Morphogenetic Paths between Geometrical Traces and Fabrication Issues: Geometrical Analysis and Digital Form Studies

The growing population of buildings in contemporary cities has pushed the search for innovative and recognizable architectures to unpredictable peaks, where the sole aim is to emerge from the skylines. The first and most intuitive way to reach this aspiration is an increase in complexity of shapes. Understanding how the complexity is reached is an aim worth to be explored, through the analysis of the geometry. The complexity of geometry is such to require specific tools to be properly studied and used. The aim of this work is the understanding of the parametric morphogenesis, meant as the process of form creation, of the 30 St. Mary Axe in London, by Norman Foster. In this sample, the shape characterization is analyzed, not as a complexity showing off in itself, but as a perceived result of a synergy between environmental, structural and functional issues through its geometrical analysis.