The ‘I Live with Nature’ garden has won the Grand Gold Award, the highest award available, at the 2024 Greater Bay Area Flower Show in Shenzen, China. The show garden, designed by Jo Thompson, includes our intricate brick pavilion at its center created using Augmented Reality technology and self-balancing mechanics without any site survey, construction drawings or in-person training of the Chinese-only speaking contractor. We designed, analyzed and determined the construction of the pavilion is less than 3 months. This project underscores the Form Finding’s Lab commitment to integrating innovative technology with natural and urban environments.
Publication: Digital guidework for augmented thin-tile vaulting construction
Masonry vaults are among the most elegant and efficient structural forms, yet their construction has long been slowed down by costly falsework and guidework.
Our team explored a new path: augmented reality as digital guidework. Instead of rigid scaffolding, masons can now follow holographic projections that provide just the right amount of visual support—keeping builders in control of their analog craft.
In field tests, this approach improved productivity by ~30% while achieving remarkable accuracy (within 1% of the vault span). Looking ahead, interactive mixed-reality could further boost precision, speed, and even training opportunities.
This work shows how centuries-old craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology can merge to keep masonry vaulting not just viable, but visionary. Read more about our findings here https://lnkd.in/d4-KcCxS
