Architecture

The course is organised in the three blocks. For each one the relative lessons are reported. A pdf print of the lessons is available on the teaching website. Additionally, the student can further deepen the lessons’ topics on the references suggested within the bibliography. The aim of the Laboratory is to provide basic architectural and structural knowledge about the design of tall buildings. In a first step the student will be guided to the knowledge and critical understanding of the structural problems present at every level of the design of tall buildings. The course then will address the complex relationships between engineering, architecture and urban and regional contexts starting with a general overview of the main issues of the tall buildings, with specific references to their historical evolution and the evolution of technical and scientific knowledge and the development of manufacturing technologies. As in the past, new achievements in material science, computer-aided design, and construction technology have opened paths toward more sophisticated and elegant structural systems for tall buildings. The structural systems for high-rise buildings are constantly evolving and at no time can be described as a completed whole. The analysis of organisms and structural schemes most commonly used for the construction of tall buildings will start from the examination of the tallest buildings in the world, the real skyscrapers, often symbol of some large metropolitan cities and no longer perceived as a speculative instrument, today, turned into vehicles of sustainability for our planet in which sustainability in fact imposes a life in a much more dense condition. Then, with reference to case studies, the issues related to the decision-making aimed at the identification of the site and the selection criteria of the type of building in relation to the general organization of the structural system with respect to the shape of the architectural and functions, will be analyzed. Then, the structural patterns typical of the tall buildings of recent construction, such as diagrid systems, rotational towers, tube towers, etc., will be examined also by discussing, at an introductory level and quality, mechanical principles that are at the base of their structural behavior, even in areas of high seismicity. In presenting examples of structural systems for such buildings, it is argued that seismic and wind load has a very important effect on the architectural and structural design.

In order to enroll in the Structural Design and Rehabilitation Synthesis Studio, It will be useful for the student have passed the Architectural Design Studio IV and the Structural Design Studio and obtained at least the certificate of attendance of the other two Design Studios of the fourth year. In particular, it is advisable that the student knows how to determine: 1. Derivative, multiple and submultiples units 2. Binding reactions and characteristics of the stress of framed structures. 3. Internal stresses in the beam of Saint Venant 4. Axial moment of inertia of plane figures. It is also important that the student know how to discuss of: 5. Design of reinforced concrete structures; 6. Actions on buildings; and 7. Safety checks.

There are no compulsory textbooks as support to the learning activities, being sufficient attending the lessons and the analysis of the contributions uploaded on the teaching website, namely: 1. pdf version of the projected lessons, 2. excerpts from previous monographic works 3. excerpts from degree theses 4. technical standards Smith, B.S. and Coull, A., Tall Building Structures: Analysis and Design, New York: Wiley, 1991. Taranath, B., Steel, Concrete & Composite Design of Tall Buildings, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1998. Taranath, B., Wind and Earthquake Resistant Buildings: Structural Analysis and Design, A Series of Reference Books and Textbooks (Editor: Michael D. Meyer), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, 2005. M. Halis Günel and H. Emre Ilgin (2014) “Tall Buildings: Structural Systems and Aerodynamic Form”, Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group) 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Boake, T. M., (2014) “Diagrid Structures: Systems, Connections, Details”, 2014 Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, Basel.

Teaching activities are organised according to a combination of the following teaching models: 1. frontal classes 2. classroom reviews of the projects Frontal classrooms, with projected presentations integrated at the chalkboard, contribute at achieving the specific learning outcomes related to knowledge and understanding of the structural behaviour of tall buildings. Classroom revisions, by means of a personal laptop, contribute at achieving the specific learning outcomes related to knowledge applied to the design of tall buildings. In each phase, teaching activities will be focused on the fact that the structural design can not have a deterministic character, resulting from a concatenation of mutually independent decisions, but consists rather in iterative and retroactive process. In fact, during design review processes all the components will be analyzed and verified in constant reference with the project in order to highlight a specific design intent. The work is reviewed in classroom and therefore the course attendance is essential. In order to give the final exam the student, prepares the drawings and a report of the project of the tall building.

Attending classes is mandatory and takes place in the classroom and according to the timetable published by the Dean office.

The way the exam is conceived allows determining the student actual achievement of learning outcomes, with special emphasis on the applying knowledge and understanding skills. The exam is carried out at the end of the course. The exam entails a discussion of the project and a combination of oral answers to questions given orally by the lecturer. Questions are related to topic of the course in relation to the presented project. The duration of the exam, predominantly of oral nature, can hardly be predetermined, but seldom overcomes an hour. The final mark is individual. Some of the elements assessed are: presentation of the project; use of a technical language; understanding of the structural behaviour, mathematically modelled, of the tall building.

Smith, B.S. and Coull, A., Tall Building Structures: Analysis and Design, New York: Wiley, 1991. Taranath, B., Steel, Concrete & Composite Design of Tall Buildings, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1998. Taranath, B., Wind and Earthquake Resistant Buildings: Structural Analysis and Design, A Series of Reference Books and Textbooks (Editor: Michael D. Meyer), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, 2005. M. Halis Günel and H. Emre Ilgin (2014) “Tall Buildings: Structural Systems and Aerodynamic Form”, Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group) 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Boake, T. M., (2014) “Diagrid Structures: Systems, Connections, Details”, 2014 Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, Basel.

Teaching activities are organised according to a combination of the following teaching models: 1. frontal classes 2. classroom reviews of the projects Frontal classrooms, with projected presentations integrated at the chalkboard, contribute at achieving the specific learning outcomes related to knowledge and understanding of the structural behaviour of tall buildings. Classroom revisions, by means of a personal laptop, contribute at achieving the specific learning outcomes related to knowledge applied to the design of tall buildings. In each phase, teaching activities will be focused on the fact that the structural design can not have a deterministic character, resulting from a concatenation of mutually independent decisions, but consists rather in iterative and retroactive process. In fact, during design review processes all the components will be analyzed and verified in constant reference with the project in order to highlight a specific design intent. The work is reviewed in classroom and therefore the course attendance is essential. In order to give the final exam the student, prepares the drawings and a report of the project of the tall building.