A gridshell is a structure which derives its strength from its double curvature (in a similar way that a fabric structure derives strength from double curvature), but is constructed of a grid or lattice. The grid can be made of any material, but is most often wood (similar to garden trellis) or steel. Gridshells were pioneered in the 1896 by Russian engineer

Vladimir Shukhov Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov (russian: link=no, Влади́мир Григо́рьевич Шу́хов; – 2 February 1939) was a Russian Empire and Soviet engineer-polymath, scientist and architect renowned for his pioneering works on new ...

in constructions of exhibition pavilions of the All-Russia industrial and art exhibition 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod. Large span timber gridshells are commonly constructed by initially laying out the main lath members flat in a regular square or rectangular lattice, and subsequently deforming this into the desired doubly curved form. This can be achieved by pushing the members up from the ground, as in the Mannheim Multihalle. More recent projects such as the Savill Garden gridshell were constructed by laying the laths on top of a sizeable temporary scaffolding structure which is removed in phases to let the laths settle into the desired curvature.

Gridshell buildings

* Shukhov Rotunda by

, 1896 * Mannheim Multihalle by

Frei Otto Frei Paul Otto (; 31 May 1925 – 9 March 2015) was a German architect and structural engineer noted for his use of lightweight structures, in particular tensile and membrane structures, including the roof of the Olympic Stadium in Munich for ...

and Arup Structures 3 (many of whose team members later left to found

Buro Happold Buro Happold (previously ''BuroHappold Engineering'') is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the environment ...

), a very large exhibition space constructed in 1975. *Japan Pavilion,

Expo 2000 Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially some 40 million people were exp ...

, by Frei Otto,

, Shigeru Ban and SONOCO, a gridshell of circular paper tube

2000. *Flimwell Woodland Enterprise Centre Modular Gridshel

by Feilden Clegg and Atelier One, 2000. *

Weald & Downland Open Air Museum The Weald and Downland Living Museum (formerly known as the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum until January 2017) is an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex. The museum is a registered charity. The museum covers , with over 50 historic bu ...

and Edward Cullinan architects, a two-layer wooden gridshell, and the first gridshell constructed in the UK, 2002. *Pishwanton Hand-Built Gridshel

by David Tasker and Christopher Day, 2002. *

Helsinki Zoo Korkeasaari Zoo ( fi, Korkeasaaren eläintarha, previously known as ''Helsinki Zoo'') is the largest zoo in Finland, located on the island of Korkeasaari in Helsinki. The zoo was first opened in 1889, originally showcasing common animals from Finl ...

viewing platform by Ville Hara, 2003 *

Savill Building The Savill Building is a visitor centre at the entrance to The Savill Garden in Windsor Great Park, Surrey, England designed by Glen Howells Architects, Buro Happold and Engineers Haskins Robinson Waters. It was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh ...

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for ma ...

and Glenn Howells Architects, a large four-layer wooden gridshell, 2006.
Courtyard roofing of rural villa
Ostuni, Italy, b
cmmkm architettura e design
Roberto Ruggiero, Alfonso Petta, Felice Grasso and Fabio Figlia, 2007.
Masseria Ospitale's terrace roofing
Lecce, Italy, b
cmmkm architettura e design
with Bernardino D'Amico and Filomena Nigro, 2010. *

Centre Pompidou-Metz The Centre Pompidou-Metz is a museum of modern and contemporary art located in Metz, capital of Lorraine, France. It is a branch of Pompidou arts centre of Paris, and features semi-permanent and temporary exhibitions from the large collection ...

by Shigeru Ban and Arup, 2010. * Solidays 2011 Gridshel
Gridshell pavilion for Naples School of Architecture courtyard
b
Andrea Fiore
Daniele Lancia, Sergio Pone, Sofia Colabella, Bianca Parenti, with Bernardino D'Amico (Structural Consultant) and Francesco Portioli (Structural Consultant), 2012.
Pavillion in Selinunte’s archeological site
b
cmmkm architettura e design
and arch. Bernardino D’amico
arch. Andrea Fiore
and arch. Daniele Lancia, 2012
SUTD Library Pavilion
Singapore, b
SUTD City Form Lab
and engineers a
ARUP Singapore
2013.
Bamboo amphitheater space structure
PUC Rio de Janeiro, b
Bambutec
2014. *

Crossrail Place Crossrail Place is a complex built in the North Dock of the West India Docks in London's Canary Wharf. It contains Canary Wharf railway station and was partly opened on 1 May 2015. ''Architect Magazine'' described Crossrail Place as an "enormou ...

, London, by

Foster + Partners Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide. ...

, 2015.
Wisdome
Stockholm, 2022. SUTD library pavilion

Notes

* {{cite book , last1 = Chilton , first1 = John , first2 = Tang , last2 = Gabriel , title = Timber Gridshells: Architecture, Structure and Craft , location = , publisher = Routledge , date = 2016 , isbn = 978-1138775305 * "Grid Shells", B. Burkhardt, J. Hennicke, F. Otto, "IL", 1974, n. 10. * "Timber lattice roof for Mannheim Bundesgartenschau", E. Happold, W.I. Liddell, in "The Structural Engineer" 1975, n.3 vol. 53. * "Finding Form", F. Otto, B. Rash, Edition Alex Menges, Stuttgart, 1995 * "The Structural Engineering of the Downland Gridshell", R. Harris, O. Kelly, in G.A.R. Park, P. Disney, "Space Structure 5", vol. 1, MPG Books, Cornwall, 2002. * "The Downland Grid Shell Innovative timber design", M. Dickson, R. Harris, in "The Royal Academy of Engineering Publication", n.18, 2004 * "The Savill Garden Gridshell Design and construction", R. Harris, S. Haskins, J. Roynon, in "The Structural Engineer", n.17, vol 86, 2008 * "Design of Timber Gridded shell Structures", R, Harris, in "Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Structures and Buildings", n. 164 (2) 2011 * "Gridshell. I gusci a graticcio in legno tra innovazione e sperimentazione", S. Pone, Alinea, Firenze 2012 *
Modeling of bending and torsion couplings in active bending structure: application to the design of elastic gridshells
, L. du Peloux, PhD thesis, 2017 *
Construction of a Large Composite Gridshell Structure: A Lightweight Structure Made with Pultruded Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer Tubes
, L. du Peloux, F. Tayeb, O. Baverel, JF. Caron, Structural Engineering International 26(2):160-167, 2016 *
Gridshell Manual
, S.H. Dyvik,J.H. Mork, Master thesis, 2015 *
Active bending and Tensile Pantographic Bamboo Hybrid Amphitheater Structure
, M. Seixas, J. Bina, P. Stoffel, J.L.M. Ripper, L.E. Moreira, K. Ghavami, Journal of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, Vol. 58 n. 193, 2017
Form Finding and Analysis of an Active Bending-Pantographic Bamboo Space Structure
, M. Seixas, L.E. Moreira, P. Stoffel, J. Bina, Journal of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, Vol. 62 n. 209, 2021

External links

www.gridshell.it

Lothian Gridshell

Past and Future of Grid Shell Structures
Lattice shell structures Structural system Russian inventions

Gridshell buildings

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links