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Heinz Isler's Infinite Spectrum: Form‐Finding in Design
Author(s) -
Chilton John
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
architectural design
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.128
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1554-2769
pISSN - 0003-8504
DOI - 10.1002/ad.1108
Subject(s) - catenary , arch , order (exchange) , broad spectrum , spectrum (functional analysis) , art history , work (physics) , computer science , engineering , art , operations research , physics , mechanical engineering , structural engineering , economics , chemistry , finance , quantum mechanics , combinatorial chemistry
Heinz Isler (1926‐2009), the Swiss designer renowned for his shell structures, was extraordinary for his innovative and exacting work. He directly produced physical models by hand in order to not only create design prototypes, but also to generate scaled‐up measurements for construction. John Chilton describes how Isler successfully applied the principle of the inverted catenary arch, which was first pioneered by Robert Hooke in Sir Christopher Wren's St Paul's Cathedral in the 17th century, to thin membrane structures in three dimensions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.