Based on the authors' previous work, where a geometric constraint handling technique for stiffener layout optimization problem using geometry algorithms was proposed, stiffener layout optimization to maximize natural frequencies of a curved three-dimensional shell structure was performed with a projection method. The original geometry of the shell structure was first projected on a two-dimensional plane, and then the whole optimization process was performed with the projected geometry of the shell except that the original shell structure was used for the eigenproblem solving. The projection method can be applied to baseline structures with a one-to-one correspondence between original and projected geometries such as automobile hoods and roofs.