Structures and Defying Gravity
viaduct, France (2005)
Cable-stayed design, 2.5 Km long, 340m high
A brief history of structures
Great pyramid, Egypt (2560BC)
Height: 139m
Lincoln cathedral, England
(1300) Height: 160m
A brief history of structures (cont.)
Eiffel tower, France (1889)
Height: 384m
Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur (1998)
Height: 452m
Some engineering mistakes
Shanghai-2009
Engineering mistakes (cont.)
Montparnasse, Paris 1895
(different kind of engineering)
Materials
Glass: Crystal Cathedral, California
Brick: Vilnius Cathedral
Materials (cont.)
Wood: Borgund, Norway (about 1180)
Cast iron: Arica, Chile
Materials (cont.)
Stone: Notre Dame, Paris
Steel: All-steel Basilica San Sebastian,
Philippines. (2nd steel structure after the
Eiffel Tower
More materials--spaghetti?
Compression? Tension? Bending?
Compression?
Tension?
Structure in stone-- Compression? Tension?
The Parthenon, Greece (447BC)
Stonehenge, England (~1400BC)
Compression? Tension?
Roman arch--Pont du Gard,
France (100AD)
http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/learning_modules/maths/02.TU.03/?section=4
Arches--all in compression
Thicker is better in bending and compression
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
A long thin piece will
bend
but short thin pieces can be connected together to
form a long thick truss (very strong)
Trusses within trusses within trusses
Form-resistant structures:
cylinders, domes, saddles
Pantheon, Rome (126AD)
Pavilion, Mexico City (concrete
roof 1.6cm thick)
Outdoor market, Morocco
(glass)
Form-resistant structures:
folded plates
Tensegrity
Readable references
Gordon, J. E., Structures, Da Capo Press, 2003
Levy, Matthys, and M. Salvadori, Why Buildings Fall
Down, W.W. Norton & Co., 1992
Salvadori, Mario, Why Buildings Stand Up,
W.W. Norton & Co., 1990