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    EMERGING ARCHITECTONIC FORMS AND DESIGNED FORMS

    Alpana R. Dongre, S.A. Deshpa nde, and R.K. Ing le

    Archn et-IJAR, Interna tiona l Journa l of Architec tural Research

    Co pyright 2007 Archnet -IJAR, Vo lume 1 - Issue 3 - Novem ber 2007 - (55-67)

    55

    AbstractEme rging forms are not p reco nc eived . They c ome

    into existence through a process and a chain of

    event s that ta ke into co nsideration the external forces

    acting on the form and the interaction between

    individual elements of the composition. Designed

    forms are a de velopment of an idea o r a c onc ept

    tha t may be a result of intuition o r imp ression. This

    research paper deals with exploring a method of

    conceptualizing a form which is supportive to the

    structural concepts and is shaped at the hands of a

    c raftsma n / d esigner.

    KeywordsEme rging forms, designed forms, intuition, gla ss bo x

    method, symbiotic form.

    Introduction

    To b e c rea tive, the Arc hitec t must be the

    spiritus rector of all tectonic conditions: use,

    structure and form; to create his building as an

    organism self contained and in its kind the

    structural idea must come from him. Eric

    Mendelson (1953).

    The e ssenc e o f struc tura l design, a nec essity for

    an architectural form, is to shape the structure

    to respo nd effec tively to the forces that it must

    withstand and the human activities it must

    nurture. Expression of structural action in the

    form of a structure is one of the direct artistic

    outlets for a designer. Architectural expression

    through struc tura l systems, a symb iosis betwe en

    art and science, is perhaps best illustrated inthe bridges of Robert Maillart (1872 - 1940) and

    the grand stands and hangers by P. L. Nervi

    (1891 - 1979). Acc ording to Nervi s philosop hy,

    function, and in particular load-bearing

    function, should be the inspiration and driving

    force in determining the fo rm of a structu re. The

    form may then be designed in accordance

    with an intuitive feeling for visual aesthetics.

    Acc ording to him, to sea rch for an ec onomic

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    Eme rging Arc hitecto nic Forms and Designed Forms

    ALPANA

    R.DONGRE,

    S.A.D

    ESHPANDE,and

    R.K.INGLE

    56

    solution in the structu ra l field me ans to find themo st na tural and sponta neo us solution ... to find

    the method of bringing dead and live loadsdown to foundations in the most direct wayand with minimum use of materials. (Nervi,Pier Luig i, 1965), He believed in the inherentae sthetic force of a go od struc tural solution.This resea rch p ap er be g ins by sta ting the widelyacceptable black boxand g lass boxapproachof d esign and then sugg ests a de sign met hodthat stimulates the emergence of form thatcould not be preconceived but could begenerated by a technique /method. It wouldaim at the integration of structural concepts,function and architectural expression resultinginto a symb iotic form.

    The Estab lished Design App roac hCristopher Jones, (1970) in his book titledDesign Methods - seeds of human futures,mentions the black box and the glass box

    approach of the designers. According todesign theorists, the most valuable part of thedesign p rocess is tha t w hich g oe s on inside thedesigners mind and partly out of reach of hisconscious control. From the creative viewpointthe designer is a black box out of whichcomes the mysterious creative leap; from therational viewpoint, the designer is a glass boxinside which can be discerned a completely

    explica b le ra tiona l p rocess. The c reat ive viewof the de signe r at times be c om es inc ap ab le ofrational explanation. Designers with glass boxminds are concerned with externalized thinkingand are therefore based on rational ratherthan on mystical assumptions. One such glassbo x app roac h that c an stimulate creativity hasbe en put up for c onside ration.

    Study of Emergence of FormGenerally, emergence is defined by saying

    the whole is greater than the sum of theparts . Resulta nt struc tures of the p roc ess ofemergence are more than the sum of theirpa rts bec ause the em erge nt orde r will not a riseif the various parts are simply coexisting; theinteraction of these parts is central. Emergentstructures are patterns not created by a singleevent or rule. Nothing commands the systemto form a pattern. Instead, the interaction ofeach part with its immediate surroundingsc auses a c om plex c hain of proc esses lea dingto som e o rde r. The p roc ess of e mergenc e d ea lswith the fundam ental question: how do es anentity co me into existenc e? It is a terminologyassociated with many natural phenomena,from the p hysica l to the b iolog ic al do ma in. Forexample, the shape of weather phenomenasuc h a s hurrica nes is em ergent struc tures.

