Connecting architecture and engineering through structural topology optimization

One of the prevalent issues facing the construction industry in today’s world is the balance between engineering and architecture: traditionally, the goal of the architect has focused more on the aesthetics, or “form” of a structure, while the goal of the engineer has been focused on stability and efficiency, or its “function”. In this work, we discuss the importance of a close collaboration between these disciplines, and offer an alternative approach to generate new, integrated design ideas by means of a tailored structural topology optimization framework, which can potentially be of benefit to both the architectural and structural engineering communities. Several practical case studies, from actual collaborative design projects, are given to illustrate the successes and limitations of such techniques.