Playing with Geometry and Physics: Designing and Constructing Ultra-Thin Shells

An interdisciplinary architecture-engineering design studio focused on ultra-thin shell structures was co-taught to fourth-year students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Teams of four or five designed, analyzed, and constructed a playhouse size model of their shells in just 10 weeks. In the pursuit of ultra-thinness, students were asked to develop funicular-based, compression-only shells using Kangaro o and analyses were conducted using SAP 2000. A constructi on scheme was designed for the full-scale shell at the chosen site, and an analogous construction scheme was developed for a play-house sized model built on campus. The triangulati on of design, analysis, and construction proved critical for understanding form-efficient structure, and performing these varied steps made learning comprehensive.

Volume Editors
Jasmine Benyamin, Kyle Reynolds, Mo Zell, Nikole Bouchard & Whitney Moon

ISBN
978-1-944214-28-9