Catalan dome (2007).
Thin-Shell “Catalan” Vault Construction
Three small thin-shell masonry domes have been constructed at CAST by Prof. Natalija Subotincic and students of architecture (2005, 2006, 2007), with the assistance of Prof. Michael Ramage (Cambridge University) and the Canadian Masonry Research Institute (CMRI). This very old construction technique, made most famous by the architecture of Antoni Gaudi, faded into disuse in the 20th Century with the emergence of machine-inspired modernism. Current research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cambridge University is reexamining the material, structural and economical efficiencies of this construction method by developing interactive parametric geometry software tools to assist in the design and analysis thin-shell masonry structures. Construction of these thin-shell domes and vaults is done without the need for a supporting formwork under the masonry units.
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