Lotte Luise Scheder-Bieschin

Last Name

Scheder-Bieschin

First Name

Lotte Luise

ORCID

0000-0002-3158-4809

Organisational unit

03847 - Block, Philippe / Block, Philippe

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Publications 1 - 9 of 9

Design-to-Fabrication Workflow for Bending-Active Gridshells as Stay-in-Place Falsework and Reinforcement for Ribbed Concrete Shell Structures
Scheder-Bieschin, Lotte Luise; Spiekermann, Kerstin; Popescu, Mariana; et al. (2023)
Towards Radical Regeneration
Facing the challenges of our environmental crisis, the AEC sector must significantly lower its carbon footprint and use of first-use resources. A specific target is the reduction of the amount of concrete used. Funicular structures that base their strength on their structurally-informed geometry allow for material efficiency. However, a bottleneck for their construction lies in their costly and wasteful formworks and complex reinforcement placement. This research presents an alternative flexible formwork system consisting of a bending-active gridshell falsework and fabric shuttering for ribbed funicular concrete shells. The falsework becomes structurally integrated as reinforcement and is designed as two connected layers offering shape control and sufficient stiffness to support the wet-concrete load. The paper focuses on the development of a design-to-fabrication workflow and a graph-based data structure for gridshell falsework and reinforcement in the computational framework COMPAS. The implementation utilises, customises and creates packages for the form finding of the ribbed shell with TNA and the gridshell with FEA. The research is based on a demonstrator realised in the context of the Technoscape exhibition at the Maxxi Museum in Rome, Italy. The computational workflow was used to design this system and translate it for materialisation. The demonstrator serves as proof-of-concept for the novel material-efficient construction system. Its key to efficiency lies in the structurally-informed geometry for both the formwork and the resulting ribbed concrete shell.
Curved-Crease Flat-Foldable Bending-Active Plate Structures
Scheder-Bieschin, Lotte Luise; Van Mele, Tom; Block, Philippe (2023)
Advances in Architectural Geometry 2023
Curved-crease folded (CCF) bending-active plates efficiently form complex curvilinear geometries with structural applications. Instead, this research proposes joining stacked plates along common curved creases into flat-foldable configurations. These unfold with an accordion-like one-degree-of-freedom mechanism into corrugated spatial structures. The proposed system, termed curved-crease unfolding (CCU), allows for simple 2D prefabrication, flat-packed transport, and rapid on-site deployment. Its globally double-curved and articulated structural geometry extends the design space of CCF and finds application as structure and formwork. This research translates the fundamental geometric design principles of CCF to CCU for planar creases and demonstrates the design space for a multi-crease corrugated structure with non-zero thickness. A parametric model is implemented for the geometric construction and kinematic deployment in the COMPAS framework. Its deployment is validated by capturing the mechanical behavior with finite element simulation in the software SOFiSTiK. The paper demonstrates the non-developability conditions for convex synclastic and concave anticlastic creases. For the special cases of planar creases, angle correlations are formulated with direct inversion from CCF using discrete differential geometry. The trigonometric correlation for the kinematic deployment is applied to the discrete mesh representation. Inclining subsequent osculating planes reveal restricted geometric applicability regarding crease planarity. The non-zero thickness is modeled with an axis-shift approach. Finally, a rule catalog for global shape control is derived based on crease profiles and plane layouts with inclinations resulting in synclastic and anticlastic multi-crease designs. These would be challenging to construct otherwise and are enabled solely based on its formation principles.
KnitNervi: Lightness and tailored materiality for flexible concrete construction
Popescu, Mariana; Christidi, Nikoletta; Scheder-Bieschin, Lotte Luise; et al. (2024)
Fabricate ~ Fabricate 2024: Creating Resourceful Futures
Curved-crease folding of bending-active plates as formwork: a reusable system for shaping corrugated concrete shell structures
Scheder-Bieschin, Lotte Luise; Van Mele, Tom; Block, Philippe (2022)
Hybrids & Haecceities: Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture
This research introduces curved-crease folding (CCF) of bending-active plates as a flexible, lightweight, and reusable formwork system for shaping corrugated concrete shell structures. CCF is extended to an initially closed configuration that unfolds initially-planar bending-active strips into a 3D formwork when actuated on-site. The curved creases control the shape and structurally stiffen the formwork shaping a concrete shell structure with stiffening corrugations.
A bending-active gridshell as falsework and integrated reinforcement for a ribbed concrete shell with textile shuttering: Design, engineering, and construction of KnitNervi
Scheder-Bieschin, Lotte Luise; Bodea, Serban; Popescu, Mariana; et al. (2023)
Structures