    A study of emerging forms in architecturediscussed here is one such concept thatcan help us visualize a form with thefunctional efficiency along with the structuralunderstanding. Emergence is hard to capturewith preconceived model or a theory, justbecause during an emergence process newand unpredictable entities appear, which aregoverned by their own laws. It is grooming

    an idea, a spark, which in the process ofemergence comes to transform the inertelements of design into a composition with alife of its ow n. The ide a that excites be c om esa c onc ep t. The step ahe ad is a respo nse tothe prece ding ac tion, every new element hasreason for its existence, and the entire formbec omes a co mp osition of the supp ort a nd thesupported.

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    Eme rging Arc hitecto nic Forms and Designed Forms

    ALPANA

    R.DONGRE,

    S.A.D

    ESHPANDE,and

    R.K.INGLE

    57

    Hanging Mod els A Form FindingTec hnique

    Form-finding structural modeling techniques,since historic times, became a basis forexploration in the projects and researchinvolving new forms and new tec hnology. Thehanging model functions like a designingmachine, as said by Collins (1971). Hangingchain models are used (in tension) to findc om pression structures (by inverting the derivedform). Antonio Ga ud i, the Spanish Architec t

    (1852-1926) had used a similar technique tobuild up the m od els of Sagrad a Famm ila (1882-1926). Inverted models with hanging weightswere used to study the profile of compressiveforms. Ga ud i wa s a ma ster o f his a rt. Stud ying themodels was one of the approaches he choseto pu rsue his ow n resea rc h w ork. Ga ud i rea lizedtha t, in the mo st g ene ral ca se, the only po ssiblesolution was to use space-hanging models(Huerta , 2006). Nervi in the 1930s ha d ma de useof m od els ma d e o f c elluloid for sta tistica l tests inthe lab oratory at Milan Tec hnica l High Sc hoo l.Sinc e the exac t d imensions and c alculationscould not be worked out with the knownmethods of structural theory, a scale modelwas used to obtain the internal forces (Rogers& Jurgen, 1957). This grea t m aster a pp roac hedhis designs with a basis of scientific certainty,but transc end ed it throug h his intuition.

    Intuition is the immediate apprehension bythe mind. In the resolution of design, intuitionguides us through the inception of the idea tofreezing the concept. It tells us when enoughoptions have been explored, sufficient analysishas been do ne a nd enoug h issues involved inthe concept have been evaluated. It helpsus to draw a line and trust our judgment.

    Designing throug h intuition is the o ften quo ted approach of masters; a process or a method

    that would stimulate creativity and intuitiverea soning ho we ver, bec om es nec essary for thebeginners.

    The ob jec tive of this design m etho d is theconc eptual technica l approach that c oincideswith the naturalness and comprehensibility ofthe entire scheme; the aim being of solving aspecific problem in the most efficient mannerand with a c lea r expression o f stresses and

    the ma terials of whic h it is built. This approa c hto design would look into the technicalcorrectness and aesthetic sensitivity as well aswill witness a dialogue that would constantlyalternate be twe en the two aspe c ts, firstly, thetec hnica l and the functional and sec ondly theartistic .

    MethodologyWith the intent to explore the bare minimumrequirements to build any utilitarian form,a working jig was constructed as a tool whichfac ilitated the form studies. A fram ew orkenclosing a cubical volume made up thisworking jig with anchorages on the frame atdifferent levels. A soft board checkered planeand a w eld m esh formed the ba se and top o f

    the jig respe c tively. The jig o ffered a nc horag esat different levels and different directions inthe form of a three dimensional matrix thatfac ilitated in g iving a system of p rop ortioning theem erging fo rm. Different w orking ma terials withthe basic structural properties of compression,tension, bending etc. were identified and theparticular designed processed with the basicfunctiona l req uirem ents of t he ac tivity.

