Why Gridshells Shine in Expansive Public Spaces

Gridshells are ideal for spanning large interiors without the need for supporting columns. They are commonly used in places like train station entrances, revitalized historic courtyards, and open public plazas. Iconic examples include the British Museum’s Great Court, the Dutch Maritime Museum’s glass roof, and New York’s Moynihan Train Hall. Despite these successes, designers have long lacked a unified computational approach that can reliably accommodate the wide range of geometries they hope to create.

Figure 1. New Tool Lets Architects Shape Complex Curves in Minutes.

Masaaki Miki of the University of Tokyo and Toby Mitchell of the U.S.–based engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti have developed a new technique that dramatically expands the design possibilities for gridshell structures. Their algorithm pinpoints optimal geometries—even for highly irregular forms—while ensuring the structures remain safe and reliable. Figure 1 shows New Tool Lets Architects Shape Complex Curves in Minutes.

Removing Longstanding Barriers in Gridshell Design

While gridshells have been built for decades, strict geometric, structural, fabrication, and construction constraints often made them impractical for many clients. Miki and Mitchell had previously introduced a NURBS-based computational approach that unified several design challenges, but two major limitations remained: difficulty handling complex, irregular shapes, and long computation times. The updated version overcomes both issues, delivering a faster, more accessible workflow that opens advanced gridshell design to a broader range of architects and engineers.

“The project began in 2020 with an interest in shell structures, particularly those typically made of concrete. Classical design relies on forms that carry weight only through compression, which limits how expressive they can be,” Miki explained. “We wanted to explore shells that balance both compression and tension to enable more sculptural freedom. By adapting our ideas to contemporary metal-and-glass gridshells, we developed a way to balance structural performance, aesthetics, and constructability. Thanks to recent advances in computation, we can now solve far more complex design conditions with rigorous methods.”

Direct NURBS Integration for a Streamlined Workflow

A central advantage of the new approach is its ability to operate directly on NURBS surfaces. Unlike traditional mesh-based modeling—which requires thousands of triangular elements—NURBS offer smooth, accurate surface descriptions and are already standard in architectural design. The researchers implemented their method as a Rhinoceros plug-in, allowing easy adoption within existing workflows.

Their technique captures stress distribution through NURBS surfaces and uses newly developed algorithms that boost computation speed by 98%. This leap in efficiency eliminates the need for high-end graphics hardware and makes it feasible to generate gridshells that meet both geometric and structural demands. The resulting forms remain stable under gravity and support practical metal-and-glass construction.

“Because our work addresses real engineering problems, we have been validating our results with several testing methods we also created,” said Miki. “It was stressful when early tests exposed failures, but now every solution passes.”

Looking Ahead: Beyond Metal-and-Glass

Although the current focus is on metal-and-glass gridshells, the team aims to extend their method to composite timber gridshells in future research.

Source: SciTECHDaily

Cite this article:

Priyadharshini S (2025), Breakthrough Algorithm Helps Architects Create Complex Curved Designs in Minutes, AnaTechMaz, pp. 436