This paper presents an optimization procedure for the solution of the planarity problem, a requirement of grid shells with four or more sides faces that need of having four adjacent nodes laying on a plane in order to use plane glass slabs as cladding elements. It can be satisfied by applying specific geometric rules in the grid generation phase but, when the architectural shape is already defined at the conceptual stage, an optimization procedure can yield to suitable configurations. A Relaxation method based on nodal planarity errors and an evolutionary population-based Genetic Algorithm have been applied to set of benchmarks, in order to tune parameters and to obtain general information about the solution. the problem and their efficiency compared. The Relaxation method in general shows better efficiency in reaching optimal solutions, as an effect of the regularity of the target function. The Genetic Algorithm, on the other hand, performs a wider exploration of feasible solutions, generating unexpected sub-optimal configurations.

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This paper aims to discuss recent approaches in using more and more frequently computer tools as supports for the conceptual design phase of the architectural project. The present state-of-the-art about software as a conceptual design tool could be summarized in two parallel tendencies. On the one hand, the main software houses are trying to introduce powerful and effective user-friendly applications in the world of building designers, that are more and more able to fit their specific requirements; on the other hand, some groups of expert users with a basic programming knowledge seem to deal with the problem of software as a conceptual design tool by means of 'scripting', in other words by self-developing codes able to solve specific and well-defined design problems. Starting with a brief historical recall and the discussion of relevant researches and practical experiences, this paper investigates the most recent studies about digital conceptual design tools. The combined use of Rhinoceros, a powerful three-dimensional modeller diffused among designers, and Rhinoscript, its implemented programming environment, is here presented as a possibly effective way to deal with computer technologies for conceptual design in architecture.

This paper presents a critical study about the church of Longuelo (Italy), designed in 1966 by Giuseppe “Pino” Pizzigoni (1901–1967), an Italian architect who lived and worked in Bergamo. He began his studies on shell structures in the 1950s and many of his buildings show outstanding skills in conceiving and handling complex structures. The church is probably his masterpiece, taken on with a combination of limited analytic knowledge about structures, perseverance and partial unconsciousness, typical at time. The cultural background of the architect and the whole conception of the project, as well as the peculiar building characters, its construction history and impact on the architectonic culture will be investigated in this paper.