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    R.DONGRE,

    S.A.D

    ESHPANDE,and

    R.K.INGLE

    58

    Implementation

    Process of EmergenceTo initiate on a design b rief, we nee dto consciously express the objectives in apreferential order. For the purpose of effectivede monstration of the method, the co ncep tde velop ment for de sign o f the form of a grandsta nd , (sta d ium) is ta ken into c onsiderat ion.

    The b asic requirem ent o f a g rand sta nd is aframe that assists in providing inclined seating

    with an obstacle free cover above it foruno bstruc ted vision. This single sta b ilized fram ec ould b e repe ate d to a linea r, elliptic al, squa re

    or circular path to define the boundaries ofthe p lay field. The form for inclined sea ting

    and a similar roof in the reverse direction wasac hieved by tying the d iag onals of the c entralplane of the jig (Figure 1). One side of thec ent ra l axis wa s to b e supported ; the othe r sidec ould em erge a s a m ea ns of supp orting.

    The slope of sea ting tiers in ac c orda nc ewith the requirement of vision, needed to bereduced. It entailed for pulling the membersapart at the junction creating a utilitarianspa c e a s we ll as introd uc ing extra supports, theupp er pull (the tensile force) a nd the low er push(the c om pressive forc e) (Figure 2).

    Figure 1:Diag ona ls of the central plane A-A and B-B of the jigwere tied by the strings to ma ke for the sea ting tiers and theroof line. One side o f the c entral axis wa s to b e supp orted,the othe r side c ould em erge a s a m ea ns of supp orting.

    Figure 2:To reduc e the slop e of seating tiers the mem be rs are p ulledap art at the junction c reating a utilitarian spac e. Extrasupports, the the downward push CDE (the compressiveforce) a nd upw ard p ull FGH (the tensile force ) wereintroduced.

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    R.DONGRE,

    S.A.D

    ESHPANDE,and

    R.K.INGLE

    59

    Having satisfied the need of appropriatespace, the system had to be now untied

    from the jig to make the forces flow from thestructu re d irec tly to the ground . The strings tha twere pulled and anchored to the jig were tobe brought to the ground via ad ditional uprightsupport into the vertical plane, which wouldfacilitate in handling the derived direction ofthe initial forces and would stand in contrast inc om pression to the tensile a c tion o f the string . Avertica l membe r, forked a t one end to ta ke upthe two points that lay equally apart from thec entra l axis of the frame wa s introd uc ed (Figure3). The fo rked end w as further sta b ilized by tyingthe free ends, hence restricting the splitting upof eleme nts and forming a n inverted triang ular

    prism, dematerialized to expose the wireframe.In the process of anchoring the points to the

    ground the forked column was compressedand this inc lination und er the a c ting forces too kthe fo rm o f a c urve (Figure 4).

    Figure 3:To untie the system from the jig a nd let th e forc es flow fromthe structure d irec tly to the ground, a vertica l memb er,forked a t one e nd to take up the two p oints that lay equa llyap art from the c entral axis of the frame wa s introd uce d.

    Figure 4 :To untie the upp er pull from the jig and divert force s towa rdsthe g round the strings ancho ring p oint G were b roug ht tothe ground a t M and N throug h forked end s X and Y. In theproc ess of anc horing the po ints to the g round the forkedco lumn wa s co mp ressed and this inclination und er theac ting force s took the form of a curve, the dynamic shaperesulting from the a ction of force s.

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    R.DONGRE,

    S.A.D

    ESHPANDE,and

    R.K.INGLE

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    The juxtaposition o f tensile a nd c om pressiveforces of the forked supp ort and the stretc hed

    strings brought about interplay of forces andtheir combined effect exhibited a sense ofexciteme nt a nd stab ility, life a nd energy.

    The roo f line o ver the sea ting w hich w as untilnow a simply supported inclined member withbo th the e nds be ing sec ured to the wo rking jigand being p ulled over the forked c olumn a t themid spa n, need ed to b e freed from the w orkingframework that meant it would result into a

    cantilevered member. An additional bendingmember was introduced along with the stringrepresenting the roof line with an intension toreplac e the existing fo rm (Figure 5).

