Free-form Grid Shell Design Based on Genetic Algorithms

In the 21st century, as free-form design grows in popularity, grid shells are becoming a universal structural solution, enabling the conflation of structure and skin (facade) into one single element (Kolarevic 2003). This paper presents some of the results of a comprehensive research project focused on the automated design and optimization of grid structures over some predefined free form shape, with the goal of generating a stable and statically efficient structure. It shows that by combining design and FEM software in an iterative, Genetic Algorithms-based optimization process, stress and deformation in grid shell structures can be significantly reduced, material can be saved and stability enhanced.