the 'post-it' effect: The New Structuralism

Architecture is in the process of a revolutionary transformation. There is now momentum for a revitalised involvement with sources in material practice and technologies. This cultural evolution is pre-eminently expressed in the the expanded collaborative relationships between architects and structural engineers, realtionships which have been responsible for the production, worldwide, of a series of iconic buildings. The rise and technological empowerment of these methods can be seen as a historic development in the evolution of architectural engineering. If engineering is frequently interpreted as the giving of precedence to material content, then the design engineer, in his prioritising of materialisation. is the pilot figure of this cultural shift which we have termed the 'New Structuralism'. Architectural engineering has traditionally been characterised by the sequential development of 'form, structure and material'. A formal concept is first conceived by the architect and subsequently structured and materialised in collaboration with the engineer. If there is a historical point of departure for the evolution of a new structuralism, Peter Rice, in An Engineer Imagines, locates it in the relationships which developed between Jorn Utzon, Ove Arup and Jack Zunz in the structuring and materialisation of the Sidney Opera House (1957-73). In the final solution the problem of the geometry of the covering tiles influenced the design of the rib structure and the overall form of the roof. This effetively reversed the traditional process to become 'material, structure, form'.

Rivka and Robert Oxman on AD 'The New Structuralism : design, engineering and architectural technologies'.
July/August 2010)

Also features :
www.barkowleibinger.com
www.burohappold.com
www.materialecology.com
www.akt-uk.com

www.mirallestagliabue.com
www.wernersobek.com

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