What ideas does Maillart's eigth-year-old approach give us about how a concrete structure could be designed in the 21st century?

Abstract

With a summary of what the authors consider to be the fundamental challenges encountered in designing structures, this paper aims to explore elements of Maillart's approach to designing structures to show how these ends are encountered naturally as soon as the basis of the design approach is soundly established. While showing how Maillart proceeded to conceptualise and design the Zuoz Bridge (1901), the Salginatobel Bridge (1929), the Vatschielbach Bridge (1923) and the Chiasso Shed (1924), the main features of his methods can be summed up as follows: after carefully establishing structural behaviour, the lateral form was defined by developing a design from a series of graphic statics drawings, while algebraic calculations allowed him to determine the transversal section and details of the plan and profiles. It may be one of the first occasions when graphic statics have been used as a heuristic method to discover the right form, i.e. as a design tool for morphogenesis. Studying the geometry of the Chiasso Shed demonstrates the way Maillart used graphic statics -- a powerful tool for equilibrating the structure with the aim of placing materials in the right position within a structural system. As Maillart was also a builder, he integrated aspects into his design taken from construction, which made his projects particularly costeffective. Finally, we conclude from this analysis of Maillart's work that there is a sense -- during the design process -- of giving priority to thinking globally about form and the status given to concrete in order to come up with efficient and reliable designs.