This workshop was lectured at Istanbul Technical University. A collaboration between FAUP’s DFL and ITU’s ArfLab, the vault was built with stereotomic rammed earth voussoirs.
This work was the result of my studies at CEAAD – Curso de Estudos Avançados em Arquitectura Digital – organized by ISCTE-IUL and FAUP, and hosted in ISCTE-IUL and VFABLAB in Lisbon in 2013-2013. When approached with a raw material such as expanded cork agglomerate, materiality is a concept that is present from the very […]
Architecture project by Pedro de Azambuja Varela A carport was in demand. The connection between the polygonal line of the garage roof and the horizontal site wall created this subtle yet obivous solution. The use of a “half-pipe” roof tile was key in this strangely shaped roof.
The School of Architecture of Aarhus organizes the HARD CO(u)R(s)E DIGITAL, a set of workshops focused in digital technologies in a pre-holiday format. The key factors in the CorkVault workshop were the use of ICB (Insulation Cork Board), a 5-axis waterjet cutter and Kangaroo along with Grasshopper, so that a full-scale pavillion could be built. […]
Architecture project developed by Pedro de Azambuja Varela and Renata Pinho. The redesign of this apartment had to deal with specific issues: replace the existing floor, redesign the kitchen while keeping the laundry space, and create lots of storage room; while the bathrooms and master bedroom intervention is a welcome bonus to the essential. Walls […]
Presentation in the Digital Darq event. Showcase of personal research on cork stereotomies.
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 screen was designed together with Joana Fraga for Pearl Cork. It uses solid cork agglomerate, and is a modular design, so it can grow endlessly.
This is a design I’ve developed together with Joana Fraga for Pearl Cork. The bed itself is made of cork, and was routed from a single block of cork agglomerate with a multiple axis robotic arm.
This paper focuses on the development of a BIM (Building Information Modeling) tool for stereotomic design, aiming to create a bridge between academic research and practical implementation of stereotomy in the construction sector. The creation of a stereotomic BIM tool enhances the use of compressive materials within funicular shapes to minimize reliance on carbon-intensive steel-reinforced […]
A reusable mold methodology to the production of customized voussoirs using HoloLens Mass customizing of building components allows new conditions to explore aesthetic and sustainability in architecture. However, such possibilities tend to require the use of expensive and heavy digital fabrication machinery, which is mostly available in the most regions on the planet. In this […]
All content © Copyright 2026 by Pedro de Azambuja Varela.
Subscribe to RSS Feed














