Introduction and Interests...

By Micah Jacobson

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Micah Jacobson. I am the tutor for the structures 1 and 2 courses. I am here working on the M.Arch degree. I came from Columbia, MO a year ago where I completed a B.S. in Civil Engineering. My experience in engineering and architecture has led me to pick a thesis project that relates to both.

Structure, in architecture, is what resists the external and internal forced caused by loads on a building. These loads include, but are not limited to, the weight of the building, the occupants, wind, rain, snow, earthquake and storms. Structure can come in many different forms and materials. In many modern buildings the structure is hidden, as if the building needed no skeleton. This neglects a multitude of possibilities that the design of structure can add to architecture.

Structure can be used to define spaces, create openings and can increase or decrease the depth and density of the space. It also plays a key role in the geometry and grid of a building. A building expresses its true nature when the structure is expressed and celebrated. Structure should be analyzed not only as a means to physically support the architecture, but to play a key role in the experience of the architecture.

Once upon a time the architect and engineer were one in the same. With the progression of the profession the two emerged as separate specialties and now are often times looked at as two distinct and different professions. For my thesis project I will undertake to merge the two into one complete design process and to investigate the contributions of structure, and structural engineering, to the world of architecture.