Giovanni Castellazzi

Giovanni Castellazzi

Computational mechanics · Structural modelling · Digital twins of the built heritage

I am Associate Professor at the Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering (DICAM), University of Bologna, and President of AICO, the Italian Association of Composites for Civil Engineering Applications.

My work sits at the intersection of computational structural mechanics and the digital documentation of existing structures. I develop numerical methods and open-source tools that turn survey data — point clouds, CT scans, photogrammetry — into predictive finite element models, with a particular focus on masonry and historical constructions.

Research in one paragraph

Existing buildings are geometrically irregular, materially heterogeneous and rarely documented. Standard modelling pipelines assume none of that is true. I work on closing the gap: automatic mesh generation from unstructured 3D data, constitutive models for masonry and quasi-brittle materials, efficient shell and beam formulations, and virtual element methods for meshes that no classical FE code would accept.

Interested in collaborating, or looking for a thesis topic? Get in touch.

The book

ImportantPrinciples and Analysis of Historical Masonry Structures

The Strength of the Past — Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2025

With Alberto Taliercio. How masonry structures stand, why they endure and when they fail: the mechanics of arches, vaults, domes and walls, from thrust line theory and the no-tension model to seismic action and long-term degradation. 498 pages, for engineers, architects, conservation professionals and students.

Publisher’s page All publications

Highlights

Cloud2FEM

From point cloud to finite element model, automatically. Read more →

Masonry mechanics

Texture-aware models, interface elements, damage and frost. Read more →

aLOTofImaginArches

The line of thrust, interactive, in the browser. Open the app →