1oN
rniscwonx
AkeymolvalonforvarynlhedesnapproachoflheMA0A
vaul from lhe LTS vaul was lhe ralonasalon of lhe fase
work.Forbolhvauls,faseworkwasonyconslrucledlosup
porl lhe rbs, wlh nf surfaces subsequenly bul unsup
porledandnspacenlhelradlonaCalaanmanner.TheLTS
projeclhadrbslhalcurvednbolhpanandseclon,demand
n a realvey compex curved fasework syslem. MA0A ra
lonasedlheundualnrbsloaslrelchedquadralerard,
conslranedlobeslrahlnpanpecewse.8olhvaulsem
poyed prnled lempales and manua culln lo lransale lhe
compulalonaydefnedrbprofesnlomalerarealy.
The LTS fasework syslem was conslrucled from a mx of
voumelrcESfoambocksbenealhacurvednelworkofcard
board profes wlh coumns provdn nlermedale supporl.
Formnsomelhnofavoxealedmounlan,lhefoambocks
wereposlonedlocrealeaowresoulonoffseloflhevaul,
mnmsnlheamounlofcardboard(andculln)requred.A
second, more snfcanl advanlae was lhal lhe foam easy
supporled human wehl and lhal lhs fasework foundalon
lhusasobecamealerracedaccessslrucluredurnasubse
quenlslaesofconslruclon,emnalnlheneedforadders
or convenlona scaffodn. The curved cardboard profes
wereconslrucledfromlhreeayersofcardboardwlhdscrele
foam bocks acln as spacers. Ther shapes were defned va
verlca exlruson of lhe cenlre ne and (offsel) ede nes of
eachundualnrb.
ForlheMA0Avaul,lheformdaramwasmanpualedlo
oblanpanarrbs,aownlhefaseworklobebulasasm
perdofpanarsludwas.Theseconslranlsresulednsm
pfed fasework conslruclons for lhe rbs, furlher reducn
lheoslcachaenes.Alhouhslrahlnpan,lherbpro
fe lwsled n space as rbs were aned lanenlay lo lhe
oblanedcompressonsurface.Toconlrolhs,lhelwodffer
enlprofeswereculoulofmasonleandscrewedaansllhe
sluds.Tofurlheracceeraleandslreamnelhefaseworkfab
rcalon,aCrasshoppersoflwareloowasdeveopedloexlracl
lherequredenlhofeachlmbersludfromlhedlamode,
andaulomalcayeneralelhecullnsheelsforlherbs.
23
Fig. z: Fxploded view of digital design process, starting from
Rhino\AULT, falsework geometry, and construction sequences:
a) UTS vault, b) MA0A vault.
26
si1c sc1-ur
8ecause of lhe shorl lmeframe for each workshop, lhe erec
lon of lhe fasework was smpfed by prnln oul i.i scae
drawnsheelsoflhepanayoul.Thesewereposlonedand
lapedonlhefooroflherespeclvespaces.Thesedrawnsn
cudedreferencemarks,eemenlnumbersandkeydmensons,
e..oflhelmbersludsforlheMA0Afasework.
For lhe fabrcalon of lhe arch rbs, a smar slraley was
empoyed wlh a fabrcalon nformalon ben exlracled
fromlhedlamodeandprnledoulalfuscae(i.i)forcul
lnlempales.
Figs. , : Finished UTS vault, Sydney, Australia, zoiz.
(Photo: Michael Ford.)
Fig. : As-built drawings of UTS vault:
a) front, b) side, c) top view.
27
Hn1cninis
Tes n lhe formal lypcay used n Calaan vauln are nol
readyavaabeoulsdeofSpan,andcuslomsoulonsneed
ed lo be found for bolh workshops. Al LTS, concrele roofn
les were seecled for lher realve falness and lhckness.
Theseareleswerelhenculnloquarlers,enabnasorl
noflheculleunlsaccordnlolheusefuness,ornol,of
lheornaapfealuresfoundonlherundersde.Whsllhe
les provded a hhy dverenl characler lo lhe nsde and
oulsdeoflhefnavaul,overa,lheyproveddffcullohan
dedurnlhelevauln.ForlheMA0Avaul,nonprofed,
hoowles(verysmarlolhoseusednnole)wereused.To
provde cean les wlh conlnuous ede profes, lhree culs
perlewererequred.Thsensuredlheculscoudavod,and
lhereforenolexpose,lheexlrudedhoows,whchwoudve
anunevenedeandlhusbehardloworkwlh.
For lhe faslselln morlar, wlh a selln lme of approx
maley io seconds, al LTS, a speca hhslrenlh ypsum
basedmorlarcaedFydrocawasused.ForlheMA0Avaul,
a ready avaabe and realvey nexpensve denla morlar
wassubslluled,wlhfavouraberesuls.
nsscHsi\ nNo occcN1niNc
0uelolherlhreedmensonaundualon,lherbsoflheLTS
vaul were conslrucled wlh ncreased deplh va a Lshaped
profe conssln of one horzonla le and lwo upslandn
les. Ths lhreele profe was repealed aon lhe enlh of
acurvedsupporls,bennnfromlhebollom,wlhajonls
slaered lo avod conlnuous morlar jonls. arlcuar al
lenlonlolhekssnponlswasneededloensureadequale
conlaclandconneclonallhebollomoflheLforfulureoad
lransference.Theresulwasaslabespalanelofrbs,whch
were decenlred pror lo lhe addlon of lhe nf surfaces.
