Irregular Material - Design Interaction
Combinatorial
Tetrahedral Assemblies from Vulcanized Fiber
Allner, L., Schmidbaur, K. and Vaíllo, Gonzalo.
Proceedings of IASS-IWSS 2026 — September 14-18, 2026, Turin, Italy.
“R-Evolution of Shapes: Sustainability, Re-Use, and new Design Paradigms”.
Annual Symposium of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures.
3rd Italian Workshop on Shell and Spatial Structures.
A. Manuello Bertetto, S. Gabriele, F. Marmo, A. Micheletti (eds.).
To the paper
This paper presents a hybrid analog–digital workflow for a full-scale tetrahedral installation fabricated
from vulcanized fiber (VF), a cellulose-based industrial material that deforms during drying and
stabilizes once cured. The research investigates how material-induced variability can be coordinated
with design-space variability within a discrete structural system. The aggregation is based on the
Sommerville type 1 tetrahedron, using tetrahedral, pyramidal, and rhomboid components connected
through direct face-to-face joints and extended wooden-stick connections. In the design phase, multiple
configurations are possible through changes in grid orientation, component placement, connection
distribution, and face orientation. After fabrication, wet VF sheets are cut, folded, and dried without rigid
formwork, producing distinct components. These parts are 3D scanned, catalogued, and computationally
implemented into a digital workflow that mediates discrepancies through connection tolerances, overlap
variation, stick-length adjustment, and face reorientation. The selected configuration is assembled using
augmented-reality guidance. The project demonstrates that material transformation can be integrated
without abandoning architectural intent or buildability. By coordinating both variabilities, the workflow
produces partially unforeseen spatial and functional outcomes, showing how uncertainty can expand
discrete spatial structures beyond predetermined design intention alone.
Keywords: Tetrahedral structures, vulcanized fiber (VF), material-induced deformation, discrete aggregation
systems, space-filling geometry, hybrid analog–digital design, compatibility-based assembly, augmented reality
construction, material variability