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March 30, 2006, 08:22 AM ET
Buttressed Knowledge
The Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was known for hanging weights on strings when creating models of buildings—the weights would help him figure out the lines of force and the proper shape of arches and supports in his unconventional structures. Now John A. Ochsendorf, an assistant professor of architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is trying Gaudí’s methods with some updated tools: He is hanging digital strings using animation software. But unlike Gaudí, who sometimes took a whole decade to create a model, Mr. Ochsendorf and other architects can now make changes on the fly with the computer program.
The computer models may help designers solve a whole range of problems in architecture, says the professor. Existing tools can analyze the stresses and forces at work in conventional building designs, he notes, but only after those designs are created. This animation software might help architects determine forces in a building as it is being designed. (The Chronicle, subscription required)
Categories: Research
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