Timbergridshells:Numericalsimulation,designand constructionofafull scale structure

article Timber gridshell structures, such as the Multihalle for the federal garden festival in Mannheim or the Downland Museum,have beentheresultofacreative-generative processthatindissolubly 'welded'the structural contribu- tion to that of form exploration. The challenging design and construction issues have been typically addressed and resolved in several inventive ways. However, still now, form-finding and erection of timber gridshells pres- ent many difficulties.In this regard,this paperaimstoprovide a seriesof novelsteps toaddress some of the main design and construction issues that are associated with 'actively-bent' timber gridshell structures. First, the main characteristics of the construction process of timber gridshells are described and the basic theoretical concepts for its numerical simulation, through Dynamic Relaxation method, are introduced. Second, a practical method for sizing the laths' cross-section is presented. Third, a new erection technique for timber gridshells is proposed and applied to the construction of a full scale (prototype) structure, the Toledo gridshell 2.0. Fourth, a new brac- ing system for the same structure, which was built at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Naples Federico II in June-July 2014, is explained and discussed. The paper also highlights the need for further application to vali- date the techniques explained here, with particular attention being paid for the construction of large scale free- form structures.