Structure is an essential part of any piece of architecture. Frankly, it is a reason buildings do not fall down. Whether it is a house, a bridge or a stadium – it is subjected to a number of loads which have to be resisted in one way or another. Structures serve this purpose of transferring loads from the points at which they are applied to the foundations. No building can possibly exist without this component and quite often architecture is defined by structures rather than the other way around. In any case, it certainly has to be a point of much consideration on behalf of both architects and structural engineers.
Biological structures came to exists much earlier than the man-made structures, let alone the structures in architecture. If you think about it, almost every example of flora and fauna has a structure to resist mechanical forces in order to prevent breaking. Human bodies have a structure – a skeleton combined with muscles and skin provide human beings with stability letting us stand up but also with flexibility letting us move, it also gives our internal organs adequate shelter so that they can function properly. The structure of a human body is indeed complex almost beyond understanding, the structure of any human-made structure, on the other hand, the structure of buildings looked into in this particular essay can be and should be understood at least by anyone participating in the process of designing anything to do with buildings.
The most straightforward way to visualise the role of a structure is to imagine a typical house as a container which hides and provides shelter for its contents. Each wall of that container is subjected to a number of loads of various nature: the self-weight of the building, the impo...
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...ments to buildings that are to be considered skyscrapers.
To sum up, structures are unavoidable and like it or not an architect has to clearly understand their purpose, as well as the principles they are governed by. Of course, satisfying the requirements that the laws of physics apply to every object on Earth put us into a certain frame limiting the freedom. Of course, buildings designed in vacuum without the constraints of all the forces acting would be much more interesting and would allow for more freedom in expressing ideas. However, building without the need of structure would eliminate the factor of the challenge to fuse functionality with aesthetics, which possibly is one of the main reasons why architecture is a form of art. Yes, structural part of buildings can be a huge constraint but, on the other hand, it turns good modern architects into great ones.
Structure pertains to a social institution that is relatively stable over time and meets the needs of society. School is a perfect example of structure. Almost every school consists of the same thing, which is desks and a board to demonstrate the lesson. All the desks are facing one way so that the children have a more likely chance to pay attention to the instructor and proper room arrangement provides predictability in students, which has a calming effect I presume. When students are better able to understand their environment and anticipate what is coming next, they tend to be less apprehensive.
It is also the result of the belief of the architect that the building should not oppose the environment. By constructing the same material in a more environmentally efficient way, the building is light in appearance but it doesn’t in functionality. The titles of some books on this architect who lead a new Australian domus in the form of a long and narrow, light-weight, roof work, comparable in its sheltering function to the bower of a tree or, in more morphological terms, to the turned up collar of an overcoat that shelters from the wind while subtly opening its front towards the sun , reveal the stubbornly prudent aesthetics of lightness: Leaves of Iron , Touch this Earth Lightly , Feathers of Metal
The focus on how social structures determine, and are effective in maintaining the equilibrium is functionalism or structural-functionalism, which is the theorizing of Durkheim and Parsons (Dillon, book, 179). What this means is that we need to look at the structures effectiveness of social structures and make sure that it is at a satisfying state of equilibrium. An example of this would be the human body, we have many different organs and they all work together to produce the fully functional human. What it comes down to is, everything has its own place in society and even if a conflict is introduced, there is a way of working itself out and the society will go back to functioning normally.
(Image taken from Tranchtenberg, Marvin, Isabelle Hyman. Architecture: From Prehistory to Postmodernity. Second Edition. Prentice Hall, Inc. New Jersey: 2002.)
There is a lot that can be learned from architecture from our past. Every structure had its own purpose and story of its origin. The battle at the Milvian Bridge in 312 CE was the breaking point in Constantine's quest for power. He had been proclaimed Augustus by the troops in Britain in 306 CE, after the death of his father in York, and even though he had no legal right to that title, he refused to relinquish it. Maxentius also claimed the title of Augustus of the western empire. The conflict finally resulted in the battle of the Milvian Bridge just North of Rome, when Constantine's army defeated the numerically superior, but less experienced troops of Maxentius. Maxentius fell to his death while trying to flee across the Tiber River, as a temporary bridge made of boats collapsed under him and his troops.
Hovering above are pillars of concrete and stone. Its rise and collapse determined by history. A combination of art and science designed to create notorious architecture. The necessity for architecture is distant from extinction and continuously transforming itself with the duration of time creating innovative methods of portraying scenic and functional works of art. The Romans and Greeks established a foundation for architecture that maintains its reputation as remarkable acts of beauty.
...just the physical features. This is the same way Gothic Architecture was design to overwhelm and make feel the individual inferior to the institution behind the building. Consequently, the conceptual aspect of the building came as a secondary element in the design of the building. Such as the experience and feeling of the people coming to this building and being inside. The same way Gothic Architecture did it.
From the early Greek temples of yesteryear, to the high-tech autonomous buildings of tomorrow, the question of whether the function of a building or its aesthetics qualities are more important has plagued the minds of architects around the world. Webster's II New College Dictionary (Please do not use the encyclopedia or the dictionary to open your essay--way too high school.) defines aesthetics as "The branch of philosophy that provides a theory of the beautiful and of the fine arts" (18). The definition of Functionalism is defined by Webster's as "The doctrine that the function of an object should determine its design and materials" (453). Now, if the function of an object decides the type of design and materials used how does one integrate aesthetics into design, and moreover, how important are aesthetics to an architect? Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the greatest and most renowned architects of the 19th and 20th centuries, and while his buildings where lauded for displaying great artistic design, the issue of function was compromised by the blatant fact that his roofs leaked. This is because he let the aesthetics of his buildings become the focus of the structure, and neglected to adequately address the function of the building allowing for this problem to take root in his designs (Palermo, 4 Mar. 1999). As is apparent from Frank Lloyd Wright, there is a certain balance that has to be attained between aesthetics and functionalism in order for a structure to be appreciated as a successful building.
Architecture is functional in that it provides one of the three necessities of man (shelter)
Simon Unwin, the author of the book ‘Analysing Architecture’ says that the ‘the purpose of architecture is to design buildings’ is an unsatisfactory definition because the definition limits architecture to just the design of buildings. He feels that architecture involves more than just designing buildings. He also believes that the definition fails to explain the real purpose of architecture and transfers the problem of comprehending the word ‘architecture’ to the word ‘building’. This definition doesn’t go in-depth to analyze and understand the essence of architecture in our everyday lives. It fails to relate human life and needs to the buildings built.
The structural engineers use geometry in their design in order to calculate the spacing of their columns and beams for proper strength for the building.
of their buildings. One of the basic questions that this paper will be seeking to answer is whether architects and critics accepted ...
Jencks believes “the glass-and-steel box has become the single most used form in Modern Architecture and it signifies throughout the world ‘office building’” (27). Thus, modern architecture is univalent in terms of form, in other words it is designed around one out of a few basic values using a limited number of materials and right angles. In...
Human beings are susceptible to the force of nature. They had to make shelter for themselves. Material was one of the most basic tools to create shelter. By development of building construction, selection and use of materials also developed. The relationship between the architecture and the materials before invention of modern materials was simple and generally naturally [1]; in the past, architects always use tradition materials according their experimental skills. For choosing structural materials, they had attention to important factors such as availability (local materials) and harmony with climate and culture [2], although this way was forward with feedback. But this relationship was not continuing simply.
Structural Engineering deals with the design and construction of all types of structures including buildings and bridges. Emphasis is placed on mechanics and the behaviour of materials.