In today’s trend towards urbanization, tall buildings offer a potential for reducing urban sprawl. As a further increase of their importance is expected, it is proposed to investigate their structural design in a contemporary context. Historically, advances in the structural design have been made possible by parallel advances in the technology. In this research, it is argued that recent advances in computer aided design (CAD), especially algorithmic design, can have a similar impact on the structural design of tall buildings as the finite element method (FEM) has had.

The aim of this research is to generate unprecedented shapes and forms towards the structural design of tall buildings that allow for both structural soundness and architectural expression. Attention is given to differentiation along the height of the structure, in order to foster design and programmatic flexibility, while at the same time conforming to varied structural requirements. Through the creation of a computational procedure for structural optimization, which includes both quantifiable goals from structural engineering and qualitative, architectural aspects, we can now systematically study the potential of free form structural systems for tall buildings, currently not found in the existing typology classification. In addition, the developed approach and the results obtained will serve to give the architect and the engineer more freedom to design a structural system in a joint effort.

last modified 30.10.2015