Abstract:

This paper illustrates an innovative approach to teaching structures to architecture students through active and experiential learning methods. Architecture students in the US often tend to dislike math and are visual thinkers who are fluent in design and CAD software. Traditional structural courses in architecture programs often focus almost exclusively on calculations, which can be abstract and disconnected from practical design applications. This course addresses this gap by introducing fundamental concepts in statics and building structures through a variety of hands-on activities: making, breaking, drawing, and graphic analysis.

Students explore three distinct structural systems—Form Active, Vector Active, and Section Active—following Heino Engel's classification. The pedagogical approach contrasts with conventional structures classes that typically involve long lectures and numerical calculation problems. Instead, this course emphasizes hands-on and visual learning, aligning with the observation that over 75% of students learn best using kinesthetic, visual, or a combination of these methods.

Throughout the semester, students perform static analysis and force calculations by drawing graphic force diagrams in Rhinoceros 3D, a CAD software they are familiar with. Each 75-minute class session includes a brief lecture (15 minutes) followed by practical in-class exercises. Homework assignments involve creating physical models, documenting their behavior through photographs and short films, and drawing analytical diagrams using graphic statics.

Students document their processes and findings in both book and short film formats, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of structural behavior. Assessment is based on the quality and thoroughness of their submitted slides and the accuracy of their analysis.

The course is structured into three segments: Form Active systems (4 weeks), Section Active systems (6 weeks), and Vector Active systems (5 weeks). In the Form Active segment, students engage in hands-on experimentation with funicular forms using strings, chains, and weights, creating GIF animations to document structural behavior. The Section Active segment involves detailed exercises in building framing, where students configure structural systems and perform beam analysis through shear and moment diagrams. In the Vector Active segment, students design and analyze trusses, validating their graphical analyses with physical models and optimizing truss shapes to minimize internal forces.

This course is designed for architectural students to provide them with an intuitive understanding of structural principles. Rather than serving as a diluted structural engineering course, it aims to equip students with the ability to develop design intents and solutions that incorporate structural principles.

Keywords:

Active learning, Structural Design, Graphic Statics, Kinesthetic Learning, Structural Intuition.