Modelling Alberti’s Column System: Generative Modelling and Digital Fabrication of Classical Architectural Elements

The research presented further is part of the Digital Alberti research project, which aims to assess the infl uence of Leon Batista Alberti’s theory on Portuguese architecture, through the use of digital technologies. One of the project tasks implied computational and physical modelling of Alberti’s column system. Development of the computational model implied decoding Alberti’s treatise on architecture De re aedifi catoria into a consistent set of parameters and relationships, and then implementing these into generative parametric computer programs through visual programming language Grasshopper. This computational model is able to automatically generate physical models of classical columns according to Alberti’s canons. These digital models were then materialized through production of physical models, through rapid prototyping and digital fabrication technologies. Special attention is given to the CNC stone milling of a Corinthian capital.