Exploring scallop forms

Abstract

The term ‘scallop form’ is used to refer to a structural form, such as a dome, that has ‘arched’ sectors. Thus, in addition to the general ‘curviance’ of the dome, the sectors are separately arched. The term ‘curviance’ means ‘the way a form is curved’. Also, the term ‘scallop’ refers to the marine creature scallop whose shell has arched ribs. Scallop forms constitute a wide range of spatial structural forms that can provide efficient structural solutions. The form processing programming language ‘Formian’ includes capabilities that allow the geometry of various types of scallop domes to be generated conveniently (visit Formexia.com). Also, the new version of the language, namely, Formian-K has extended the scalloping facilities of the language to include scallop barrel vaults. The objective of this article is to explore the range of possible scallop forms and to explain how these forms may be generated using the ‘scalloping functions’ of the Formian language. This article contains many practical examples, in terms of which the generation of forms is discussed. This article is meant to be a practical manual for generation of scallop forms. However, to understand all the details of the operations, it is expected that the article is studied together with the necessary background material.