ThesenfswereconslruclednlhelradlonaCalaanman
ner, .e. wlhoul formwork, as descrbed above. The undual
n rb pallern and consequenl rreuar form of lhe vauled
palchesdemandedconsderabecuslomleculln.
TheMA0Avaulwasasoconslrucledrbsfrsl.Teswere
frsl ad wlh lher on sdes nexl lo each olher chasn lhe
panar fasework. These rbs reman vsbe on lhe undersde
oflhefnavaulandformaslronaspecloflsfnacharac
ler. Fere, lhe enlre vaul was conslrucled before decenlrn
and conslruclon wlh lhree ayers aon lhe rbs, lranslon
nlolwoayersforlhefs.Forlhereasonsdescrbedabove,
each ayer was ad al an anmenl lhal dffered from lhose
beow l. The nlenlona conslranl lo use ony quadralera
Fig. 6: As-built drawings of MA0A vault:
a) front, b) side, c) top view.
28
Fig. ;: Construction time lapse of MA0A vault.
(Photo: 0ean Lau Tim Ling.)
Figs. 8, q: Finished MA0A vault, Melbourne, Australia, zoi.
(Photo: Peter Bennetts.)
2
subdvsonsmeanllhalmuchesslecullnwasrequredfor
lhevaulednfs.
coNctusoN
The lwo case sludy projecls demonslrale lhal lhe ncreasn
conlemporary nleresl n compressonony masonry vaul
conslruclon s malched by ncreasn eves of conlro and
forma possbly afforded by nnovalons n formfndn
soflware pared wlh fabrcalon melhodooes lhal expand
uponlradlonaconslruclonapproaches.Tolheselofhhy
lhreedmensonasurfaceslrucluresexempfedbylhe8ock
kesearchCroupsearerprololypealETFZurchsnowadd
ed a new caleory of rreuar and hhy lhreedmensona
compressononyrbbedlevaulsasreasednlwoprojecls
nAuslraa.
Snfcanly, lhese rbbed le vauls relan lhe realvey
sparse requremenls for fasework enjoyed by lher lradlon
alevaulanceslorswlhoulrelrealnloreuarlyofform
or an ncrease n lhckness. When laken as a par, by dspay
ndffernevesofralonasalonnlhedefnlonoflherb
eo melry, lhe lwo vauls ceary demonslrale lhe wde rane
of forma possbles avaabe as we as lhe ably lo nle
ralefabrcalonconcernsnlolheformfndnprocess.
Thecombnalonofcompulalonaformfndnapproach
esandlradlonaconslruclonmelhods,asdemonslraledva
lhe desn and conslruclon of lwo rbbed le vauls, can n
crease lhe nks belween desn nlenl and malerasalon,
andassuchsferleroundforresearchandnnovalon.
wonxsHor oc1niis i ncxNowicoccHcN1s
School of Architecture, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).
us:nuc:ons.hppe8ock,Meone8aySmlh,0avdram
s:uooruuouc.SchooofArchleclure,LnverslyofTechnooy
Sydney
Ht:LntLstuosLnvcLssrousons.8jArchleclure,LordeTradn
/L,MonerCSkkoofn,Fanana0ualyTnServces
ot:Ls.0cloberzi,zoiz
u:ss:uoLu:s(MaslerofArchleclure).Ameaan,0omenco
Ccco,Francesco8anchn,Fan8afa,|amesLauman,|eahLoon
Yeoh,|ordanSorol,LauraFnds,NalaeMa,henaAuYeun,
SandraMendonca,Sun0aeChun,TmolhyCheun
twtnos.zoiCradualeoSludenlAwardsoflheAuslraanlnsllule
ofArchleclsNSWChapler.
SlrucluralnnovalonnArchleclurerze
0lalnnovalonnArchleclureCommendalon

0epartment of Architecture, Monash Art 0esign 8 Architecture (MA0A):

us:nuc:ons.hppe8ock,|ames8eamy,TmSchork,0amon
\anForne
s:uooruuouc.MA0A0eparlmenlofArchleclurenparlnershp
wlhCrmshawArchlecls,supporledbylhe\cloranEndowmenl
forScence,Knowedeandlnnovalon(vesk)
0ales.Mayz;|une,zoi
Htots:uoLu:s(MaslerofArchleclure).Anna8ack,8oden0aves,
ChnLenAnneLselpSonThoo,0amanaamara,0eanLauTm
Ln,0eoAreano,0nhTrelNuyen,CerardTurnbu,Mehrnoush
LalfKhorasan,MchaeTruon,NalaeSludderl,kadosaw
8uczek,SaraSdar,SheKuperman
No1cs
i Mchaekamae,|ohn0chsendorf,elerkch,|ames8eamy
andhppe8ock,0esnandConslruclonoflheMapunubwe
NalonaarklnlerprelveCenlre,SoulhAfrca,Journal of the
African Technology Development Forum,;/iz(zoio),pp.iz.
z hppe8ockand|ohn0chsendorf,ThruslNelworkAnayss.
aNewMelhodooyforThree0mensonaEqubrum,Journal
of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures,
8/(zoo;),pp.i6;;.
Mallhaskppmann,LorenzLachauerandhppe8ock,
lnleraclve\aul0esn,International Journal of Space Structures,
z;/(zoiz),pp.zio.
Lara0avs,Mallhaskppmann,Tomawofskyandhppe
8ock,lnnovalveFuncuarTe\auln.arololypenSwlzerand,
The Structural Engineer,o/ii(zoiz),pp.6,6.
, roprelaryproducloflheL.S.CypsumCorporalon.