“Brick-topia”, the thin-tile vaulted pavilion

•A pavilion made entirely with Catalan vault technique is designed.•Computational tools are combined with traditional construction techniques.•An economical and fast formwork system is implemented.•A form finding method is explored to redesign the project on site.

The project “Brick-topia” was based on a combination of the latest structural analysis and form-finding computational tools with traditional, cheap and effective construction techniques. It is the result of innovation to fight against budget and time. The initial budget was 3000 euros and only seven weeks was the time to look for sponsors, design the pavilion, plan the construction phases and build it.The whole process of designing, decision on the materials, structural analysis and construction is presented in the paper, including exploration on new form-finding methods to redesign a project in situ and research on a new formwork system using scaffolding, cardboard, wire and steel rods and having a cutter as main tool.