Structure and Shape: From the Colonial Past to the Present

Catalog description

How do structural considerations affect architecture, and how have these evolved over time? The class will begin with a discussion of centuries-old structures in the surroundings of Cape Town, and will evolve until reaching the modern age. Each week will be dedicated to a different type of structure, ordered according to the chronological order in which they appeared. It begins with basic walls and arches, and passes through domes, vaults and trusses to get to beams and shells. Towards the end, we will also have a discussion of structures designed to withstand powerful earthquakes, very relevant to those living in the Bay Area in general, and of bridges. The structural considerations in the class are rooted in Mechanics, the branch of physics that studies how bodies move and deform under the action of forces. Elementary notions of Mechanics will be introduced during the class, in a qualitative rather than quantitative way, to explain the emergence of the different structural elements. Most of the lectures in the class involve a hands-on approach towards understanding: each type of structure is illustrated with a mini building project the students need to perform during the lecture. There will be a project in which students will use computer-aided design software to design a structure to fulfill a set of goals. The structure will be 3D printed with a polymer, and will be tested in class.