Advanced Structural Design: Computational Explorations

This course introduces advanced topics in computational structural design and analysis. Through various form-finding algorithms and design methodologies, students learn how to use structural geometry as a key design driver to shape efficient and expressive forms. Typologies of structures to be explored include but are not limited to: compression-only shell structures, tension-only membrane structures, compression-tension combined structures, and fully spatial, non-manifold structures. Simple structural optimization techniques will then be introduced and used to refine and improve the initially form-found geometries. Lastly, the class investigates various strategies for developing structurally-informed fabrication geometry.

The course is organized around a series of hands-on workshops and several design projects throughout the semester, each addressing specific computational tools and design objectives. While the tools and methods used in the course are digital, each project emphasizes physical fabrication and making, and therefore deliverables will always include both digital results and physical models.

This is not an introductory course, and we will not be introducing the basics of coding or structural analysis. Interested students are expected to have completed all required structural design courses in their respective curriculum at CMU or at previous institutions and have a high-level understanding of all fundamental structural design concepts and ideas. Students are also expected to have extensive experience in Python coding and be comfortable writing their own geometric algorithms, as we will not be using Grasshopper.