Developed as a viable tropical hardwood glulam hangar structure for the Global South, this project addresses the challenge of scaling timber construction in a context still dominated by massive steel and concrete industries. The structural hypothesis was a bending-active beam-string: more efficient than a conventional truss, especially in the connections, while remaining compatible with glulam production lines automated for straight elements.
Rhino and Grasshopper were used as the central parametric environment to control span, rise, subdivisions, curvature limits and cross-section constraints. The model was linked to Karamba3D for structural analysis and to Beaver3D for Eurocode 5 timber verification, including ULS/SLS checks and design-ratio visualization. The main challenge was a form-finding paradox: pre-assembly forces depend on beam inertia and system height, so simply adding material does not necessarily improve structural safety. Developed by João Pini at ITA Engenharia em Madeira and published as an article for the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, the result is a low-carbon, low-cost and scalable structural product.
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