The question of how much a building weighs, proposed by Buckminster Fuller, is a fundamental part of the search for efficiency, sustainability, and minimal use of energy in architecture. As long as there is a need to transport building materials, weight will be a determining economic and ecologic factor. Post and other transport are charged by weight. Airlines penalize bags that are over a certain weight. Bridges are rated by weight capacity. A human body can only safely lift a limited amount of weight. Lightness allows us to create more with less, and doing so requires a balance of material, form, and construction process.
To begin, architecture students in this undergraduate core studio worked in small groups to explore several strategies to create lightweight structure and forms. First, students conducted precedent studies of historic investigations into lightweight construction methods, including the works of Buckminster Fuller, Frei Otto, and Félix Candela. Then, the students followed in the footsteps of these fundamental approaches, experimenting with form-finding and lightweight geometries to build large-scale operational models that perform as they would if built at full scale. These investigations will inform the final project of the studio, which is to design a large-scale roof structure spanning over the existing Steinberg Skating Rink in Forest Park.