Hypar Gate

Italian architects of the New Fundamentals Research Group (Polytechnic University of Bari) and engineers from Roma Tre University, have conceptualized a new construction framework in order to design innovative reinforced stone shells, reviving stereotomy, the ancient art of cutting stones.

  The Hypar Gate covers a free area of 22 square meters thanks to the cantilever morphology of the shell. The hypar is a well known ruled surface, that has been used in the last decades for many structural applications related to reinforced concrete shells. Focusing on the hypar morphological properties, an aspect of considerable importance in terms of structural analysis and fabrication is that it can be easily described in an analytic way as a parametric surface.

The main intent is to establish an innovative connection between shape, structure and fabrication, coding the characteristics of hypar shells and generating a series of new self-supported vaulted morphologies through integrated parametric analyses. This computational approach underlines the potentialities of robotic fabrication in architectural fields, making possible an optimized voussoirs modelling, using parametric softwares, and fabrication using robotic arms in combination with CNC manufacturing techniques like circular saw cutting, milling and diamond wire cutting.

HyparGate, Troyes, France
Concept and design: Giuseppe Fallacara
3D drafting and optimization: Giuseppe Fallacara, Nicola Martielli, Maurizio Barberio, Bertrand Laucournet
Structural analysis: Prof. Ing. Nicola Rizzi, Valerio Varano, Daniele Malomo
Fabrication and construction: S.N.B.R. Société Nouvelle Le Batiment Régional
Completion: 2016