Design and Fabrication of Elastic Geodesic Grid Structures

Abstract: Elastic geodesic grids (EGG) are lightweight structures that can be easily deployed to approximate designer provided free-form surfaces. In the initial configuration the grids are perfectly flat, during deployment, though, curvature is induced to the structure, as grid elements bend and twist. Their layout is found geometrically, it is based on networks of geodesic curves on free-form design-surfaces. Generating a layout with this approach encodes an elasto-kinematic mechanism to the grid that creates the curved shape during deployment. In the final state the grid can be fixed to supports and serve for all kinds of purposes like free-form sub-structures, paneling, sun and rain protectors, pavilions, etc. However, so far these structures have only been investigated using small-scale desktop models. We investigate the scalability of such structures, presenting a medium sized model. It was designed by an architecture student without expert knowledge on elastic structures or differential geometry, just using the elastic geodesic grids design-pipeline. We further present a fabrication-process for EGG-models. They can be built quickly and with a small budget.