    The m om ent the string w as de tac hed fromthe external frame and a load was added to

    the free end, depicting the dead load of themember, which was necessary to visualize thebe nding form of a c antilever, the entire systemc ollapsed (Figure 6).

    The reasons for the collap se were stud ied. Therewas no proper anchorage at the junction of theforked column and the b ase of the ca ntilever andhence the unsupported span of the projectionoutstretched more in limits to the rigidity that was

    provide d b y the supported length. This direc tedthe further step into fastening the supported endof the cantilever by making it a pa rt of the de finedgeometry of the inverted pyramid a nd increasingthe rigidity o f the joint. (Figure 7) This helped in safelyunfastening the member from the temporaryworking supports with an added observation ofthe rotational effect of the cantilever, as if thecantilever was acted upon by torsional forces

    abo ut the pivot a t the junc tion (Figure 8). Thiscould b e stab ilized by a counter force in a singleframe or by the lateral ties in the multiple framesrepe ated to make up the grand stand.

    This wa s the g lass bo x approa ch of c onc ep tua lizinga mode l for understand ing the fo rces and stab ilityrequirements for a given function. With theemerged form standing in absolute equilibrium,the m etho d has led us to the visualization of na tureof stresses, interplay of forces and to some extentchoice of ma teria l properties. The stretching ofstrings, the application of loads, the anchoragesat joints were guided by the power of intuition,the aesthetic judgment and the ca pa city of theform and m ateria l to resist the a pplied loa ds. At allstages the decision was frozen at a critical pointbeyond w hich the assembly would not c onfirm tothe p rinc iples of stability.

    Figure 5 :The fo rked end X-Y was further sta bilized by t ying the freeend s, henc e restricting the splitting up of e lements andforming an inverted triang ular prism, d ema terialized to e xposethe wirefram e GOXY. An ad ditional bend ing mem be r BO, torepresent the c antilevered roof line wa s introd uce d a long withthe string with a n intension to free e nd B from the jig..

    E i A hit t i F d D i d F

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    ALPANA

    R.DONGRE,

    S.A.D

    ESHPANDE,and

    R.K.

    INGLE

    61

    Figure 6:The mo ment the string was detac hed from the external fram e at the anc horB and a load wa s ad ded to the free end, dep icting the dea d load o f the

    mem be r, which w as necessary to visualize the be nding fo rm of a ca ntilever,the entire system collapsed

    Figure 7:The supp orted end o f the cantilever wa s fastened by ma king it a pa rt of thede fined ge ome try of the inverted pyramid a nd increa sing the rigidity of the

    joint. The a ncho r at B co uld now be unfastened safely.

    Figure 8:With the unfastening o f the free end B , of the ca ntilever, a rotational effec tbo ut the pivot at O wa s ob served, as if the ca ntilever was ac ted up on bytorsional forces abo ut the pivot a t the junction. This co uld b e stabilized by

    a co unter force in a single fram e o r by the late ral ties in the multiple fram esrepea ted to m ake up the grand stand. Membe r AO would a lso ac t asa b ending memb er under the live and dea d load of the seating dep ictedco nce ptua lly by W in the figure.

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    ALPANA

    R.DONGRE,

    S.A.D

    ESHPANDE,and

    R.K.

    INGLE

    62

    Emerged Form to Designed FormLet the form emerge, emerging forms arenot p rec onc eived. Throug h the proc ess ofdesign development and refinement, theytend to c ulminate into d esigned architec tonicexp ressive forms. The p roc ess doc umentedabove is the technique / method ofunde rsta nding and c onc ep tualizing a form. Itis a tool for communicating the design idea.The first step in d esign c om mo nly terme das search for a form or search for a suitablestructu ra l solution has bee n ac c om p lished . An

    architectonic form needs to be given to thebasic emerged form. The e ssen tial lines of thiswire frame mo de l and the m ovem ent o f stressesof the eme rged mod el are not recog nizab le a sarchitec tural forms, they ne ed a transformationinto elements of a composition with utility thatis build able and c onstructib le. Superimp ositionof the designed architectural form with theauthentic expression of material would always

    keep us nea r to the e me rge d fo rm. The eleg anc eand c onsistenc y of a solution a lways stem s fromthe a uthentic use o f any m ate rial. For examp le,reinforced c onc rete is truly explored in all formstha t are absolute e xpressions of p lastic ity. Thesuperimposed form becomes the container ofthe se stresses and spea ks for the behavior of thede signe d form.

