Publication and communication of article “Genetic Algorithms in Architecture – History and Relevance”.
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 […]
We live today in a world with extreme energetical and environmental challenges. Recognizing the irresponsible usage of reinforced concrete is one of the first steps to solving this problem, and tackling alternative solutions is the second. Here, we propose structural stone slabs. This functional model is a prototype for a (re)new(ed) kind of slab. Taking […]
Poster presented in the Nexus 2012 – Relationships Between Architecture and Mathematics. This presentation was about the relation of a complex geometry with constructive constraints.
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 […]
Presentation in the Digital Darq event. Showcase of personal research on cork stereotomies.
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.
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 […]
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 […]
Stone Translucent Verticalities is an architectural sculpture that highlights the potentialities of stone/marble digital design and fabrication combined with artificial lighting. The main theme of the design is the relationship between sculpted lithic materials and translucency: in fact, by reducing thethickness of the stone at certain points, light can pass through the matter and allows […]
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


