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Retrieved from http://www.uncubemagazine.com/blog/9133113
Trusses are engineering structures common for wide-span buildings like industrial buildings and sports centers with the purpose of reduction the consumption of materials and lightweight design. Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the first SANAA’s industrial building located at the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein. The architects of the building were Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, and its project commissioner was Rolf Fehlbaum, chairman of Vitra. It has a diameter of 160 meters and is 11 meters in height. Inside, the building is divided into two parts for safety reasons. As one can see in Figure 2, trusses are the primary bearing structures of the building.
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Figure 3 shows the insides of Kettler Capitals Iceplex, a modern facility in the Ballston Common Mall Parking Garage in Arlington, Virginia. The wide-span hockey arena is constructed with the use of trusses that are clearly seen in the Figure 3.
Arches
Arch is an architectural element, a curved structure that ceils the through or blind embrasure or the span between two supports. The arch experiences mechanical shear stress, which leads to horizontal support reaction (thrust). Under vertical load, the arch operates mostly in compression and in a less degree in bending.
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Figure 4 shows the arches of the western portico in the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia. It was founded by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi around 670 AD and occupies about 9,000 square meters. The Mosque of Uqba is one of the most ancient and largest Islamic mosques in the world. The arches have always been an important part of Islamic architecture due to their decorative as well as bearing features.
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Figure 5 shows the arches in the Glasgow University cloisters. The cloisters connect the West and the East quadrangles of the University complex and lead into the Gilbert Scott Building and the Bute Hall. The Glasgow University is built in the Gothic Revival style. The architects of the Bute Hall and the cloisters were George Gilbert Scott and his son Oldrid Scott.
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Figure 6 shows the insides of the Notre Dame de Paris. As well as the Glasgow University, Notre Dame belongs to the Gothic style, and arches and vaults are its essential parts. The beginning of its construction dates back to 1163 and is closely connected with the name of Bishop Maurice de Sully. However, the building was finished only in 1345.
Space Frames
Space frames are lightweight rigid engineering structures similar to trusses. They consist of struts interlocking in a geometric pattern. The inherent rigidity of the triangle guarantees the strength of space frames. Bending moments work in compression and tension loads to the length of each of the struts.
As well as trusses, space frames can be used for the construction of wide-span commercial and industrial buildings.
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In Figure 7, one can see the single-passenger terminal of the London Stansted Airport. The building was constructed by the British design studio Foster + Partners in 1991. The floating roof is supported by specially designed space frame that consists of inverted roof trusses. Such structure creates the atmosphere of indirect natural light.
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Figure 8 shows the construction of the Ericsson Globe, the Stockholm Globe Arena built in 1989. It is the largest hemispherical building in the world. The diameter of the Dome is 110 meters, and its inner height is 85 meters. The Globe symbolizes the Sun in the Sweden Solar System. The arena was designed by the C.F. Møller architects. Space frames of the type Mero constitute the upper part of the Globe above the equator. They contain about 600 tons of steel that are shaped as square and round tubes linked with joint balls.
Frames
Frames are the bearing structures that consist of elongated pieces (columns, beams, hammer beams, trusses, etc.). They can be made from different materials including wood, steel, aluminum alloys, and reinforced concrete.
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Figure 9 shows the market square of Dornstetten in Germany. The buildings in the square were constructed with the use of timber framing technology and wooden frames. The distinctive feature of the technology includes the bearing beams that are visible from the outside. The timber framing technology appeared in Germany in the XV century and was extremely popular in Northern Europe.
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Figure 10 shows the use of the steel frame for the construction of skyscrapers. The Woolworth Building was created by architect Cass Gilbert in 1910-1913. It is located at 223 Broadway, Manhattan, New York and had been the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930.
Cables
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The technology of cables is widely used for the construction of cable-stayed and suspension bridges. Figure 11 shows the cable-stayed bridge, the Octavio Frias de Oliveira bridge in San Paulo, Brazil. It was completed in 2008 and is 138 meters in height and 900 meters long. The two roadways are supported by 144 cables. The bridge connects the Jornalista Roberto Marinho Avenue and the Marginal Pinheiros. The cables operate in tension.
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Figure 12 shows the Sony Center at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany opened in 2000. It is a complex of buildings projected by Helmut Jahn and Peter Walker. The cables support the membrane structure used for the Sony Center Forum Roof. The diameter of cables is 102 meters.
Shells and Plates
Figure 13. Lotus Temple in Delhi.
Retrieved from http://www.architecture-student.com/architecture/lotus-temple-delhi-innovation-in-architecture/
Figure 13 shows the Lotus Temple in Delhi, India. It was designed by the Iranian-Canadian architect Fariborz Sahba and built in 1976-1986. The temple reminds about a half-open lotus. It has three sets of leaves, each made with the use of thin concrete shells.
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Figure 14 shows the interior of Yokohama International Passenger Terminal in Japan. It was designed in 2002 by Foreign Office Architects (Alejandro Zaera-Polo and Farshid Moussavi). The use of folded steel plates and concrete girders allowed creating a unique structural system of the terminal.
