Building freeform: A workshop experiment from design to fabrication

In the following of an already old tradition of design/build workshops in architecture, the works presented here illustrate an attempt of introducing design/build teaching experiments in structural engineering education. This one-week experiment was conducted yearly during the last nine years at the Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, France. The workshop, called “Building free-form”, is organised by founding members of the thin[k]shell project, an academic initiative for mixing advanced research, teaching and practical realisations with industrial partners. This project will be first detailed, because it is essential to the framework and objectives of the workshop. Then the evolution throughout the years of the pedagogy and of the supporting objects (first textile structures, then elastic gridshells) will be detailed. Finally, last year experiment centred on the use of robotic fabrication and its impact on the whole design process will be presented. Main aspects of workshop programs, teaching material and financial issues will be given for each type of structures, as well as some feedback on the various editions.