Technology allows change in every field. In many
cases, these innovations force us to completely abandon everything we know and
start from scratch. Such a revolution is currently underway in one of the oldest
sciences there is: the science of keeping buildings upright.
The primary ignition of this revolution is increased
use of the computer. Computer Aided Design software was initially introduced in
the 1980s. As computers became more powerful, the companies making the software
updated to match. Quite recently, though, new innovations in physics and
mathematics have forced structural analysis models to restart from the ground
up.
Before I explain the new technology, let me draw
your attention back to the departure concourse of London’s historic Kings Cross
Station, pictured in the back banner. The departure course was designed by Arup
and was opened in 2012. The original Kings Cross Station is Grade I-listed,
which is Great Britain’s most sensitive historic preservation rating. Because
of the listing, the structure for the departure concourse had to be completely
independent of the original building.
Arup’s design idea was a “reverse waterfall,” a
funnel of gleaming white metal tubes. The point is, this diagrid shell could
not have been designed in 2010. The difference: a complete revolution in the
mathematics and physics used to design structures.
Traditional structural analysis methods use
approximations and simplifications to reduce the mathematics to a level that
can be solved with pencil and paper. These simplifications and approximations
are accurate enough to let us design great monuments such as the Empire State
Building without fearing it’s collapse. But they are inadequate in attempting
to describe the forces along more complex or irregular structures. The Empire
State Building is, basically, a bunch of stacked boxes. In contrast, there are
very few horizontal or vertical beams in Arup’s diagrid shell.
In order to break these boundaries, engineers had
to abandon the traditional equations and return to fundamental physics. New
methods of problem solving were developed, this time designed based on computer
processing. The resulting package is called finite element analysis.
The beauty of fundamental analysis is it can be
applied outside of structures to analyze the flow of fluids or paths of
lighting. It works by taking a large system, reducing it to smaller, manageable
pieces, and calculating how those pieces interact. The software operator can
decide whether to use fewer, larger pieces for quick calculations or have more,
smaller pieces for more exact results.
Primarily because finite element analysis is not
restricted to tried-and-true geometries, it allows architects to explore new
forms and building shapes. This gives the architect more flexibility in
creating efficient and interesting rooms. It also encourages a change in
architectural style, opening the doors to a new era of architecture.
