Form Finding Lab

Form Finding Lab Research group based at the Civil/Environmental Engineering Department of Princeton University. Projects involve the search for optimal durable shape.

Come learn about the design and mechanics of bigons and bigon arms at the Final Public Oral Exam of Axel Larsson (.io) o...
04/30/2026

Come learn about the design and mechanics of bigons and bigon arms at the Final Public Oral Exam of Axel Larsson (.io) on Monday May 4th 2026 at 9AM EDT in Friend 008 at Princeton University or on zoom (link in comments). The official title of his dissertation is “Machine Learning Accelerated Simulation and Design of Multistable Elastic Rod Networks”. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Image credit: Axel Larsson

We’re delighted to share that Rafael Pastrana ( ) successfully defended his Ph.D. at Princeton University in December la...
02/12/2026

We’re delighted to share that Rafael Pastrana ( ) successfully defended his Ph.D. at Princeton University in December last year!

🏝️ Rafael’s work titled “Differentiable form-finding for structural design” presents four computational methods that automate the design of efficient and feasible shapes for lightweight architectural structures using gradient-based optimization and neural network amortization.

🤖 At the heart of these methods lies automatic differentiation (AD). AD enables the creation of differentiable simulation methods for fast inverse design of funicular geometry conditioned on arbitrary performance objectives arising from architectural, manufacturing, and structural constraints. Importantly, AD also functions as an interface that allows physics-based simulation methods and data-driven models communicate in a unified language: the language of derivatives.

📚 Download his dissertation for free at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399682238_Differentiable_form-finding_for_structural_design

👾 Rafael joined the Princeton Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence this year, where he will continue working at the intersection of structural mechanics and machine learning. He will focus on developing ML-powered methods for structural design from first principles.

Congratulations Rafael! 🎉

To see more of Rafael’s work follow him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelpastrana/
and check out his website: https://pastrana.xyz/ad

We’re excited to share that Isabel Moreira de Oliveira (.d.o) recently defended her PhD dissertation: “Kirigami space fr...
02/12/2026

We’re excited to share that Isabel Moreira de Oliveira (.d.o) recently defended her PhD dissertation: “Kirigami space frames: from thin sheets to mechanically performant lattices”.
Her doctoral research explored the mechanics of kirigami. In particular, she investigated how such patterned cuts, when applied to thin sheets, enable flexible materials to deploy into stiff, lightweight 3D lattice structures. Through a combination of experiments, simulations, and parametric studies, she demonstrated the power of kirigami to engineer stiffness and transform delicate metal sheets into load-bearing, meter-scale building components. Congratulations Isabel! 🎉

Living architectures, like beehives and ant bridges, adapt to their environments through self-organization of swarming a...
01/24/2026

Living architectures, like beehives and ant bridges, adapt to their environments through self-organization of swarming agents. Most human-made architectures are static, and can’t adapt to changing conditions. In a recent paper published in Science Robotics, Princeton engineers designed the Swarm Garden, a modular architectural facade that integrates swarm intelligence and robotics. Each module, resembling flowers, uses buckling sheet technology to open and close in response to environmental stimuli.

The paper’s lead author is MAE postdoc Merihan Alhafnawi. The project is a collaboration between the labs of Princeton MAE’s Radhika Nagpal and Princeton CEE’s Sigrid Adriaenssens.

Read the paper in Science Robotics: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.ady7233

Our very own Salma Mozaffari in the ETHZ spotlight!Follow the link for the full story:https://tr.ee/SDaPcSDfyn (Link in ...
09/29/2025

Our very own Salma Mozaffari in the ETHZ spotlight!

Follow the link for the full story:
https://tr.ee/SDaPcSDfyn (Link in bio)

How can AI advance structural engineering? AI is reshaping health care, astronomy, and neuroscience—yet in structural en...
09/26/2025

How can AI advance structural engineering?



AI is reshaping health care, astronomy, and neuroscience—yet in structural engineering, its potential in design, simulation, and control is only beginning.

Last week in Torino, the ARTISTE group at Politecnico di Torino brought together pioneers at the Castello del Valentino. Prof. Sigrid Adriaenssens shared how physics-constrained neural networks can accelerate lightweight structure design (with Rafael Pastrana, Ryan Adams, Isabel Moreira de Oliveira & Eder Medina).

Together with PhD candidate Jonathan Melchiorre, Beppe Marano & Amedeo Manuele, we showed how expert intuition strengthens AI design—earning a presentation award

• Bonus: Prof. Stergios-Aristoteles Mitoulis and Prof. Sigrid Adriaenssens unknowingly matched in pinstripe suits.

𝘒𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢: 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 is in the exhibition of This project combines with to reimagine the d...
06/26/2025

𝘒𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢: 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 is in the exhibition of

This project combines with to reimagine the design of space frames for building components such as roofs, floors, and walls.

Kirigami is the art of cutting and arranging sheets to produce 3D objects. With kirigami principles, thin sheets can be cut, deployed, and connected to create stiff and easy-to-assemble space frames. A equivariant to wallpaper group symmetries generates cut patterns that endow a space frame with remarkable mechanical performance, distinctive architectural expression, and a mesmerizing interplay of light and shadow.

In the room, two wallpaper groups are materialized as —one on the floor and the other on the ceiling. A third symmetry group is presented as an interactive display, immersing viewers in a vast design space of cut patterns for structures.

The exhibition is open until November 23rd at the mezzanine level of Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy.

The team
Design and research team
| Isabel M de Oliveira .d.o , Rafael Pastrana , Cindy Zhang , Ryan P Adams (lips.cs.princeton.edu) , Sigrid Adriaenssens
| Emily Baker
| Vittorio Paris
Fabricator
Carpenteria Bonatese s.r.l.
General Contractor
Taramelli s.r.l.

Keep up with our work at kirigami-strata.ai

📸: (1-3) Giulia Fassina (4-6) Rafael Pastrana

We are proud to share our latest publication in Automation in Construction: “Form-finding and metaheuristic multiobjecti...
06/25/2025

We are proud to share our latest publication in Automation in Construction: “Form-finding and metaheuristic multiobjective optimization methodology for sustainable gridshells with reduced construction complexity and waste.” by Jonathan Melchiorre, Amedeo Manuello Bertetto, Sigrid Adriaenssens and Giuseppe Carlo Marano (link in bio)

In this work, we propose a methodology that minimizes the variety of structural elements, reduces material consumption, cuts production waste, and ensures compliance with structural verification standards—advancing sustainable and efficient structural design.

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