Since the end of the 1990s, the increasing use of digital design and fabrication techniques enabled the emergence of a new formal language of double curved building shapes. In opposition to this, type-based concepts from classical structural theory, developed according to the serial logic of modernism, are still dominating in teaching and practice. The objective of this research is to exploit the full formal potential of classical structural typologies through the utilization of force-based techniques. Using visual methods derived from graphical statics, new concepts are developed allowing for direct integration of structural constraints into architectural form. Therefore, methods of computer-aided geometric modeling are combined with techniques of structural analysis. This allows for the intuitive exploration of inherent design freedom of efficient structural forms. Based on plasticity theory, only the equilibrium of axial forces is taken into account, neglecting material stiffness and deflection. Hence, the concepts and methods are especially suited for early design stages. Within existing CAD systems, these concepts form the theoretical basis for the prototypical implementation of interactive design tools. Furthermore, this research will provide a sound methodology for the integration of structural constraints into parametric 3d-models.


Parametric model of a roof with efficiently shaped trusses