Building Structures Illustrated: Patterns, Systems, and Design / Ching, Francis D. K.

Why another book on structures?

It is true that gravity hasn’t changed, winds still blow, and the earth still shakes. Further, there are a number of excellent texts currently available covering statics and strength of materials as well as structural design, particularly from the point of view of engineering analysis. However, the authors of Building Structures Illustrated, two of which taught structures courses and all of which taught design studio, continually experienced architecture students having difficulty applying their knowledge of structures to their own design projects. Building Structures Illustrated is intended to help bridge this gap by organizing and illustrating structural concepts and issues as they apply to and influence building design. In this way the authors hope to facilitate the integration of structural concepts in the design process and avoid fatal structural flaws that render design concepts untenable when exposed to structural analysis.

Beyond simply facilitating structural credibility in building design, the authors hope Building Structures Illustrated will inspire critical thinking of how the structural system might inform or where appropriate, even drive the design concept. This is the focus of the second addition where numerous examples of contemporary architecture are included to illustrate the application of the structural concepts.

Partial elevation and plan: Eden Project Bio Dome l, Cornwall, England, 1998-2001, Nicholas Grimshaw

Click image to enlarge.