Toni Kotnik

• Professor of Design of Structures at Aalto University

Layout design is a complex problem requiring significant expertise and considerable effort. Digital tools and Generative Design (GD) concepts provide opportunities for improving and automating the layout design process. However, the adoption of GD concepts in practice still needs to be improved. Hence, case studies where GD has been used in practic...

With increased interest in materials and construction in the architectural field, the use of building structure as the element of architectural expression has gained interest in recent years. In his analysis of contemporary Swiss architecture, Arthur Rüegg has coined the notion of ‘Strong Structures’ for the tendency to activate a load-bearing stru...

Taking Colin Rowe’s contextualism as a starting point, this chapter focuses on the changing relationship between the architectural intervention and the ground, as well as the dematerialization of this relationship through the abstraction of digitally mediated context. Such an abstraction supports the transfer of design methods between design discip...

This chapter looks more closely at the process of contextual figuration through the lens of computational design thinking. This design thinking is characterized by the articulation of flexible relationships between entities, often denominated as topological diagrams. It is argued that these diagrams not only govern the use of the contextual data bu...

This chapter discusses a reading of computational design, which no longer aims at sustainable design solutions that minimally impact the environment but rather at regenerative design solutions that actively support the natural environment and its future Affiliationids : Aff2, Correspondingaffiliationid : Aff2 Affiliationids : Aff3 development. It a...

This article presents a new approach to the design of freeform shells: smooth poly-hypar surface structures. As combinations of hyperbolic paraboloids (hypars), smooth poly-hypar surfaces are ruled locally while globally appearing to be continuous freeform. The double curvature of the individual hypar modules and the smooth connections (G1 degree)...

Structural art should not be marginalised as an integral part of structural design. By reviewing historical understandings of structural art, this article discusses the ambiguous and neglected perspective of structural art on architectural design and human perception dimensions, concentrating the attention of structural art on the question of human...

The analogy between the human body and architectural structures dates all the way back to ancient times and has significantly shaped the design of buildings and structures. The article examines the body's historical influence on how structures are perceived and designed , demonstrating how the body shapes the "technical truth" dimension of structur...

The paper attempts to provide a neuroscientific perspective on the discussion of structural expression. Taking human perception as the clue, this article starts with the notion of strong structures, take it as the base to review and analyses the principles of structural perception under the neurophysiological perspective. Based on the findings from...

Graphic statics, a vector-based approach to the construction of equilibrium, enables a design methodology at the intersection of structural thinking and architectural concept. The methodology is grounded in parametric and topological operations that allow for controlled distribution of tension and compression in space and with it the shaping of the...

The advancement of computational design and fabrication technologies has allowed combining physical and digital processes in architecture. Existing methods for physical-digital integration offer limited support for explorations with folded non-linear surfaces. This paper introduces a feedback-oriented design approach linking physical models with di...

Digital design techniques are not only an extension of design methods but are also changing the way of thinking. The digital enforces a precision in design methods and techniques with the operative as an index of this shift in thinking. This paper argues that the digital unleashes architecture as a discipline with a close relationship to mathematic...

Digital design is driven by a thinking in structures that emphasizes patterns of order and their interaction. The paper presents an introduction into such design thinking and emphasizes the exploration of organizational pattern in various level of abstraction and scale through the integration of computational methods and workflows. Using a speculat...

This paper presents intermediate results of an experimental research directed towards development of a method to use additive manufacturing technology as a generative agent in architectural design process. The primary technique is to variate speed of material deposition of a 3D printer in order to produce undetermined textural effects. These effect...

So far, little effort has been put in the integration of aesthetic and conceptual design aspects directly into an optimal design of structures under engineering constraints. Towards this direction and in order to develop a more interactive approach that supports the user in achieving architectural solutions of high performance, a previous work prop...

This paper describes the design, fabrication and assembly process of a medium scale demonstrator that was developed in the framework of the authors' research on Interlocking Particle Structures (IPS). The demonstrator not only served as proof of concept, but also as an exhibition booth during the 2017 Aalto Festival in Espoo, Finland. In addition t...

The project consists of series of experiments directed towards devising methodology on utilizing 3D printer as generative constituent of design process. The thesis is that manipulation of manufacturing parameters could lead to various architectural facets being informed by the process of making. A method to manipulate G-code, an interface between d...

Stereotomy originated as a technique that accumulated theoretical and practical knowledge on stone material properties and construction. At its peak in the nineteenth century, by pushing the structure and construction limits, it gained the ability of using``using``the weight of the stone against itself by making it hover in space through the very w...

Stereotomy is generally known in architecture as a stone carving technique for the purpose of constructing masonry assemblies. A deeper analysis reveals stereotomic design processes' ability to resolve multiple structure and construction constrains, derived as underlying geometries and their relationships, into architectural volumetric complexities...

As double curved and double ruled surfaces, hyperbolic paraboloids (hypars) allow for a relatively easy construction method, meanwhile ensure free-bending structural behavior. Furthermore, from an architectural standpoint, through simple manipulations of four vertices of a hypar, it can varies into a wide range of forms to satisfy different archite...

With the rise of the digital in architecture and the availability of digital fabrication tools, the interest in the material aspect of the model has intensified. At the same time, the design space for exploration of material behavior and its design potential has been extended from the physical into the digital. This has resulted in a cyclic set of...

The Abeille flat vault, patented at the end of 17th century, consists of identical ashlars arranged in a woven-like pattern that generates their interlocking mutual support. In recent years, the availability of digital design and fabrication tools has caused new interest in the Abeille vault. Several studies investigate the interlocking principles...

This paper presents an interactive framework for the design of truss structures with incorporation of the subjective influence of user feedback in the design process. In the devised framework, the truss chords are described using Non-Uniform Rational Basis Splines (NURBS), a representation typically used in computer aided design (CAD) for describin...

