STRUCTURE

Structure refers to how the design of the building resists gravity and becomes structurally sound. In the grid exercise, glue and wooden dowels were used to construct an abstracted grid. To avoid tilting by gravity, the structure needed to be relatively balanced so that there were no heavy loads on one side or the other. This structural system served as the columns and beams for planes to rest on. The Buckhead Library (Mack Scogin Merrill Elam) has metal beams that are fixed directly into the ground. These beams also hold up the triangular planes on the roof.

Grid exercise: dowel detail