Talk: Alberto Pugnale on Binishells

Join us for an informal floor talk during the Taglietti: Life in Design exhibition on Wednesday 19 August from 11am - 12pm in the Design Gallery of the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne.

Hear Alberto Pugnale discuss his research on Binishells, an innovative and automated construction technique to generate and build thin concrete shells and dome structures that was invented by Italian industrial designer and architect Dante Bini near Bologna in 1964. Pugnale will discuss his research into this construction methodology, which culminated in his 2023 book Architecture Beyond the Cupola: Inventions and Designs of Dante Bini. Alberto will outline the impact and potential future application of such construction automation techniques from the past and how they might inform and generate new architectural forms and languages for the future.

Alberto Pugnale is Associate Professor in Architectural Design at the University of Melbourne and Co‑Director of the Advanced Digital Design + Fabrication (ADD+F) Research Hub in the Melbourne School of Design. He specialises in computational design, optimisation workflows and AI‑based methodologies, and in digitally analysing historical precedents. His research and practice span concept development, prototyping and automated fabrication to reduce resource use and tackle environmental challenges. He has contributed to construction history by examining innovation in construction and fabrication, and explores pedagogies for integrating technical knowledge in architectural education.

Alberto’s awards include the IASS HANGAI Prize (2007), ISI Foundation Lagrange scholarship (2008), IABSE Photo Contest prize (2008), the IASS Tsuboi Award (2023) and first prizes in IASS Design Competitions (2023, 2024). He was Assistant Professor at Aalborg University (2010–2012), has lectured internationally, serves on the editorial boards of Nexus Network Journal and International Journal of Space Structures, and is a member of IASS and SAHANZ.