What SMART masonry is

Why SMART masonry

SMART masonry was born from a need we know well, because it's our own. At Sphera Engineering we both design structures and develop engineering software: two activities that usually live apart, and that under our roof live together. On one side we had powerful masonry calculation tools, developed over the years for research. On the other, as designers, we felt the need for an effective, modern tool for everyday work.

SMART masonry is what happened when we brought the two together: the solidity of a method born in research, in the form of a simple, modern cloud application. It's the tool we would have wanted ourselves.

Who's behind it

SMART masonry is developed by Sphera Engineering, an engineering firm founded in Florence in 2019. Our distinctive trait is a dual soul: structural design and construction supervision on one hand, engineering software development on the other. We don't just use calculation tools — we build them.

It's this coexistence of those who design and those who program, under one roof, that makes a product like SMART masonry possible: it comes from the real experience of people who analyse and verify masonry structures every day, and from the ability to turn that experience into software.

The scientific lead

The solver behind SMART masonry comes from the research of Luca Salvatori, engineer and associate professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Florence and co-founder of Sphera Engineering. Author of more than ninety scientific publications on masonry mechanics, wind engineering, earthquake engineering, steel and reinforced-concrete structures and computational mechanics, he combines research with long experience in the design and retrofitting of structures and in developing advanced engineering software.

It is from this twofold expertise — academic and professional — that SMART masonry draws its reliability: a method validated by research, put to work in practice.

Twenty years of research and development

SMART masonry is the latest chapter in a story that began in 2006, with the research into the numerical analysis of masonry structures. What was once a research solver became, year after year, a validated and documented tool; today it's a web app accessible to every professional, with a simple, modern user experience.

1. 2006
   The beginning

   The solver behind SMART masonry is born: a corotational rigid-block approach to masonry structural analysis.

2. 2007
   The first scientific publication

   The method is presented to the scientific community at the WONDERmasonry conference (Ischia).

   WONDERmasonry 2007, Lacco Ameno, Ischia (11–12 October 2007) — Salvatori L., Spinelli P., «Un modello discreto a deformabilità concentrata per strutture in muratura».

3. 2008
   Into university teaching

   The first master's thesis uses SMART masonry.

4. 2008–2011
   Years of research

   The solver evolves: equivalent-frame, FEM and hybrid multiscale FEM-DEM models are added.

5. 2015
   International recognition

   The method is used in a peer-reviewed international journal publication (Engineering Structures).

   Salvatori L., Marra A. M., Bartoli G., Spinelli P. (2015), «Probabilistic seismic performance of masonry towers: General procedure and a simplified implementation», Engineering Structures, 94:82–95.

6. 2019
   Sphera Engineering is founded

   The solver finds a home in a company that combines structural design and software development.

7. 2020
   The first professional project

   The Sphera version of the solver is used for real filed projects, including the Ministry of the Environment headquarters in Rome.

8. 2026
   SMART masonry in the cloud

   The solver becomes a web app accessible to every professional.

From research to product

SMART masonry doesn't come from marketing, but from research: calculation tools validated over the years, now given a modern, simple, cloud-based form — without touching their core. The same rigorous method, now within reach of every professional.