Final thesis of the Architecture course at Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto.

Architecture project by Pedro de Azambuja Varela, Maria João de Oliveira and Emmanuel Novo. Following the 2012/13 edition of the Advanced Program in Digital Architecture (CEAAD), promoted by FAUP and ISCTE-IUL, the company AMORIM Isolamentos challenged the Course to design their Pavilion for the CONCRETA 2013 Fair. The students that developed their final research on cork […]
Recent developments in digital design and fabrication tools have led architects and researchers to renew the interest in stereotomy. This interest converges with a growing ecological and economical conscience that matches classic stereotomy raw material needs: compression resistance materials. However, material resources or prefabrication time are still major counterparts for the adoption of this construction […]
This paper describes the theory and practical experiments on the development of a system for the deployment of stereotomic voussoirs. The recent availability of digital design and fabrication tools has enabled architects to embrace stereotomic thinking, allowing for the efficient spanning of spaces with low tensile capable materials such as stone. The proposed fabrication system […]
An experiment within the DFL. Project coordination: José Pedro Sousa Design team: Pedro de Azambuja Varela, Pedro Martins Photographs: Carlos de Albuquerque Castro
Poster presented in the Nexus 2012 – Relationships Between Architecture and Mathematics. This presentation was about the relation of a complex geometry with constructive constraints.
A renewed interest in stereotomy, narrowly entwined with digital technologies, has allowed for the recovery and proposal of new techniques and expressions in this building approach. A new classification scheme for stereotomy research allows for the framing of various aspects related to this discipline, including a newly developed fabrication system specially tailored for the wedge-shaped […]
Final thesis of the Architecture course at Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto.
Between the geological earth and the rubble turned ground, architecture happens. It is in the cycles that happen between those two moments that the Flying Earth proposal is developed. Addressing the Trienalle challenges, it explores how the Earth’s most sourceable matter may provide the human being with an infinitely available and carbon-free material, contributing to […]
This arch was built in the DFL to showcase the possibilities of 3D printed customized joints. 144 joints were modelled automatically with a custom crafted algorithm and printed on site. The metal plates were laser cut. This work was developed together with Prof. Dr. José Pedro Sousa and João Carvalho. It is feature in this […]
In June 2020 I defended my PhD thesis entitled “Reconstruction of a Stereotomy – for a multi-semantic stereotomic approach”. The PDF document has Open Access and can be download in Universidade do Porto website here. https://sigarra.up.pt/faup/pt/NOTICIAS_GERAL.VER_NOTICIA?p_nr=69842 Abstract: Stereotomy is the classic body of knowledge which deals with stonecutting for building arch like structures. The interest […]
All content © Copyright 2026 by Pedro de Azambuja Varela.
Subscribe to RSS Feed