Carlo Ratti designs digitally fabricated structure "to bring new intelligence to reinforced concrete"
Italian studio Carlo Ratti Associati has revealed plans for a cultural centre dedicated to cement company Buzzi, which will feature a digitally fabricated reinforced concrete truss.
Set to be built in Casale Monferrato, Italy, the Buzzi Heritage Cultural Center will comprise a bridge-like structure containing Buzzi's historical archive, research and cultural events space.
The visitor centre will feature a one-hundred-metre-long digitally fabricated truss that will span over outdoor spaces and connect two existing buildings.
Carlo Ratti Associati aimed to explore the future possibilities of digital fabrication and reinforced concrete with its design, and seek alternative building methods to traditional concrete casting.
"Today we must design for precision, adaptability, and circularity at the end of a building's life," said Carlo Ratti Associati founder Carlo Ratti.
"This new method of digital fabrication allows us to bring new intelligence to reinforced concrete."
"Although advances in material science have significantly reduced CO2 emissions, the fundamental process of casting concrete has remained largely unchanged for over a century," added Carlo Ratti Associati.
"The Buzzi Heritage Cultural Center rethinks this paradigm through a system that applies digital fabrication to reinforced concrete construction, centred on a one-hundred-meter digitally fabricated truss."
Working with construction company Maestro Technologies, the structure will be built with a combination of traditional on-site concrete casting and a digitally fabricated steel-concrete composite system.
"Traditional casting is merged with a digitally fabricated steel-concrete composite system produced through laser cutting and CNC machining – the latter serve as permanent formwork and structural reinforcement," said Carlo Ratti Associati. "They are fabricated off-site, used for casting, and assembled on-site with millimetre-level precision."
"Unlike temporary formwork, these metal components remain in place, improving structural performance while reducing material waste, construction time, and on-site complexity," it continued.
Outdoor courtyards will be added to the site, including an outdoor space that is fully accessible to the public, one designed to host activities and events, and another designed for private functions.
Other recent projects by Carlo Ratti Associati include a floating plaza anchored at the mouth of the Amazon River and designs for a cross-laminated timber Alpine bivouac.
The images are courtesy of Carlo Ratti Associati.
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