Structure As Architecture: A Source Book for Architects and Structural Engineers, Second edition
Introduction
Structure is columnar, planar, or a combination of these which a designer can intentionally use to reinforce or realize ideas. In this context, columns, walls and beams can be thought of in terms of concepts of frequency, pattern, simplicity, regularity, randomness and complexity. As such, structure can be used to define space, create units, articulate circulation, suggest movement, or develop composition and modulations. In this way, it becomes inextricably linked to the very elements which create architecture, its quality and excitement.
The potential for structure to enrich architecture
Clark and Pause’s statement above begins by describing the architectural qualities of structure and then suggests how structure might enrich architecture. But is such a positive attitude to structure realistic? What was the last building you experienced where structure either created the architecture or contributed a sense of excitement to it? Where do we find examples of structure playing such active architectural roles as defining space and modulating surfaces? And, how else might structure contribute architecturally? These questions set the agenda of this book, informing its focus and scope, and initiating an exploration of architecturally enriching structure.
Some readers may consider Clark and Pause’s attitude towards structure as a fully integrated architectural element rather unrealistic. So often our day-to-day experience of structure can be described as unmemorable. In much of our built environment structure is either concealed or nondescript. Opaque façade panels or mirror-glass panes hide
structure located on a building’s perimeter. Inside a building, suspended ceilings conceal beams, and vertical structural elements like columns, cross-bracing and structural walls are either enveloped within partition walls or else visually indistinguishable from them. Even if structure is exposed, often its repetitive and predictable configuration in plan and elevation, as well as its unrefined member and connection detailing, can rarely be described as ‘creating architecture, its quality and excitement’.
Fortunately, in addition to these ubiquitous and bland structural encounters, sufficient precedents of positive structural contributions to architecture exist. They point towards bolder and more exciting possibilities and have convinced critical observers, like Clark and Pause and others, of the potential for structure to engage with architecture more actively and creatively. Peter Collins, the architectural theorist, shares similarly constructive convictions regarding structure’s architectural roles. In concluding a discussion on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Rationalism, he suggests:
However much the emphasis on structural expression may have been exaggerated in the past by a craving for ostentation, or reduced by the competing emphases on spatial effects, sculptural effects and new planning requirements, it is still potentially one of the most vigorous ideals of the modern age, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it is the notion which offers the most fruitful prospects for the future development of modern architectural thought.
English -- 2014 -- ISBN: 0415644593 -- ISBN-13: 9780415644594 -- 260 pages -- PDF -- 52,7 MB
Structure as Architecture presents a comprehensive analysis of the indispensable role of structure in architecture.
An exploration, as well as a celebration, of structure, the book draws on a series of design studies and case study examples to illustrate how structure can be employed to realize a wide range of concepts in contemporary architecture.
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Introduction
Structure is columnar, planar, or a combination of these which a designer can intentionally use to reinforce or realize ideas. In this context, columns, walls and beams can be thought of in terms of concepts of frequency, pattern, simplicity, regularity, randomness and complexity. As such, structure can be used to define space, create units, articulate circulation, suggest movement, or develop composition and modulations. In this way, it becomes inextricably linked to the very elements which create architecture, its quality and excitement.
The potential for structure to enrich architecture
Clark and Pause’s statement above begins by describing the architectural qualities of structure and then suggests how structure might enrich architecture. But is such a positive attitude to structure realistic? What was the last building you experienced where structure either created the architecture or contributed a sense of excitement to it? Where do we find examples of structure playing such active architectural roles as defining space and modulating surfaces? And, how else might structure contribute architecturally? These questions set the agenda of this book, informing its focus and scope, and initiating an exploration of architecturally enriching structure.
Some readers may consider Clark and Pause’s attitude towards structure as a fully integrated architectural element rather unrealistic. So often our day-to-day experience of structure can be described as unmemorable. In much of our built environment structure is either concealed or nondescript. Opaque façade panels or mirror-glass panes hide
structure located on a building’s perimeter. Inside a building, suspended ceilings conceal beams, and vertical structural elements like columns, cross-bracing and structural walls are either enveloped within partition walls or else visually indistinguishable from them. Even if structure is exposed, often its repetitive and predictable configuration in plan and elevation, as well as its unrefined member and connection detailing, can rarely be described as ‘creating architecture, its quality and excitement’.
Fortunately, in addition to these ubiquitous and bland structural encounters, sufficient precedents of positive structural contributions to architecture exist. They point towards bolder and more exciting possibilities and have convinced critical observers, like Clark and Pause and others, of the potential for structure to engage with architecture more actively and creatively. Peter Collins, the architectural theorist, shares similarly constructive convictions regarding structure’s architectural roles. In concluding a discussion on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Rationalism, he suggests:
However much the emphasis on structural expression may have been exaggerated in the past by a craving for ostentation, or reduced by the competing emphases on spatial effects, sculptural effects and new planning requirements, it is still potentially one of the most vigorous ideals of the modern age, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it is the notion which offers the most fruitful prospects for the future development of modern architectural thought.
English -- 2014 -- ISBN: 0415644593 -- ISBN-13: 9780415644594 -- 260 pages -- PDF -- 52,7 MB
Structure as Architecture presents a comprehensive analysis of the indispensable role of structure in architecture.
An exploration, as well as a celebration, of structure, the book draws on a series of design studies and case study examples to illustrate how structure can be employed to realize a wide range of concepts in contemporary architecture.
Download
*
