Experiments in Structure

Figure: Dome structural anaylisis

Experiments in Structures

Robert Le Ricolais, France 1940

Robert Le Ricolais was an engineer fully inspired by nature, known as the “Father of Spatial Structures”. He began his career as a Hydraulics Engineer, but when he wrote an article in 1935 on “Composite sheets and their application to lightweight metallic structures” he earned recognition from the French Civil Engineering Society. Le Ricolais studied what is known as “corrugated iron”, and turned this undulation into a light structure by making clever use of the crossing undulations of two layers. He related their connectivity to a truss connectivity. In 1940 his work on three-dimensional network systems introduced many architects to the concept of “space frames”. Le Ricolais’ transdisciplinary vision and his contributions transcended the analytical mind of the engineer and the formal gestures of the architect, and gave place to a differentiated paradigm that celebrates conceptual design in structural studies.34 To observe, understand, invent, and experiment are some key applications of this tireless researcher.

Le Ricolais, like Buckmister Fuller, was interested in structural morphology defined by tensional integrity of natural structures.35 He related his studies on tension networks to radiolaria in order to understand the properties of ‘skeletal’ structures. “Radiolaria, the phenomenal vocabulary of shapes, belongs to this ancient era of creating, when highly geometrical structures prevailed. The reason for such an economy of matter is no doubt on the mysteries of Nature. Their strange and delicate structures are like scaffolding networks. The architecture of radiolaria suggests problems of major interest. They are triangular three-dimensional structures that respect the hexagonal grid framework and herald geodesics.”36 Ricolais stated that by observing the recurring phenomena in nature one can understand and solve the problem of form. His perception on the “nature” of objects, and vision for structures of the future was accompanied by research in mathematics, physics and engineering. The visions were not limited to individual selfstanding structures above or below the earth’s surface, but to the ways they can change the nature surrounding them.

A particular interest in his observations in nature was the art of the structure and form, and the positioning of holes, ‘all different in dimension and in distribution’. Le Ricolais focused his work on removing mass, with the resulting structures becoming an arrangement of space. A large part of his research manifested in his experimentation with physical models. This offered a new perspective on the potential of physical models as a conceptual device bearing figurative qualities and pertaining to the realm of generative design tools, beyond the in-scale literal representation confined in the scientific paradigm. Le Ricolais’ research practices became relevant in the contemporary debate seeking a differentiated structural design rationale in the academic discourse as well as in professional practice.37

Suggested readings:

Christel Frapier, Les ingénieurs-conseils dans l’architecture en France, 1945-1975 : réseaux et internationalisation du savoir technique, 2011 (lire en ligne)

René Motro Robert Le Ricolais (1894–1977) “Father of Spatial Structures”. International Journal of Space Structures Vol. 22 No. 4 2007

‘Robert le Ricolais’s Tensegrity Models – ‘The Art of Structure is Where to Put the Holes’’, Dataisnature, 2014.

M. Vrontissi. The physical model in the structural strudies of Robert Le Ricolais: “apparatus” or “hierogram”. Structures and Architecture, Taylor & Francis Group, London 2016.

Figure 1 (top): dome geometric analysis Figure 2 (bottom): Dome structural anaylisis

Figure 3 (top): Automorphic tube Model, University of Pennsylvania Figure 4 (middle): Funicular Polygon of Revolution Pseudosphere model Figure 5 (bottom): Polyten Bridge model