Guest Lectures: Francesco Laccone is a Researcher at the Institute of Information Science and Technologies (ISTI) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) in Pisa. His research focuses on Architectural Geometry, an interdisciplinary field that bridges design, modeling, optimization, and fabrication of complex free-form structures through the synergy of differential geometry, algorithmic mathematics, computer graphics, engineering, and digital fabrication. He earned his Ph.D. with honors in Structural Design from the University of Pisa in 2019 and has received several research awards, including the Nervi Prize (2023), the fib Conceptual Design Award (2023), and the First Prize at the IASS 2019 Competition for Lightweight Structures. He has extensive teaching experience, having served as an Adjunct Professor in Structural Design at the University of Pisa and as a lecturer in doctoral courses at international Ph.D. schools. Davide Pellis is a Researcher at the Institute of Information Science and Technologies (ISTI) – CNR in Pisa. His work explores the intersection of architecture, geometry, computational design, and digital fabrication. He earned his PhD in 2019 from the Applied Geometry Group at TU Wien, a pioneering research group in architectural geometry. Following his doctoral studies, he joined the Geometric Computing Laboratory at EPFL as a postdoctoral researcher, where he contributed to the development of computational design methodologies for advanced material systems and digital fabrication technologies. The ongoing digital transition is transforming all productive fields, from Civil and Industrial Engineering to Architecture and Design, as computational tools and numerically controlled manufacturing technologies continuously expand the limits of feasible forms. Alongside new creative free-form designs, however, pressing challenges emerge related to structural performance, economic sustainability, and, more broadly, aesthetics and style. Addressing these challenges requires new design approaches based on geometric data processing and algorithmic modeling, capable of linking geometric features to real-world requirements and performance criteria. This PhD course operates within an interdisciplinary domain that spans geometry processing, computer-aided design, engineering, and optimization. Its main goal is to provide theoretical insights and computational design tools that can assist designers in developing an assisted design process, aware of essential real-world constraints such as mechanical behavior, fabrication issues, material availability, and cost limitations. Participants will gain both foundational theoretical knowledge and practical methodological skills to process geometric data and develop algorithmic workflows that support design and optimization tasks, with applications in Python and Rhino/Grasshopper environments. PhD students will be guided in applying these methods to their own research projects and disciplinary interests. The course is conceived within the framework of the PhD Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering, but it is potentially useful and offered to students from all Doctoral Programs of ScuDo interested in computational design and digital fabrication.

Basic mathematical tools to understand concepts of differential geometry

• Lesson 1 (2h): Course Intro & 3D Representations • Lesson 2 (2h): 3D Representations and Data Structures • Lesson 3 (2h): Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces • Lesson 4 (2h): Geometry Processing • Lesson 5 (2h): CAD Tools for Geometry Processing • Lesson 6 (4h): Workshop: hands-on implementation of simple geometry processing algorithms • Lesson 7 (2h): Fabrication of Surfaces • Lesson 8 (2h): Optimization Tools, Embedding Geometric, Structural and Fabrication Constraints • Lesson 9 (4h): Workshop: hands-on implementation of a design problem • Lesson 10 (2h): Presentation and discussion of the workshop outcomes

In presenza

Sviluppo di project work in team

P.D.2-2 - Maggio