Brick Dome project

click on the image to animate it

DOME is a collaboration between prof. Luigi Alini and studio AION. It is a research project which brings together the Siracusa-based Architectural Design Lab II students and the Building School students with a common goal of constructing a 1:1 low-tech shelter.

Brick arches, vaults, and domes become a basis for innovative experiments with traditional materials and techniques. The adopted method is based on using a revolving compass - a traditional Nubian technique explored by the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy and perfected by Fabrizio Caròla in Africa over a period of more than 30 years.

The research develops this traditional construction method further using Grasshopper for Rhino to define a parametrically-controlled brick pattern and to achieve a higher level of environmental performance. The digital advance goes in hand with technical innovation thanks to the introduction of a rotating arm which adds a higher degree of flexibility to the original compass.

This experimental building site is a homage to Fabrizio Caròla - “the stone man” as the Mali Dogon call him – whose work demonstrates a possible return to a balanced relationship between architecture and its environment in a context in which research, academic and professional domains no longer constitute separate domains.

You can follow the building site progress here. The preview night will take place at the end of June and will be accompanied by a series of lectures. Full information about the event will follow soon!