[PDF] Structure and Architecture by Angus J. Macdonald

The main theme of this e book is the connection between structural design and architectural design. The varied elements of this are introduced collectively within the final chapter which has been expanded on this second version, partly in response to feedback from readers of the primary version, partly as a result of my very own concepts have modified and developed, and partly as a consequence of dialogue of the problems with colleagues in structure and structural engineering.I’ve additionally added a bit on the sorts of relationship which have existed between architects, builders and engineers, and on the affect which these have had on architectural fashion and type. The penultimate chapter, on structural criticism, has additionally been extensively rewritten. It’s hoped that the concepts explored in each of those chapters will contribute to the higher understanding of the important and undervalued contribution of structural engineering to the Western architectural custom and to present-day follow.

Acknowledgements

Angus Macdonald wish to thank all these, too quite a few to say, who’ve assisted within the making of this e book. Particular thanks are as a consequence of Stephen Gibson for his rigorously crafted line drawings, Hilary Norman for her clever design, Thérèse Duriez for image analysis and the workers of Architectural Press (and beforehand Butterworth-Heinemann) for his or her exhausting work and endurance in initiating, enhancing and producing the e book, notably Neil Warnock-Smith, Diane Chandler, Angela Leopard, Siân Cryer and Sue Hamilton. Illustrations apart from these commissioned specifically for the e book are individually credited of their captions.

Thanks are as a consequence of all those that equipped illustrations and particularly to Pat Hunt, Tony Hunt, the late Alastair Hunter, Jill Hunter and the workers of the image libraries of Ove Arup & Companions, Anthony Hunt Associates, the British Cement Affiliation, the Architectural Affiliation, the British Architecture Library and the Courtauld Institute. Thanks are additionally due most notably to my spouse Pat, for her continued encouragement and for her knowledgeable scrutiny of the typescript.

Introduction

It has lengthy been recognised that an appreciation of the function of construction is important to the understanding of structure. It was Vitruvius, writing on the time of the founding of the Roman Empire, who recognized the three fundamental elements of structure as firmitas, utilitas and venustas and Sir Henry Wooton, within the seventeenth century1 , who translated these as ‘firmness’, ‘commodity’ and ‘delight’. Subsequent theorists have proposed totally different programs by which buildings could also be analysed, their qualities mentioned and their meanings understood however the Vitruvian breakdown nonetheless nonetheless gives a sound foundation for the examination and criticism of a constructing.

‘Commodity’, which is maybe the obvious of the Vitruvian qualities to understand, refers back to the sensible functioning of the constructing; the requirement that the set of areas which is supplied is definitely helpful and serves the aim for which the constructing was supposed. ‘Delight’ is the time period for the impact of the constructing on the aesthetic sensibilities of those that come into contact with it. It could come up from a number of of numerous elements. The symbolic meanings of the chosen varieties, the aesthetic qualities of the shapes, textures and colors, the class with which the assorted sensible and programmatic issues posed by the constructing have been solved, and the methods by which hyperlinks have been made between the totally different elements of the design are all doable turbines of ‘delight’.