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MEAM Seminar: “Multifunctional Architected Structures”
November 5 at 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
Funicular structural forms maximize the structural performance and minimize the use of materials by carrying the applied loads in the form of pure tensile/compressive axial forces. The internal structure of a bone is a classic example where material follows the principal stress directions and forms a delicate latticework of tiny, interlaced trabeculae crossing each other. This lecture introduces polyhedral graphic statics as an alternative method to design such load paths for architecture, structural engineering, and material science. This method is based on the reciprocal diagrams proposed by Maxwell and Rankine in 1864, and this lecture will show recent advances in the use and development of this method and its application for the design of multi-functional structural geometry on micro and macro scales. This presentation will especially show how to (i) minimize mass in large-scale structures and thus contribute to the reduction of embodied energy, (ii) design systems for disassembly, (iii) develop future manufacturing methods by combining polyhedral geometry with origami, and (iv) design concrete 3d printed structures with maximized mass to absorb carbon.
Masoud Akbarzadeh
Assistant Professor of Architecture, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
Masoud Akbarzadeh is a designer with an academic background and experience in architectural design, computation, and structural engineering. He is an associate professor of architecture focusing on structures and advanced construction technologies and the director of the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory (PSL). He holds a D.Sc. from the Institute of Technology in Architecture, ETH Zurich. In addition, he has two degrees from MIT: a Master of Science in Architecture Studies (Computation) and an MArch, the thesis for which earned him the renowned SOM award. He also has a degree in Earthquake Engineering and Dynamics of Structures from the Iran University of Science and Technology and a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering. His main research topic is Three-Dimensional Graphical Statics, a novel geometric method of structural design in three dimensions. In 2020, he received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award for extending the methods of 3D/Polyhedral Graphic Statics for Education, Design, and Optimization of High-Performance Structures. He is also a Co-PI in a $4.6 million grant funded by the National Science Foundation to investigate high-performance, self-morphing building blocks across scales toward a Sustainable Future. Has also received a $2.4 Million ARPA-E Grant to Research the Design of Carbon-Negative Buildings starting September 2022.