What is STRUCTURE?

Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society. From a child's verbal description of a snowflake, to the detailed scientific analysis of the properties of magnetic fields, the concept of structure is now often an essential foundation of nearly every mode of inquiry and discovery in science, philosophy, and art.^[1] In early 20th-century and earlier thought, form^{[disambiguation needed ]} often plays a role comparable to that of structure in contemporary thought. The neo-Kantianism of Ernst Cassirer (cf. his Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, completed in 1929 and published in English translation in the 1950s) is sometimes regarded as a precursor of the later shift to structuralism and poststructuralism.^[2]

The description of structure implicitly offers an account of what a system is made of: a configuration of items, a collection of inter-related components or services. A structure may be ahierarchy (a cascade of one-to-many relationships), a network featuring many-to-many links, or a lattice featuring connections between components that are neighbors in space. -Wikipedia-

One of the greatest problems of designing today is the fact that engineers can solve ANY problem. Anything can be built. Structural "realities" are perceived as no longer imposing limitations upon the design architect. Form does not have to be dictated by structure or even follow a function. Many of the seemingly undeniable "truths" of architectural design have been rendered meaningless. Yet, gravity persists despite this incredible freedom of choice. Buildings must stand up at the end of a real or virtual working day.

Architectural design cannot be based soley upon one of the many aspects that make up the profession. It surely should never be based on architectonics alone. Yet, structure is the very raw material of building. To use structure without understanding its implications is irresponsible and results in meaningless formalism. An architect is supposed to be a specialist in building, not just a creator of arbitrary form. The word structure can be used alone or in conjunction with many other descriptive words. Dictionaries can be consulted to find the following definitions:

manner of construction

the arrangement of particles or parts in a substance or body

arrangement or interrelation of parts as dominated by the general character of the whole

the aggregate of elements of an entity in their relationships to each other

the composition of conscious experience with its elements and their combinations

something that is constructed

something that is arranged in a definate pattern of organization

the action of building

There are multitudes of different scales at which one should perceive structures. Each scale reveals beauty and provides an amazing amount of information at the same time. Seeing the information at each level of perception is critical. Learning to see the structure of the world around us is an important part of life and of this course. It is critical to the success of an architect that she/he be able to see beyond the skin of a building; beyond the surfaces of a space and into the load-bearing structure. This is the fabric from which space is molded. Understanding the nature of the fabric enables one to create the seams between spaces. Understanding the load-bearing structure of a building is to understand the space that is being created.

There is a fundamental rightness in a structurally correct concept. It leads to an economy of means that can be understood by all. Designs which are inherently structurally correct are often perceived as objects of great beauty, even if only truely comprehended by few. One can find structure in everything. Look at landscapes, cities, roofs, walls, and at the veins in a leaf from both afar and as close as you can. Record what you see. What are the similarities? What is unique about each? Look at the:

• external expression of internal structure
• relationship between natural and built forms
• relationship between size and internal forces
• articulation and supporting structure of vertical surfaces
• articulation and supporting structure of horizontal surfaces
• nature of scale in relation to the elements of a system
• nature of scale in relation to a system
• openings in a wall
• relationship between loading and structural form