Author: stbim

Workshop – Sterotomic Stone Architecture

The international workshop Stereotomic Stone Architecture will take place at FAUP from May 4 to 8, 2026, bringing together students, researchers, and professionals to explore sustainable approaches to the design and construction of structural stone.

In a context marked by growing environmental concerns, stone construction has been gaining renewed attention as a low-impact strategy. As a natural material requiring minimal processing, stone offers a durable and reversible alternative to many contemporary construction systems, contributing to the reduction of the built environment’s environmental footprint.

The workshop proposes a critical and hands-on approach to stereotomy, the art of building with cut stone elements that work predominantly in compression. Rooted in the European architectural tradition, stereotomic techniques are revisited here through contemporary methodologies, combining architectural geometry, digital modelling, and practical experimentation. Participants will explore design principles, fabrication processes, and assembly methods associated with the construction of stone vaults, culminating in the construction of a small stereotomic prototype.

The workshop begins on May 4 with a public symposium featuring invited speakers Giuseppe Fallacara (Politecnico di Bari), Christophe Aubertin (Studio LADA), and Clemente Pinto (University of Beira Interior). Throughout the week, participants will also visit the marble quarry and processing facility of Solubema, in Alentejo, providing direct contact with contemporary techniques of stone extraction and processing.

This initiative is hosted by the Digital Fabrication Laboratory (DFL), integrated in the Centro de Estudos Nuno Portas (CENP), at FAUP. It is framed within the research project BIM Estereotómico (STBIM), coordinated by researcher Pedro de Azambuja Varela. The project aims to develop BIM-based methods and tools dedicated to the design and construction of low-carbon stereotomic systems, exploring stone as a structural material. By integrating parametric modelling, structural validation, and data preparation for digital fabrication, STBIM seeks to enable the design, simulation, and documentation of stereotomic structures within current BIM platforms, promoting sustainable alternatives to reinforced concrete and positioning stereotomy as a contemporary architectural language.

The project is funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the project “BIM Estereotómico – Exploring the design and sustainable construction of structural stone”, with reference 2023.15500.PEX, and has been assigned the DOI https://doi.org/10.54499/2023.15500.PEX.

Registrations in FAUP’s website.

March 27, 2026
STBIM Christmas Card

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2026, filled with good health, inspiration, and many exciting stereotomic designs ahead.

We would also like to take this opportunity to share some good news with you. The Voussoir plugin is now officially available online on the Food4Rhino platform, making it easier than ever to access, explore, and integrate it into your design workflow. This release represents an important step in sharing our research and tools with a broader community of designers, architects, and researchers interested in stereotomy and parametric masonry.

You can find more information, documentation, and download links on food4Rhino.

Thank you very much for your continued interest, enthusiasm, and support. We truly appreciate your engagement and look forward to staying in touch, exchanging ideas, and developing new stereotomic explorations together in the year ahead.

Warmest wishes,

The STBIM Team.

December 23, 2025
“Voussoir” Revit Add-in

The Voussoir for Autodesk® Revit® plugin is designed to create stereotomic vaults directly within the BIM environment. Combining advanced geometric logic with principles inspired by traditional masonry construction, the plugin enables users to generate, edit, and export vault systems composed of voussoirs and springers in a fully parametric manner.

The tool integrates seamlessly into the Revit workflow by using preconfigured families (included with the plugin) that are automatically instantiated and organized into model groups to form stereotomic vaults.

Key Features:

Parametric Vault Generation:

Generate stereotomic vaults by selecting two opposite walls. The vault is created using default parameters, and all geometric properties (profile type, height, thickness, and subdivision patterns) can then be fully customized through the Edit functionality.

Native Revit Workflow Integration:

The plugin relies on dedicated voussoir and springer families to ensure geometric consistency and complete compatibility with standard Revit modeling practices.

Export Functionality:

Export the resulting vault geometry to external file formats (OBJ, STL, and others), supporting downstream workflows such as analysis, fabrication, or visualization.

Applications:

Advanced BIM Modeling:

Incorporate parametric stereotomic vaults directly into Revit projects without the need for external modeling tools.

Geometric & Structural Analysis:

Export detailed vault geometry for use in external simulation, optimization, or structural assessment tools.

Digital Fabrication Workflows:

Prepare voussoir models for CNC cutting, 3D printing, documentation, or visualization through supported export formats.

The Voussoir plugin offers an intuitive interface, robust parametric logic, and seamless integration into the Revit ecosystem, enabling AEC professionals to model stereotomic vault systems accurately, efficiently, and fully aligned with BIM standards.

Download through Autodesk Store.

