I am an undergraduate BSE candidate majoring in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a focus on Structures. For my Senior Project, I am designing a steel/glass shell roof to cover the courtyard of Princeton’s Jadwin Physics Building, investigating how an integrated design workflow can lead to a more creative, elegant and efficient design. The design methodology that I am developing utilizes parametric architectural modeling software, a dynamic relaxation form finding program, and optimization algorithms to efficiently explore the economy and aesthetics of various design options. This method of choosing the final form from a number of instances has been used by architects since the 1980’s, yet due to the fragmented nature of the building design industry, structural engineers have been slow to the realize the potential of this design paradigm. I hope to use my ideas and findings resulting from this project at a structural engineering consultancy firm upon completion of my studies and promote closer collaboration between the architect and engineer.
Prize:
2nd Award 2010 SEI Student Structural Design Competition
Publications:
Adriaenssens S., Sitler B.(2010). ‘Structural digital design to construction workflow for a glass/steel grid shell’. IASS 2010, Shanghai, China.