This paper presents a formwork system consisting of a bending-active gridshell that simultaneously serves as falsework and integrated reinforcement for realising a ribbed funicular concrete skeleton shell. Encased by a knitted textile shuttering, the formwork system was demonstrated through KnitNervi, an architectural-scale, funnel-shaped demonstrator measuring 9 m in diameter and 3.3 m in height. The gridshell is materialised from straight steel rebar actively bent into curvilinear, double-layered rebar cages. Regular stirrups and pairs of inclined stirrups forming triangulated shear connectors provide the necessary shape control and stiffness for the load-bearing falsework. The rebar cages define the shape of the concrete ribs by supporting a knitted closed sectional mould and stay in place to structurally reinforce the resulting ribs. The focus of this paper lies on the falsework and reinforcement system with its interrelated design drivers. The geometric design includes the funicular form finding of the target shell with Thrust Network Analysis and the incremental form finding of the bending-active gridshell with its informed assembly sequence towards the funicular target with Finite Element Analysis. The engineering of the falsework demonstrates its sufficient load-bearing capacity and deflection control to support the weight of the wet concrete at an architectural scale. Sensitivity studies reveal the effectiveness of activating the double layer through the shear-connecting stirrups, the relevance of the internal connection design, and the geometric integrity during a potential stepwise casting sequence. The construction of the demonstrator verified the shape control and fabrication design. In only 36 h, the bespoke falsework gridshell was efficiently assembled from its kit-of-parts of standard rebar elements with adequate precision, logistics, time, and material resources. It was relatively lightweight, compact for transport, and employed low-tech construction techniques common to the rebar industry. Its structural geometry and informed bending-active logic enabled its efficient construction without digital fabrication or wasteful, costly moulds, which typically present the bottleneck for custom concrete structures. The resulting funicular concrete skeleton shell saves structural mass, hence embodied carbon, compared to unarticulated bending-dominant typologies. The overarching motivation of the research is to outline a strategy that could mitigate the environmental impact of the construction sector, applicable to a broad range of technological contexts.
Unfold Form: A curved-crease unfoldable formwork for a corrugated fan-vaulted floor
Scheder-Bieschin, Lotte Luise; Hellrich, Mark; Van Mele, Tom; et al. (2024)
Proceedings of IASS Annual Symposia ~ Proceedings of the IASS 2024 Symposium: Redefining the Art of Structural Design
To address the urgent challenges faced by the construction industry of reducing carbon emissions while meeting the demand for new floor area, innovating floor systems offers high potential as slabs are structurally highly inefficient and mass dominant. Unreinforced vaulted floor systems offer a promising strategy through their geometric stiffness. However, the drawback commonly lies in the expensive and wasteful formworks for such non-standard geometry, furthermore often relying on digital fabrication, which is not available in emerging markets where there is the highest need. In response, this research introduces a low-tech, low-cost, material-efficient, lightweight, compactly transportable, rapidly deployable, self-supporting, and reusable formwork solution. Unfoldable curved-creased bending-active plates with textile hinges enable the in-situ construction of unreinforced corrugated fan-vaulted floor systems. The curved creases provide shape control, while the corrugations provide stiffening and translate into concrete rib articulations to enhance material efficiency. This paper focuses on validating the system through a demonstrator. The system, its co-design methods, and its fabrication and construction are presented. By employing structural geometry for both formwork and resulting shell floor, as opposed to wasteful moulds and inefficient slabs, the system could reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry.
Bending-active formwork systems for concrete shells – A classification and state-of-the-art review
Scheder-Bieschin, Lotte Luise; Van Mele, Tom; Block, Philippe (2024)
Structures
Concrete shells with informed structural geometry allow for material-efficient and reduced embodied carbon structures. However, their construction is typically inefficient, uneconomic, and ecologically wasteful due to custom formworks and labour-intensive reinforcement. Active bending allows for the elastic deformation of initially straight elements into complex, curvilinear geometries without the need for formwork. Moreover, bending-active structures, such as strained gridshells, plate assemblies, and textile hybrids, are material-efficient, lightweight, compactly transportable, and rapidly erectable. Consequently, actively bent structures are highly compatible and found practical application as formworks for concrete shells. This paper presents a comprehensive overview spanning from historic to state-of-the-art examples of bending-active formwork systems for shaping concrete shells. Through a thorough comparison of these systems, the research identifies all aspects relevant to their complete characterisation and proposes a comprehensive classification introducing consistent nomenclature. The classification systematically describes all relevant aspects in four overarching categories – the general contextualisation of the approach, the bending-active system design, the construction design, and the resulting shell design. It critically reflects on the challenges and opportunities of bending-active formwork systems in shaping and potentially reinforcing concrete shells while mapping out potential strategies not yet explored for such systems. Based on all classification aspects, the paper summarises all presented projects in a catalogue and highlights their key innovations. It concludes by reflecting on the most critical common challenges such systems encounter, including shape control to precisely achieve the structural geometry, stiffening for both formwork and shell to enable relevant architectural scales, and pragmatic logistical construction efforts. The discussion situates these potentials into a broader context. Ultimately, this paper aims to serve as a guiding and inspirational foundation for future research and developments towards making bending-active formworks viable formwork solutions. Enabled by the structural geometry of both formwork and shell, these material-efficient systems could have the potential to circumvent the shortcomings of conventional custom formworks with exciting structural and architectural opportunities, thereby advancing the sustainability of the construction industry.
