Additive Stereotomy – 3D-printed vaulted structures

Stereotomy, the art of cutting solid materials into blocks that interlock to form self-supporting structures, has produced the most extraordinary stone vaults in Western and Islamic architecture. But from the 18th century onwards, with the advent of reinforced concrete (RC) and steel, this discipline fell into obscurity for over two centuries. Additive Stereotomy stems from the belief that Industry 4.0 technologies can pave the way once more for the construction of complex vaulted forms, making them simpler, more cost-effective and structurally optimised.

The system designed by Barberio and Colella, in collaboration with Summum Engineering, overturns traditional construction logic: a series of adjacent, statically independent arches spans a large open space, forming a ‘false vault’ where each arch supports only its own weight and the prestressing loads. This scheme eliminates the critical issues of traditional vaults: in the event of an earthquake, each arch responds independently, reducing the risk of global collapse; and the roof can be perforated to allow natural light in without compromising its stability.

Each voussoir is topologically optimised: no longer solid blocks but elements with a variable percentage of internal cavities, designed to achieve a state of constant stress. Fabrication is carried out using binder jetting technology (as well as material extrusion), i.e. industrial 3D printers that solidify stone powders into high-precision components. The project is developed entirely in Grasshopper, creating a synergy between parametric design and computational engineering.

The first design application was presented at the New York Institute of Technology in 2018, as part of the Stereotomy 2.0 exhibition curated by Giuseppe Fallacara and Christian Pongratz: a reinterpretation of Boullée’s National Library, where servers and supercomputers take the place of books, contemporary equivalents for the preservation of human knowledge.