Structural Design

Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Pauli

By 2050 at the latest, humanity must manage to step into an ecological age – an age in which it only consumes what is actually available to it, and in which all, absolutely all, material cycles are closed (including those of greenhouse gases). The period, leading up to then, will be marked by a tremendous transition, bringing seemingly enormous challenges, but simultaneously offering a unique opportunity to question everything that is not based on a fundamental physical law of the universe. Like many other things, the way we design, use, and dispose of our buildings will adapt to the new framework conditions. Structural design theory, on the other hand, is based on the basic physical laws of mechanics. From the material, through the construction process, to the building: for centuries, the locally accessible construction material and available artisans with their technical means and skills, in interplay with the local climate conditions, defined how buildings were constructed. Established knowledge of material properties, structural mechanics, and the relationships and interaction between them will remain valid and continue to constitute the backbone of structural design. Ideas, concepts, and utopias for a new generation of load-bearing structures can emerge on this basis.

Executive Assistant

Ursula Jaray Bergianti