Scalability of the Unfold Form Construction System
Scheder-Bieschin, Lotte Luise; Van Mele, Tom; Block, Philippe (2025)
Proceedings of the IASS 2025 Symposium: The living past as a source of innovation
Unfold Form is a reusable formwork for in-situ casting of corrugated concrete shells. Based on curved-crease unfolding, bending-active plywood plates with curved textile hinges are rapidly deployed into a geometrically controlled, self-supporting formwork. Lightweight, material-efficient, fabrication-efficient, and compact for transport, the system enables low-carbon vaulted floor construction with reduced concrete use and no embedded reinforcement. This paper presents a scalability study using finite element analysis to evaluate structural performance across spans ranging from 2.5 m to 6 m. The study identifies key dependencies between corrugation strategy, plate thickness, hinge stiffness, and support layout. Coarse corrugations, combined with scaling the plate thickness with the cubic root of the overall system scale and intermediate supports at mid-span, offer an optimum between structural stability, manageable actuation forces, and fabrication complexity. Dense corrugations are less robust but offer a decorative aesthetic that complements the expressive architectural language of the coarse strategy. Reflections on material and manufacturing constraints highlight critical factors influencing practical scalability. The results confirm that Unfold Form is scalable for spans of up to at least 6 m, with no critical limitations precluding further upscaling if appropriate supports are introduced. The findings demonstrate the system’s potential as a scalable and sustainable construction method, grounded in structural geometry and fabrication logic, suitable for a wide range of construction contexts.
Bending-Active Formwork Systems for Concrete Shells and Vaulted Floors
Scheder-Bieschin, Lotte Luise (2025)
The construction industry faces increasing pressure to reduce embodied carbon, with reinforced concrete structures, particularly floor systems, responsible for a major share of global material use and emissions. While funicular shells offer structurally efficient alternatives, their adoption is often limited by the complexity, cost, waste, and reliance on high-tech fabrication associated with bespoke formwork. This dissertation investigates how bending-active formwork systems can be designed, engineered, and fabricated to enable the in-situ construction of efficient concrete shells and vaulted floors using material-efficient methods and readily accessible technologies. The research addresses key challenges related to active bending, including geometric control, structural robustness, and fabrication efficiency at architectural scale. Two novel complementary systems are developed: (1) a double-layered spline gridshell that combines falsework as integrated reinforcement, and (2) a reusable, corrugated plate formwork based on a curved-crease unfolding (CCU) mechanism. Both strategies use structural geometry with the double layer and curved-crease folds as a core design driver to enable geometric control for the precise shaping of funicular structures, embed stiffness to support the wet concrete, and propagate structural articulation into the resulting concrete shells. This research follows an integrative co-design methodology supported by a computational design-to-fabrication workflow, which enables form-finding, sensitivity analysis, and fabrication-aware modelling to be interwoven throughout the development process. A catalogue of opportunities frames the design space for bending-active formwork systems. The curved-crease unfolding (CCU) method is introduced as a novel approach, evolving from curved-crease folding for compact-to-spatial accordion-like or fan-like deployment. Its formulation is grounded in discrete differential geometry and expressed through design rules that enable exploration of the design space. System-specific form-finding procedures demonstrate geometric control, while finite element simulations assess stiffening strategies and scalability. Materialisation is addressed through a mono-material approach for the spline gridshell and textile-based hinges for the CCU system. Both systems are validated through full- and half-scale prototypes, evaluated for shaping accuracy, logistical efficiency, material use, cost, and construction time. The spline gridshell with textile shuttering enables ribbed skeleton shells with integrated reinforcement, while the reusable CCU system enables unreinforced fan-vaulted floors. Both rely on straightforward prefabrication, flat-packed transport, and rapid in-situ assembly or unfolding. Their applicability ranges across various spans and parallel vaults, synclastic, anticlastic, and fan-like geometries. Expressive tectonics emerge through structural articulation shaped by the constraints of structure and fabrication. By employing structural geometry for both formwork and the resulting shell floor, these systems significantly reduce formwork waste, material use, cost, concrete and steel mass, and reliance on bespoke digital fabrication. They thereby aim to make structurally efficient non-standard geometries viable beyond elite applications and contribute to more sustainable construction.

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Lotte Luise Scheder-Bieschin

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