Published Online:January 2026
Product Name:The IUP Journal of Structural Engineering
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJSE100126
DOI:10.71329/IUPJSE/2026.19.1.134-159
Author Name:Pranjal R Kudale
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Engineering
Download Format:PDF
Pages:134-159
The paper reflects on the challenges of translating digitally generated, nonstandard architectural forms into ferrocement structures in low-tech, labor-driven contexts. With digital tools like Rhino, Grasshopper, and Kangaroo, architects are now able to design complex geometries that respond to structure and performance. While these tools enable seamless integration of design, analysis, and fabrication in digitally advanced environments, this transition becomes highly fragmented in remote or informal construction settings. The study is grounded in the construction of a ferrocement shell prototype built during the Covid-19 lockdown in rural Maharashtra. The prototype was part of a larger vision to test nonstandard pod structures for site planning. The study was led by a small team of architects and executed by local villagers with no prior construction experience. With no CNC-cut formwork or trained masons, the team relied on manually bent reinforcement bars and prop bars to translate the digital model into a buildable shell. Key challenges included the translation of curvilinear geometries into orthographic drawings, communication of construction logic, and real-time adaptation to material behavior. The paper situates this work within the history of nonstandard ferrocement construction and reflects on how digital tools can augment the documentation and realization of complex forms even in resource-constrained contexts. It highlights the need for digital tools that can supplement human interpretation, making complex design processes more inclusive and executable.
Architectural practice today routinely engages with geometries that are complex, fluid, and performance-driven. Generative and parametric tools allow designers to model, analyze, and iterate nonstandard forms with a level of precision that once required specialist computation.