    The d esigned form oug ht to e xpress the tec tonicand visual q uality inherent in the em erged form.The seed of the feeling which the d esigne rsee ks to e xpress ha s a lrea dy be en p lante d , thewo rk has now t o b e a pp roa c hed in the spirit ofa craftsma n, app lying some bod y of tec hniquewhich te lls him w hat he must do to up hold a ndhighligh t tha t p a rticula r feeling. The sta tics ofform ha s succ eed ed in c rea ting the imp ressionof sta b ility and sa fety. The Rom an theorist,

    Vitruvius, (c 90 -c20 BC), in o ne of his old esttreatise in architecture has prescribed threeattributes that architecture should have: Utilitas(a ppropria teness, p rac tica lity), Firmita s (sta b ility,solidity) and Venustas (grace, beauty). Utilityand function are the basis of any architecturaldesign; structure is implicitly included underFirmita s. The te rm Ve nusta s exp ressed delight .Sec urity is the p rima ry element tha t ge neratesthe fee ling o f delight. We say the structure hasem erged when ea c h element is pe rforming thetask of holding or supporting, support and the

    supported . Uphold ing the same c onc ep t, Ruskin(1857) in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, usesthe logic of fallac y to highlight the spirit of theLamp of Truth, ca teg orizing Structura l Dec eits asthe sugg estion of a mo de of supp ort other thanthe true one (Deshp ande, S. A., 2006).

    Tec hniques of transforming the w ire fram e into

    architectonic form

    With the intent of transforming the wireframe model of stretched and compressedmembers into architectural form, the materialof construction, the appropriateness of thebulk, the possibilities of dematerialization anddealing with critical points of design should befavo rab ly hand led . The tec hnique s that c anhelp us design a form over the emerged formare briefly referred to in the text to follow along

    with som e evo lved de sign c onc ep ts.

    Tec hnique 1: All works of art need a materialsupport. Material is more in design, thanmerely a support. It is not an added quality,but a n essentia l pa rt of it. The fusion of ma terialand form is the absolute aim of all great art.The ag reem ent be twe en ma terial and formneeds to be made as intimate and thoroughas possible so that the work may achieve

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    ESHPANDE,and

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    resem b lanc e w ith the living o rganisms in nature,in whic h it is impo ssible to d issoc iate force fromform. Every material will react differently underthe forces of compression, tension, or torsionand will assume its own forms of resistance.These p a rticula r forms are fo r ea c h ma terial anintegrated pa rt of the de sign langua ge of thema terial. The wo rse mista kes in de sign ha ppenby using a material in forms that belong toano ther ma terial.

    Reinforced concrete is a material which is

    formed by the combination of two materials:steel and concrete. One cannot see insidea reinforced concrete section to observe howthe steel is placed or how it is functioning: it ishidd en. The m ea ns by whic h the c ross-sec tioncan carry or transmit its load is only obviousif the c ross-sec tion is wo rking in c om pression.The c lues as to how the structu re a nd itscomponents function are given in the shape

    of the cross-section of the elements and in theform of the structural system.

    Wha t is the essential qua lity o f steel as a b uildingma terial? As a b uild ing m ate rial, steel ap pe arsfirst a nd foremost a s linea r units p ieced tog etherto form f rames trusses and spac e frame s. Thecombination has two tasks: to provide spacefor functions and to give form to a character.Stee l is a rticula ted and assem bled wh ile

    c onc rete is mo nolithic a nd rig id. The materialproperties suggest that steel cables and tiesc an resist g rea ter tensile stresses tha t c an lea dto slenderness in the entire composition as theforce s c an sta y within a sma ll c ross-sec tion. Withthe advancement in material sciences, manynew materials of remarkable strength, lightnessand wo rkab ility a re a vailab le. Selec tion ofma terial on the ba sis of stress c a rrying c apac ityis of utm ost imp ortanc e.

