This research workshop will explore three-dimensional problems in the static equilibrium of structural systems. Through an interdisciplinary collaboration between computer science and architecture, we will develop design tools for determining the form of three-dimensional structural systems under a variety of loads. The goal of the workshop is to develop real-time design and analysis tools which will be useful to architects and engineers in the form-finding of efficient three-dimensional structural systems.
Research topics include, but are not limited to: mesh generation; procedural methods for creating structural elements; physical simulation procedures; interactive design tools; structural analysis; computer graphics; and mathematics of nodal systems. Students will gain experience with basic programming through a series of exercises leading up to a final project.