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Rubens Structures: A Different Lightness Through Performance Adaptability
Author(s) -
van de Worp Manja
Publication year - 2019
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.2412
Subject(s) - adaptability , lightness , architecture , architectural engineering , meaning (existential) , computer science , resource (disambiguation) , engineering , civil engineering , artificial intelligence , visual arts , management , epistemology , art , economics , philosophy , computer network
Traditional built structures are based around fixed load paths, meaning a largely fixed programme. But what possibilities are opened up if load paths can be made flexible? Manja van de Worp – who directs YIP Structural Engineering London, teaches at the Royal College of Art in London and leads the Data Informed Structures course at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona – introduces the concept of ‘Rubens structures’. Engineered with adjustable components, they can cater for a building's evolving usage. Although more resource hungry in the first instance than their traditional counterparts, they could offer economic and material advantages over time.