The research project is focused on the development of the engineer’s design thinking from an intuitive to a model-based process during the constitution of his profession. Ever since load-bearing structures have been developed, be it by a master builder or an engineer, the capacity of the structures is growing through increasing experience and new materials. However, the scientification of the building industry was a main influence. The engineer, established as a profession only a few decades ago, prescribed himself increasingly to science from the mid-19th century in the omnipresent belief in progress. Thereby, the engineer not only detached himself from the architect, but also from the design-oriented part of his profession. Elements of the large overall systems are developed from scientific theories, not as before when the Great would emerge from smaller elements. The study mainly captures and evaluates the influential factors of this changing method. An essential aspect of the division process between the disciplines of architecture and construction engineering can then be traced back to the shift in their self-conception. For the engineer, this is mainly a gradual digression from an intuitive to a model-based design concept.


Different concepts of spanning: early and late 19th century