11. Structure

Structure

The structure of a design is the essential part that keeps the building standing. The structure is essential to keeping the design’s forms from falling apart. This does not always have to be hidden away, and in some cases, the structural aspects are visible to give a building a little character. My analysis of a section of Lina Bo Bardi’s glass house shows the building’s internal structure. The ceiling and floor show interesting structural details, but the thing to pay attention to is the support the house requires due to its position jutting out from a hill. It needs not only columns on the far left side to hold it above the hill, but it also needs that thick wall near the center on the lower floor to help it stay up as well and keep back the dirt. The dowel composition on the bottom right was required to be able to be photographed from many different sides. This meant that I needed to consider structure very heavily in the model to make sure it could stand on all sorts of sides to be photographed and have all of its forms visible. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, is the most known example of visible structure in a design. However, this structure is essential to creating the curved and linear forms of the tower and keeping it standing upright, contributing to how iconic the Eiffel Tower is.

Clockwise from the top right:

A formal analysis I did of a section of Lina Bo Bardi’s glass house with visible structural elements.

A wooden dowel compoisiotn I created showing the structural aspects of one side.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France designed by Gustav Eiffel. Photo by Andrea Astes.

A formal analysis I did of a section of Lina Bo Bardi’s glass house with visible structural

A wooden dowel compoisiotn I created showing the structural aspects of one side.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France designed by Gustav Eiffel. Photo by Andrea Astes.