Abstract
Paneling curved architectural skins often require rationalization prior to fabrication or the use of fabrication-aware design tools. We present optimization methods based on concepts from classical and discrete differential geometry, which can provide a significant cost reduction. After a short overview of early contributions and their use in real projects, we turn to recent work. This includes the use of spherical panels, cost reductions achieved via surfaces with a relation between principal curvatures, paneling with cold bent glass, and a dramatic reduction of the number of required molds when working with sheet metal or similarly behaving materials. Finally, we present a novel fabrication-aware interactive computational design tool.
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