theme: design strategies informed by Structural Considerations

Two components in smart structural geometry

-optimising local structural typology of high rise
P.Th. (Peter) Vermeij
Delft University of Technology
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences
Building Engineering
Structural Design Lab
Master student
vermeij@gmail.com

intents and future work

Last October, I finished my Master’s thesis project on
researching and developing parametric associative design
methods for free formed structures. Next to the business
study I started in September at the Erasmus University,
I want to be active in the world of structural design. In
structural design, my interest lies in designing structures
for special (free formed) projects and innovative design
approaches. With these new design approaches, the com-
puter should help the structural engineer to obtain more
insight in the complex behavior of the special structures
images of Master’s thesis project:
and should offer the design team more design freedom in Parametric Associative Design
the end of the design process. for Free Form Architecture

application
Within the domain of structural design, ‘material’, ‘force’, and ‘geometry’ are the main constituents, each contributing with their
own flied of science. Ruled by laws of physics, together these constitutes determine how a structure receives a load, and by which
structural mechanism the internal configuration of material transfers this load until it is discharged [Veltkamp, 2005]. Geometry
in free formed structures is present at many different levels of magnitude throughout the structure, varying from overall (free
form) geometry to geometry of the structural details. The two most defining components of geometry in a structure are the global
structural geometry and the structural topology within this structure. By defining both components parametrically, associated with
a free form shape, and driven by structural optimisation based on a artificial intelligence technique an optimised structure can be
designed. For the workshop, a tall builiding with diagrid structure will be designed and optimised.

optimising local structural topology of high rise

After having defined the global structural shape of a high-rise building [see application
R.J. van de Straat], the shape of the building is to be translated into a structure. By
parametrically defining the local structural topology of a diagrid structure for a high
rise building, the main load bearing structure is implicitly defined. The configuration of
the values of the structural parameters of the diagrid, to a large extent, defines the
efficiency of the total structure.
For the optimisation of the parameters of the diagrid component, not an extensive 3D
model of the total geometry will be used to analyse the structural performance. The
ambition for the workshop is to develop a smart and unambiguous engineers approach
toward the assessment of the efficiency of the diagrid structure. This approach will
provide the engineer with a good indication of the feasibility of the diagrid structrure,
based on the geometrical parameters of the diagrid structure.

integration of two geometrical components

Another goal for the workshop is the integration of the global structural geometry
and the structural topology within this structure. To achieve this, close collaboration
with other participants is required.

experience in computational design and previous workshops

o Digital Design & Fabrication - A. Kilian and S. Greenwold [Delft, March 2006]
o GenerativeComponents Summit [Prague, June 2006]
o First International Colloquium of Free Form Design [Delft, September 2006]
o Master’s thesis ‘Parametric Associative Design for Free Form Architecture’ [October 2006], see images above