Structures Notes
Structures Notes
role of the structural system and the desired spatial composition, appropriate
choices for a structural system can be made if one understands the formal
attributes the various systems develop in responding to applied forces and
redirecting these forces to their foundations.
Bulk-active structures redirect external forces primarily through the bulk and
continuity of its material, such as beams and columns.
The proportions of structural elements, such as bearing walls, floor and roof
slabs, vaults and domes, give us visual clues to their role in a structural system
as well as the nature of their material. A masonry wall, being strong in
compression but relatively weak in bending, will be thicker than a reinforced
concrete wall doing the same work. A steel column will be thinner than a wood
post supporting the same load. A 4-inch reinforced concrete slab will span
farther than 4-inch wood decking.
As a structure depends less on the weight and stiffness of a material and more
on its geometry for stability, as in the case of membrane structures and space
frames, its elements will get thinner and thinner until they lose their ability to
give a space scale and dimension.