The Evolution of the Xenaform: From Xenakis to Geometric Stability to Built Realization

The XenaForm is a lightweight timber folded-plate structural system developed through research-led teaching that integrates geometric stability, material efficiency, and hands-on construction. The system originates from a geometric condition of spatial stability based on non-coplanar triangular assemblies and is extended through a rule-based algorithm that governs both form generation and erection sequence. Implemented within undergraduate architectural engineering education, the XenaForm enables students to design, analyze, fabricate, and assemble spatial structures whose stability is guaranteed by geometric compatibility rather than post-hoc structural analysis. A full-scale prototype constructed in Vilnius demonstrates the feasibility of the system as a pedagogical, architectural, and structural typology. The project emphasizes plywood construction and manual assembly, framing structural design as both a technical and social act. The XenaForm illustrates how geometric rigor and disciplined rule sets can foster creative exploration while maintaining constructability, efficiency, and structural clarity. This paper also discusses Python-based generation and AI-assisted visualization as emerging tools for expanding, testing, and critiquing the XenaForm design space.