    Tec hnique 2: The Bend ing Mom ent d iag ram is

    the analytical step in the design process, theinterpretation o f BM/ SF dia gram in architec turalform is the architectonic expression of thestruc tura l forc es. The reduc tion in stresses andmo me nts c an be expressed either by narrow ingthe cross-section or by dematerialization of theelement into a n op en we b fo rm. The p ointsof zero mo me nts c an b e h inged joints. Thus,the form of a reinforced concrete structure

    is its singular expression of the magnitudeof loading and therefore of its function. P.L.Nervi, in his design o f Sta d ium a t Rom e hasused the characteristic shape of the Momentdiagram at the cross section of the cantileverthat clearly expresses the concentration offorce s in the struc ture (Figure 9). The fusion o fstructural considerations with a formal solutionis c om plete.

    Figure 9:Grand stand of stad ium in Rome ,P.L.Nervi, 1935. (Rogers & Jurgen,1957)

    Structura lly and a esthetica llyinteresting is the free ly ca ntileveredmidd le tier.The resemb lence in the b ulk ofmaterial and the mo ment diagramis very precise.

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    Tec hnique 3: The jo int or ma jor nodes arepoints of convergence of multiple forces. Theyact as skeleton joints in the human body andneed to be supported by the ligaments andmusc les to allow for their func tional move me nt.The e xpression is c a rried forward by a b ulk ofma terial at suc h joints. Anto nio Gaud i in his lifetime c rea tion of Sag rad a Fam illia Ca thed ral(1882 - 1926) has related the similar principle byproviding for knots as in the arboreal system ofbranc hing supp orts in the c olumns of the naveand the a isle (Figure 10). Transition from a sta r

    shap e to a c irc le is hidd en w ithin the knot.

    These kno ts ma rked the va rious elem ents oftransfer between columns or of continuitybe tween trunk and branches, of co ncentrationof stresses in accordance with the image ofthe wo od and the trees. The knot that Ga udisugg ested wa s a respo nse to the multiple fo rc esat the junction, in the form of architecturalexp ression. Inc reasing the c ross-sec tion a t

    joints is the d irec t expression of c onve rge nc e o fmultiple fo rc es.

    Figure 10 :The knot that Ga udi has used to d ep ict the co nce ntrationof forc es. He quo tes, Nature is my m aster (Armen go l, 2000)These knots marked the va rious eleme nts of t ransferbe twee n co lumns or of continuity betw een trunk andbranc hes, of c onc entration of stresses in ac co rdanc e w iththe image o f the wood and the trees.

    Tec hnique 4: Behavior of different forms and

    the insight into transformation of forms a lsoc ontribute to eva luating various design op tions.For example, the funicular shape of a cablewhen placed upside down becomes an arch.Add ing a tie be tween the two supp orting end sof a cable fulfills the principle of triangulationand hence behaves like a truss. A bow stringtruss can be transformed into an arch byremoving the tie and adding buttresses for

    late ral supp orts. In the co nc ep tual de signsketches included herewith options like archwith a uniformly d istributed loa d, a po rtal or a ninclined beam are alternatives to support theinclined seating.

    The em erge d fo rm ha s bee n superimp osedby designed forms shown as various options infigures 11, 12 and 13. The c om prehension o f thena ture o f stresses and the c onsc ious use of theabove mentioned tools has helped in shapingthe structure to generate various designa lterna tives. The log ica l result of the me thodat a conceptual stage has been illustrated inFigure 14.

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    Figure 11:The emerged form b eing overlappe d b y the designed form.The b asic princip les of statics (resolution of fo rces) and thetec hniques sugg ested in the text be ing used to shap e thearchitecto nic form.

    Figure 12:The c ontinuity be twee n the roof and the sea ting tiersba lance s the c urved supp ort in the op po site direction. Theassemb ly is supp orted o n the the arche s at the lowe r endtaking d ue be nefit of nega tive bend ing moments beyond

    the arch.