This study aims to unravel the ideas governing the discussions on the ways in which architects interact with digital media by applying the phenomenological approach, which has common foundation in philosophy, human-computer interaction and cognitive science. In taking the steps necessary to reach this aim, this paper attempts to understand the natu...

Mit „Form“ beschäftigen sich ganz unterschiedliche Disziplinen wie Literatur- und Sprachwissenschaften, Philosophie oder Biologie. Der Begriff steht dabei nicht nur für die Form eines Gegenstandes. In der Architektur bezeichnet Form vor allem die räumliche und strukturelle Qualität und ist damit ein zentraler Forschungsgegenstand. Die vorliegende U...

This paper presents an interactive framework that balances visual exploration of design variations with their structural implications, in the case of the design of truss structures with aesthetic criteria. Based on the assumption that aesthetic design goals are not easily quantifiable, key elements for an interactive optimization framework are deri...

When large span structures have been composed of single elements the incorporated structural mem- bers were direct responses to certain structural needs. Basing on the antique girder principle load bearing units have been developed consisting of struts and hanging columns. These units, relying on the early antique model, represent- ed the constitue...

Im 19. Jahrhundert wurden grafische Methoden – 1866 von Carl Culmann als “Graphische Statik” systematisiert und publiziert – dazu benutzt, den Zusammenhang zwischen geometrischer Form und innerem Kräftefluss genauer zu untersuchen. Diese Methoden wurden mehr und mehr durch analytische Verfahren ersetzt, da in den aufstrebenden Ingenieurwissenschaft...

Lightweight structures are conventionally associated to membrane and pneumatic constructions. Aiming at rethinking this paradigm, a research collaboration between the EmTech Programme (AA School, London) and the DARCH Chair of Structural Design (ETH Zurich) has been recently activated to explore the potentials of the use of plywood in lightweight s...

This paper presents an interactive framework for the design of truss structures with aesthetic criteria. The truss chords are described using NURBS, a tool widely used in computer aided design (CAD) programs to describe free-form geometry. This allows for a convenient interface between the optimization scheme, a particle swarm optimizer, and the us...

Mit der massenhaften Einführung der industriellen Baustoffe Eisen und später Eisenbeton verändert sich das bisherige Verhältnis von Stofflichkeit zu der daraus entwickelten Konstruktionsform. Im Vergleich mit den bis dahin verwendeten Baustoffen leistet der mit dem Eisen kombinierte Beton viel mehr in fast unbeschränkten Formen mit sehr viel wenige...

Conventionally, material in architecture has been treated as the ‘servant’ of form. An iterative design process, though, that continuously integrates material, form and force has the potential to unfold a new generative logic of form-finding. This offers ways of processing the flow of forces through a material object and balancing variations of for...

This paper presents a novel approach for the interactive design of linear structures in space. A method is introduced, that provides a maximum of formal freedom in the design of funicular, hence efficient, structures. For a given deck geometry, defined by a design driving NURBS curve via parametric modeling techniques, a tailored relaxation routine...

The Swiss engineer Heinz Isler (1926-2009) is regarded around the world as one of the pioneers of shell structures. In his specific interest in shell form two concepts were melded: Lardy’s concept of aesthetics and the universality of the natural laws. Out of this a form-oriented scientific organicism has emerged that, on one hand, coincides with t...

Reciprocal frame construction refers to a structural system that was developed first in eastern Asia in the 12th century. Short bar-shaped elements allow a surface to be spanned whose area is many times that of the length of the individual bars. In addition to the global geometry of the resulting surface, of particular interest is the interaction o...

This paper presents a concept for a novel typology of computational design tools which are able to bridge the gap between the intuitive "structural sketch" and sophisticated analysis software. Based on equilibrium solutions and graphic statics, a set of interactive parametric tools have been implemented as a prototype, within an existing computer-a...

This paper describes a precise geometric method for the inscription of structural constraints into architectural form. Based on techniques from graphic statics, the force distribution in building structures is visualized using geometric diagrams. This diagrammatic representation allows a formal description that shows the relationship between the fo...

Using the example of trusses the paper demonstrates the strong influence of a scientific view on structures and structural concepts arising at the beginning of the 19th century in Western Europe. By then structures have been considered as assembled constructs arranged according to utilization and boundary conditions. In most cases, such structures...

In recent decades, new methodologies have emerged in architectural design that exploit the computer as a design tool. This has generated a varied set of digital skills and a new type of architectural knowledge. However, up to now, a theoretical framework is missing that would allow for a comprehensive pedagogical agenda for the teaching of digital...

In Islamic societies, the segregation of gender typically leads to the courtyard house, with its characteristic feature of enclosure. However, there are other types of housing in the Middle East. By looking at tower houses in the Yemenite city of Sana’a, the author questions the validity of the widely used model of interpretation of the separation...

This paper describes a precise geometric method for the inscription of structural constraints into architectural form. Based on techniques from graphic statics, the force distribution in building structures is visualized using geometric diagrams. This diagrammatic representation allows a formal description that shows the relationship between the fo...

Recent interest in freeform architecture has dramatically changed the type of surfaces under consideration, from statically optimized shell structures to shapes that have been determined by non-structural design decisions. Based on the theory of plasticity a new method has been developed which allows the design engineer to control the transfer of l...

Steel tubes as construction material have an enormous capacity. CNC bending machines have the ability to deform material into all three dimensions in contrast to other popular CNC techniques for architectural design that use subtractive methods like laser-cutting and milling. The research examines the potential of a digital deforming process of CNC...

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Graduate School of Architecture, University of Utah, 2001. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 36-37).