Abstract By combining geometric considerations with modern optimization methods and computing power, the research area of Architectural Geometry strives to bridge the gap between creative architectural freeform designs and their efficient realization. In this talk, a set of novel optimization approaches for dealing with three different architecturally motivated optimization tasks is presented. First, for enabling efficient (e.g., glass) panelings of tessellated freeforms, a planarization technique is introduced. The formulation is based on plane intersections, yielding planar panels by construction. Furthermore, the method’s generality is demonstrated by application to different architecturally inspired optimization tasks. Then, for a new type of support structures, called point-folded structures, an anti-diversification technique is developed for reducing the number of geometrically different panels. By a problem-adapted parametrization and search strategy, the shape redundancy can be reduced by over 90% for various freeform designs, enabling significant reductions of fabrication costs in practice. Finally, for the still largely unexplored, high potential area of constrained tessellation techniques, i.e., tessellation algorithms restricted to using only structural elements from a predefined set, a novel approach based on a commercially available construction system (Zometool) is presented.
Bio Henrik Zimmer recently joined INRIA as a PostDoc in the TITANE team. Prior to that he worked for 5 years as a research associate with Leif Kobbelt at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, where he also work on his PhD thesis in the field of Architectural Geometry. His research interests include Geometry Processing in general and Remeshing problems in particular.
