Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia column digitally replicated
Luai Kurdi demonstrates the advantages of parametric design, digital fabrication and 3D concrete printing
Luai Kurdi is the Founder and CEO of PRINT4D, a company based in Prague, Czech Republic, consisting of a group of engineers with a passion for technology and construction. PRINT4D utilizes the latest advancements in digital tools to revolutionize how the environment around us is imagined and constructed. According to a post on Luai Kurdi’s LinkedIn profile, he has replicated Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia Double Twist Star-Shaped-Base 14m high column, using parametric design in Grasshopper – demonstrating the real advantages of parametric design, digital fabrication, and 3D concrete printing.
Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia, located in Barcelona, Spain, is one of the most notable architectural feats of recent human history. It is an enormous Basilica that began construction in 1882 and is still not completed, nor is it expected to be completed for some time.
“Having done my Master’s degree in Barcelona where my thesis was focused on Antoni Gaudí’s design principles, I was always fascinated by the logic Gaudi used to create the intricate geometries inside La Sagrada Familia. And having talked to Mark Burry AO; the executive architect and researcher at La Sagrada Familia, I was determined to one day find a solution to the complex processes that go into the manual fabrication of one of these columns,” said Luai Kurdi.
The fact that the double twist star-shaped-base column has been replicated digitally means that Luai Kurdi now has full control over the various parameters of this column and is able to produce multiple variations with just a few clicks. In addition to this, he can slice the digital model and use it to 3D print the column in concrete.
The next step for Luai Kurdi and PRINT4D is to 3D print a scaled-down version of the design – putting the company’s 3D concrete printing technology to the test.
One can only wonder how access to something such as 3D concrete printing and parametric design software would have influenced Antoni Gaudí’s designs and thinking.
