The Reciprocalizer:a design tool for reciprocal structures

The geometry of reciprocal structures is extremely difficult to predict and control, and it cannot be described with the available CAD software or by hierarchical, associative parametric modellers. The geometry of a network of reciprocally connected elements is a characteristic that emerges, bottom-up, from the complex interaction between all the elements shape, topology and position, and requires numerical solution of the geometric compatibility. This paper presents a design tool, the “Reciprocalizer”, that is able to solve the geometry of reciprocal structures. The tool has been tested in the generation of both regular configuration, and non-regular configurations that are able to adapt to virtually any possible free-form geometry