October 21, 2025
Non-orthogonal Barrel Vault

The parametric modelling of an irregular vault in Grasshopper begins with the definition of a planar quadrilateral curve that serves as the base profile. This curve is subdivided into its constituent segments and, by assigning the desired vault height, four fundamental base curves are generated: two transversal arcs, derived from the specified height, and two support lines. A loft operation between the arcs produces the initial vault surface, which is then subdivided into the individual intrados of the voussoirs. For this subdivision, the user specifies the number of longitudinal and transversal divisions, defined by the “u” and “v” values, which correspond respectively to the number of voussoirs along the span and the number of courses across the height of the vault.

From the resulting grid points, transversal and longitudinal planes are constructed to establish the contact surfaces between voussoirs. These planes form the basis for generating the planarized intrados, obtained through a fit plane operation. To generate the extrados, each intrados plane was offset along a normal vector calculated by averaging the directions of the adjacent division planes.

Finally, the springers were modelled selecting the voussoirs that intersect with an imaginary wall that has as its base the springer line, and then for each transversal set of voussoirs obtaining the highest “Z” coordinate and creating an extrusion with that height and a given width that is then fused to the selected voussoirs.

All the new components created in the scope of this Grasshopper definition can be found on the Turtle article.

August 21, 2025
Orthogonal Barrel Vault

The parametric modeling of a barrel vault in Grasshopper begins with the construction of an arc profile, governed by parameters such as span and rise. This profile is subdivided into segments corresponding to individual voussoirs, whose widths are also parametrically controlled. Each segment is extruded along the longitudinal axis to generate a sequence of base surfaces, which are then further extruded along their respective surface normals to define the volumetric geometry of the voussoirs. The resulting elements are systematically arrayed to form the complete vaulted system. The use of parameter sliders enables real-time manipulation of geometric and constructive variables, facilitating iterative design and formal exploration.

Given its geometric clarity and structural logic, the barrel vault constitutes an exemplary case study for investigating the potential of parametric modeling in architecture, and more specifically in stereotomy. Its modular nature lends itself to applications in digital fabrication and structural analysis.

Interactive model at: https://www.shapediver.com/app/builder/v1/main/latest/?slug=vaultrectangularshdi&redirect=0

June 27, 2025

“Voussoir” Grasshopper Plugin

Voussoir is a Grasshopper plugin for Rhinoceros 3D that enables the generation of stereotomic vault geometries from user-defined inputs. Developed as a tool for digital exploration of stone vault construction, it combines parametric modeling with geometric logic inspired by traditional masonry techniques.

The plugin is conceived with a modular architecture, allowing future integration of additional stereotomic approaches and ensuring that all components can seamlessly interact. Stay tuned for upcoming developments.

Preferred Installation: Open Rhino’s PackageManager, search for “voussoir” and install.

Features

Generate voussoir-based vault systems from curves or surfaces.
Control key geometric parameters, such as springer lines and intrados curvature.
Automatically subdivide vault surfaces into voussoirs with customizable dimensions.
Export vault elements as BREPs for further analysis, fabrication, or visualization.
Designed to integrate seamlessly within parametric workflows in Rhino and Grasshopper.

Use Cases

Historical reconstruction and digital archaeology.
Architectural design inspired by stereotomy and stone vaulting.
Educational applications in architectural geometry and design computation.

Technical Information

Compatible with Rhino 8 and Grasshopper.
Outputs clean and organized data trees for downstream use.
Requires no external dependencies.

Disclaimer: This plugin is intended solely for geometric design exploration. It does not perform structural analysis or validation, and results should not be used for engineering assessment.

Core Geometry

Barrel Vault Base Surface

Nickname: BVSrf
Creates the base surface for the creation of a barrel vault

Input Name	ID	Description	Type	Default Values
Input Lines	SpringerLines	Two non intersecting lines	Curve	—
Vault Height	VaultHeight	Arc’s height.	Float	2.00
Arc Selection	VaultProfile	Right-click to select type of curve. 0: Parabola, 1: Arc, 2: Catenary. Or input one of the above integers	Integer	2

Output Name	ID	Description	Type
Vault Surface	VS	The vault surface created by lofting both arcs	Surface
Springer Lines	SL	The two horizontal lines (remaining sides).	Line
Vault Arcs	VA	The two generated arcs.	Curve

Barrel Vault Division – UV Grid

Nickname: BVDivG
Divides a vault defined by two arcs into spanwise and lengthwise voussoirs.

