Geometry as Method and Generative System: A Virtual Reconstruction of Fernando Higueras’s Montecarlo Project

Abstract

This paper presents a virtual reconstruction of Fernando Higueras’s unbuilt Montecarlo Building (Edificio polivalente de Montecarlo – Concurso Internacional restringido. Fundación Fernando Higueras, Madrid. (Audiovisual material, January 29, 2017). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBwv2htnzUQ , 1969), a landmark in his exploration of radial-expansive systems. The project, conceived as a growing organism, employed a generative grammar based on the duplication of polygonal rings (n = 6·2x), producing modular slabs, large cantilevers, and a flexible spatial structure. Using archival documents and digital modeling, this research reconstructs the building’s geometry, structural hierarchy and active perimeter, showing how Higueras turned abstract principles into rational strategies. It reveals how practical solutions can be formalized as mathematical rules, bridging analog experimentation with digital parametric design. Results highlight its dual nature: organic yet rigorous, integrating prefabrication, scalability and bioclimatic performance. Though never built, Montecarlo emerges as a culmination of Higueras’s analog experiments and a precursor of contemporary computational design.