    Figure 14:A logic al form de velope d e stab lishing the structuralae sthetic sensitivity of the p roc ess at the c onc ep tual stag e.Calc ulations and de sign refinement w ill follow.

    Figure 13:Alternatives of different d esigned forms on same eme rgedform. Transforma tion o f structura l sha pe s, va riat ion inma terial, response to the na ture of stresses, c an le nd v ariedexpressions to d esigne d forms.

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    Application

    This me thod w orks out to b e a me ans of

    understanding and visualizing the basicstructural forces, especially at the initial stagesof d esign and c onc ep tion for spe c ial buildings.The ta utne ss of t he string s, the c om pressionof the uprights, the rotation of the free endand the impact of the eccentricity can bepe rc eived a nd expe rienc ed . The mindfulconcern for aesthetics, the dynamism of form,the aptness of geometry and proportions is

    nurtured with the modular working framework.It is an interdisciplinary approach that bridgesthe gap between the art and engineering ofconstruction and sets up a communicationlink betw ee n b oth the d isc iplines. The solutionto a pa rtic ular set of requireme nts em erges asa model in sequential progression leading tothe structural form or an initial statement of theerection possibilities. Of course the end solution

    is not as simple a s tha t b ut it c ould wo rk we ll as ac omm unic ation tool at tha t stag e o f de sign.

    Limitations

    The w orking mate ria l used for visua lizing themod el through the p roc ess of em ergenc e ha snot be en spe c ified here. The o ther qua ntifiab leattributes of the form are not taken into

    account. Understanding the nature of stressesis of greater relevance to determine the form.It is the exercise based on the basic elementsof load transfer, the arch, the cable and thebeam and the basic forces of compression,tension a nd b end ing. Similar c onc ep t c anbe worked out for planer and other threedimensional forms.

    Conclusion

    Plastic form uncontrolled by structure rings

    a hollow note. Tec hnology ha s ma de plasticform easily possible for us. But it is the estheticreason which is a driving force behind its use.The w ay in which the form has eme rge d,emphasizes the paramount importance of theme thod for providing the stimulus nec essary forinnova tion and g eneration of a symb iotic form.The p rincipa l mo tivating philosop hy is the d rivetowards correctness in building directing us

    towards the integration of art and engineeringin the built fo rm. The me thod esta b lishes thefact that though the individual force is static,the play and interplay of forces is alwaysdynamic. It is our task to find an architectonicexpression for these forces of mobility, andby means of architectonic form to establisheq uipo ise fo r the se te nsions, as well as to ma ste rthe inner force s wh ich a re b ent up on e xpressing

    themselves in outer forms. It is the tectonicprinciples of architectural composition thatlead s us to the experienc e o f sublime be auty.

    References

    Armeng ol, J. B. I. (2000). The Essentia l Ga ud i, ECSA,Barc elona , Spa in.

    Collins, G.R. (1971). Antonio Gaudi and the Uses of

    Tec hnology in Mod ern Arc hitecture, In Proce ed ingsof the First National Conference, Civil Engineering:History, Herita ge and the Humanities. Vol. 1, Princ eto nUniversity Press, Princeto n, New Je rsey, USA.

    Deshpande, S. A. (2006). Rekindling t he Lamp s ofArchitec ture, Architec ture + Design.

    Huerta , S. (2006). Struc tura l Design in the Works ofGa udi, A rchitec tural Sc ience Review. Vol. 49 (4),University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.

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    Jone s, Ch. J. (1970). Design Metho ds: See ds of HumanFutures, John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA.

    Mendelson, E. (1953). Foreword, In L. Michael (ed.),Co ntem porary Struc tures in Architec ture, Reinho ldPub lishing Co rpo rat ion, New York, USA.

    Nervi, P. L. (1965). Aesthet ics and Tec hno log y inBuilding : The C ha rles Eliot Norton Lec tures, HarvardUnive rsity Press, Bosto n, M ass., USA.

    Rogers, E. N. & Jurge n, J. (1957). The Works of Pier Luig iNervi, The Architec tura l Press, London, UK.

    Ruskin, J. (1857). The Seven Lamp s of Arc hitec ture,

    Wiley & Ha lsted .