Physics and Contemporary Architecture

Undergraduate / Graduate

Architectural structures form the built environment around us and in many ways create the backbone of our civilization. They push the limits of form and function on the largest human scales, often leading to iconic masterpieces that symbolize the aesthetics as well as the technical achievements of a period. Many architectural advances have been made possible by breakthroughs in the science of materials, which then led to innovation in construction and fabrication techniques. This course will introduce the physics principles that have enabled some of the most innovative architecture of our time. This course will take key ideas and tools from physics and demonstrate their power and relevance in a broader context familiar from everyday experience. The course will challenge students to recognize physics concepts in the built structures that make up the urban environment we live in. Chicago is a most appropriate place for this study; it was the birthplace of the first skyscraper, and ever since it has played an internationally celebrated role in pushing the limits of the architectural state of the art. A long succession of renowned Chicago architects and structural engineers has turned this city into a premier laboratory for architectural innovation. Against this backdrop, the course will show how science, and physics in particular, delivers the conceptual foundations that drive current directions in architecture and open up new opportunities.