Elastic gridshells in composite materials

This article shows how composite materials might be an original and profitable solution for lightweight structures called gridshells. The principal characteristics of gridshells are recalled first, the different steps for the conception developed, from the draft made by architects up to the final structure. The evidence that glass fibres reinforced polymers are suitable for these structures is shown. The article summarizes the main achievements due to Navier laboratory during the last decade, especially some details about the construction of the first prototypes in 2006, 2007 and 2011 and about a first semi-permanent building: the 300 m2 ephemeral Cathedral of Créteil (France, 2013). It addresses also the subject of numerical simulation (within the framework of the dynamic relaxation method) integrated in the Rhino/Grasshopper environment and allowing now the design of elastic gridshells on a large variety of free-form surfaces. Some technological details are also briefly presented.