Abstract:

In the architect education many disciplines meet. Fundamental ones come from the Composition field such as Architectural Projects and Urban Planning but also technical ones with a supplementary role such as Building Techniques and Structures.

Nowadays it is easier to find architecture students more attracted by the humanistic area and not that much by the technical ones, especially when technic involves calculation just as is the case of structures and electrical, plumbing or air conditioning systems which have always been more akin to the engineering field. The professors of “Building Structures Design” face an arduous challenge when trying to gain the students personal motivation.
Software for building structures design and analysis used since the nineteen seventies at big calculus centers and research institutes has been incorporated gradually in practice studios. Its use when teaching building structures design is much more recent. Finally it is rather strange to find it as a tool for explaining structural behavior.

This type of software was used at the very beginning as a powerful calculator which made possible testing a multitude of models in a short time. First experiences developed with elemental models of bars basically consisted of verifying the effects of different external loads in terms of internal forces and deformations.

Software evolution, modern computer, fast calculations and proper graphical depictions allow us to test not only sophisticated structural models but also to assess multiple variables on an initial basic model. This, combined with an appropriate election of the examples to be used choosing them within high architectural value buildings, captures easily the student interest and motivation. Just some examples will be enough to show the potential of this method and tools employed.

The roof of the New National Gallery in Berlin designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe when modelled as a grid using finite elements allows us to observe the correspondence between internal forces and stresses. If the columns position is modified so is its general behavior.
Veles e Vents building in Valencia designed by David Chipperfield when modelled with finite elements reveals the effect of its huge cantilevers on deformations and makes possible pinpointing those points with the biggest stress concentration. The model also exhibits the benefits of using post-stressed rebars which are getting more and more often in architectural building.

The restaurant building at the Oceanogràfic sea world in Valencia designed by Felix Candela and its laminar structure are an extremely right example for observing the influence of curvature in thin-shell structures, their thermal behavior and the type of bearing points.
These and many other models are being used at the Valencia School of Architecture in several courses which range from those in the undergraduate level to many in the specialized Masters of Technology and Restoration with a high degree of satisfaction. This works shows the experience with this interesting methodology.

Keywords:

Architecture, structures, models.