Structures by Design: Thinking, Making, Breaking
Structures by Design: Thinking, Making, Breaking is a new type of structures textbook written by Rob Whitehead for those who prefer to learn about buildings using hands-on, creative problem-solving techniques.
Instead of focusing only on formulas and diagrams, this book teaches concepts before calculations and how principles of structural and material behaviour can be applied to the design of effective, efficient, and expressive building designs.
The book’s format makes it easy to adopt the content into a wide variety of courses that deal with building structures and architectural design.
Each section of the book is focused on a particular manner by which structural resistance is provided:
- Form (Arches and Cables)
- Sections (Beams, Slabs, and Columns)
- Vectors (Trusses and Space Frames)
- Surfaces (Shells and Plates)
- Frames (Connections and High-Rises)
In each section, design exercises are shown which use a Think, Make, Break method of reiterative design.
These examples demonstrate how to generate and evaluate different structural options for building designs using a variety of structural design tools including:
- The human body
- Physical models
- Historical precedents
- Static diagrams
- Traditional formulae
- Advanced digital analysis
These examples range from introductory lessons of structural fundamentals to advanced techniques and systems.
Each chapter includes potential lab exercises, questions for flipped classroom discussions, and suggestions for additional learning.
More than 500 original illustrations and photos provide example solutions and inspiration for further design exploration.
The author, Rob Whitehead, AIA, LEED AP is an architect and Associate Professor of Architecture at Iowa State University where he teaches structural design, design-build, and integrated design studios. Rob was named one of 30 Most Admired Educators by Design Intelligence (2014) and received the Iowa Educator Award (2014) by the Iowa Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the Emerging Faculty Award (2011) by the Building Technology Educators’ Society (BTES).
His structural design course was awarded the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Creative Achievement Award and he is the co-author of Design-Tech: Building Technology for Architects (2014) and currently serves as the Wells Concrete Construction Research Fellow.
