loop dome

type: master degree workshop
role: student
collaboration: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
location: Sant Cugat, Spain
year: 2018

The loop dome was developed in my Master’s in Parametric Design in Architecture at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. A design competition was held in which seven groups of students explored bending-active techniques to design a 6-meter diameter dome using a combination of experimental modelling and parametric design. The aim was to achieve a lightweight, feasible, transportable, and resilient structure while controlling a constant curvature. Three of the seven proposals were chosen to be built to scale. The students who participated in the other four projects were split between the three winning proposals to participate in a collaborative assembly of the domes. The three groups were divided into expert subgroups that elaborated on each project’s structural analysis, material testing, detailing, and construction.

analysis

Loop configurations: 10, 14, 18 and 20 loops
Structural Analysis:
Displacements, Bending Stresses and Axial Stresses with loads of 1.5 N vertical and wind of 5 kN/m2
Membrane details

fabrication

handmade joints
fiberglass dome
team
final result

assemblage

displacement

After Leslie hurricane

team

Team Leaders: Victoria Eckhardt Ouinones and Ricardo Orfila Roldan
Team: Alfonso Melero Bevia, Camila Calegari Marques, David Gransewicz, Mateus Sartori, and Sebastian Sanches Noguera
Prof.: Prof. Enrique Soriano Botella, Prof. Gerard Bertomeu Farnós, and Prof. Pep Tornabell Teixidor

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