Input Name	ID	Description	Type	Default Values
Vault Surface	VaultSurface	The vault surface created by lofting both arcs	Surface	—
Transversal Divisions	TransversalDivisions	Number of voussoirs in the vault’s span	Integer	12
Longitudinal divisions	LongitudinalDivisions	Number of voussoirs in the vault’s length	Integer	8

Output Name	ID	Description	Type
Intrados Planes	IP	Intrados planar vault panels	Plane
Division planes	DP	Planes of each Voussoir Contact Surface	Plane
Boundaries	B	Voussoir Boundaries (Indexes of Division Planes)	String
Transversal planes	TP	Planes at each length division	Plane
Longitudinal planes	LP	Planes at each span division	Plane

Create Voussoirs

Nickname: BVouss
Creates Voussoirs defined by division planes

Input Name	ID	Description	Type	Default Values
Intrados Planes	IntradosPlanes	Intrados planar vault panels	Plane	—
Division planes	DivisionPlanes	Planes of each Voussoir Contact Surface	Plane	—
Boundaries	Boundaries	Voussoir Boundaries (Indexes of Division Planes)	String	—
Thickness	Thickness	Voussoir Thickness	Float	0.25

Output Name	ID	Description	Type
Voussoirs	V	Voussoir Blocks	Brep
Intrados	I	Intrados Surfaces	Surface
Extrados	E	Extrados Surfaces	Surface
Contact Surfaces	CS	Voussoir contact surfaces	Surface

Springers

Springer – Triangle

Nickname: SprTri
Create a simple triangular Springer

Input Name	ID	Description	Type	Default Values
Vault Surface	VaultSurface	The vault surface created by lofting both arcs	Surface	—
Springer Line	SpringerLine	List of base lines to create vault springers	Curve	—
Voussoirs	Voussoirs	Voussoirs to analyse	Brep	—
Transversal Planes	TransversalPlanes	Planes at each span division	Plane	—

Output Name	ID	Description	Type
Springers	S	Finished Springers	Brep
Voussoirs	V	Non transformed voussoirs	Brep

Springer – Trapezoid

Nickname: SprT
Create a simple trapezoid Springer

Input Name	ID	Description	Type	Default Values
Vault Surface	VaultSurface	The vault surface created by lofting both arcs	Surface	—
Springer Line	SpringerLine	List of base lines to create vault springers	Curve	—
Voussoirs	Voussoirs	Voussoirs to analyse	Brep	—
Transversal Planes	TransversalPlanes	Planes at each span division	Plane	—

Output Name	ID	Description	Type
Springers	S	Finished Springers	Brep
Voussoirs	V	Non transformed voussoirs	Brep

Springer – Wall

Nickname: SprW
Creates a Springer based on the voussoirs closest to the springer line

Input Name	ID	Description	Type	Default Values
Vault Surface	VaultSurface	The vault surface created by lofting both arcs	Surface	—
Springer Line	SpringerLine	List of base lines to create vault springers	Curve	—
Voussoirs	Voussoirs	Voussoirs to analyse	Brep	—
Transversal Planes	TransversalPlanes	Planes at each span division	Plane	—
Springer Width	SpringerWidth	Distance perpendicular to springer line	Float	0.25

Output Name	ID	Description	Type
Springers	S	Finished Springers	Brep
Voussoirs	V	Non transformed voussoirs	Brep

Wootils

Arc by Height

Nickname: ArcH
Create an upward arc between two points and a given height (max radius constrained by point distance)

Input Name	ID	Description	Type	Default Values
Start	A	Start point of the arc.	Point	—
End	B	End point of the arc.	Point	—
Height	H	Height of the arc.	Float	2.00

Output Name	ID	Description	Type
Arc	C	Arc curve	Curve

Catenary by Height

Nickname: CatH
Create an upward catenary between two points and a given height

Input Name	ID	Description	Type	Default Values
Start	A	Start point of the catenary.	Point	—
End	B	End point of the catenary.	Point	—
Height	H	Rise (height) of the catenary.	Float	2.00

Output Name	ID	Description	Type
Catenary	C	Catenary curve	Curve

Parabola by Height

Nickname: ParH
Create an upward parabola between two points and a given height

Input Name	ID	Description	Type	Default Values
Start	A	Start point of the parabola.	Point	—
End	B	End point of the parabola.	Point	—
Height	H	Height of the parabola.	Float	2.00

Output Name	ID	Description	Type
Parabola	C	Parabola curve	Curve

May 29, 2025

Author: stbim

Workshop – Sterotomic Stone Architecture

STBIM Christmas Card

“Voussoir” Revit Add-in

Non-orthogonal Barrel Vault

Orthogonal Barrel Vault

“Voussoir” Grasshopper Plugin

Core Geometry

Springers

Wootils