Geometry and Mechanics, Inescapable Tools of Architectural and Structural Design

Contenido principal del artículo

Juan Gerardo Oliva Salinas

Resumen

The aim of this paper is to described some teaching procedures that have been applied in the education on structures for architecture stu- dents at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (unam). Even though most of the architecture curricula at Mexican higher education institutions include the subjects of mechanics and geometry, they are taught separately and are not applied to architectural concepts and struc- tural design. In order to mitigate these undesirable teaching conditions, a group of professors has attempted to simultaneously incorporate me- chanics and geometry into the conception and design of structures. In response to the aforementioned circumstances, 'Mechametry' was cre- ated as a new subject in the unam architecture curriculum. Mechametry has been offered for 10 years to undergraduate students, as well as to students in the Design of Lightweight Structures specialization course. Nowadays, many former students are working for companies in Mexico and around the world and are directly involved in the design and con- struction of shells and other spatial structures, primarily tensile surface structures. Some selected projects by these students will be shown and described in this paper, as will projects that have received awards in inter- national contests for architecture students.

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Oliva Salinas, J. G. (2018). Geometry and Mechanics, Inescapable Tools of Architectural and Structural Design. Academia XXII, 9(18), 16–27. https://doi.org/10.22201/fa.2007252Xp.2018.18.67939
Biografía del autor/a

Juan Gerardo Oliva Salinas

Born in 1950 in Mexico City. 1975, Graduated from the architecture program at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (unam) and awarded a doctorate in engineering from the University of Stuttgart, Ger- many in 1982. Since 1983, he has been a professor and the director of the Structures Laboratory at the unam, a visiting professor of technology in Argentina, Guatemala, and Ecuator and a guest lecteur in the Unit- ed States, Spain, India, Singapore and Peru. Since 1992 he has been a member of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Struc- ture (iass): since 2007, a member of its executive council; and since 2015, its vice president. Chairman of the 6th International Seminar on Structural Morphology, 2008 and of the iass-slte 2008 Symposium in Acapulco, Mexico (iass - iii Latin American Symposium on Tensile Struc- tures). Chairman of the Structural Engineers World Congress (sewc), 2017, Cancun, Mexico. Member of the Editorial Board of the Internation- al Journal of Space Structures. In 1999, winner of the national contest to design and construct lightweight structures for the unam. Students under his direction have been awarded with international prizes: ifai 1999, TensiNet 2007 and the v Latin American Symposium on Tensile Structures. He primarily works with lightweight structures and mecha- metry- mechanics and geometry- applied to architectural and structural design, teaching structures to architecture students and collaborating with architects and engineers. He has designed and built several grid- shells and tensile surface structures. In 1997, he was awarded with the National University Prize in Architecture and Design and, in 1999, with the Mexico City Engineering Prize.