Structure, Space and Form

Phillips Swager Associates Lecture

Monday, March 15, 2004
7:00 P.M. - Lawrence J. Plym Auditorium
Temple Hoyne Buell Hall

Edward Allen

The most important role of a building's structural system is, of course, to support the building. But if that is the only thing the structural system is doing, a great architectural resource is going to waste. In this presentation we will see a dozen different buildings in which the structural system plays a major role in creating architectural space and form. Examples range from very small buildings to very large ones, in structural materials that include wood, heavy timber, structural steel, masonry, and reinforced concrete. Sometimes it is the grand gestures of the structure that are of architectural importance, sometimes the details, most often both. An astonishing variety of approaches are evident, and the results range from the showy and spectacular to the profoundly spiritual.

About the Lecturer

Edward Allen is an architect. He was a member of the M.I.T. faculty for 13 years, and has also taught at Yale University, Liverpool University, Universidad Nacional de Tucuman, University of Washington, Boston Architectural Center, University of California San Diego, Montana State University, and University of Oregon, where he was the Pietro Belluschi Distinguished Visiting Professor of Architectural Design. He is the designer of more than 50 constructed buildings and the author of 9 books on architecture. He is currently writing a book on the design of structures.