Applied Studies 240: Introduction to Structures

Course Orientation

Introduction

APST 240: Introduction to Structures provides a project-based approach to understanding the structural form of buildings. This means you will be designing structures rather than just solving equations. Specifically, you will learn about structures through design projects. The aim of this course is to familiarize you with the key concepts that influence the shape of a building. For reasons of safety, economics, sustainability, and design, understanding the way structures work and why buildings don’t fall down are crucial to your development as an architect.

You are encouraged to engage your academic expert often throughout the course. Their experience and knowledge will be a valuable resource as you develop your design thinking, and they will act as a sounding board for your design ideas.

As noted in the Welcome section, you are required to develop a Personal Archive on your computer to store materials that are pertinent to your studies. This can include images, texts, scanned drawings, models, and websites. If this is your first course using a Personal Archive at Athabasca University, please read the section on Archives and Collections carefully. It will familiarize you with concepts behind a Personal Archive and with the design, organizational tools, and formats that can help you achieve a workable collection. Your Personal Archive will be central to your studies throughout the program and to your ongoing career.

See Archives and Collections on the course home page to learn how to develop your Personal Archive.

Course Description

APST 240 is the first of two structural courses that will prepare you for work in an architect’s office. The other course is APST 340: Advanced Structures; APST 240 is a prerequisite for that course.

APST 240 is divided into a number of small projects, each of which introduces an important skill that will enhance your abilities as a designer and provide opportunities for you to develop your own approach to structures.

You will also want to use your paper sketchbook to sketch in, take notes, answer study questions, state personal learning goals, and jot down ideas. Key pages can be scanned and stored in your Personal Archive.

Course Outline

This course consists of 11 projects. The following table summarizes the project requirements:

Learning Outcomes

Based on the requirements of the Canadian Architectural Certification Board, after successfully completing this course, you will acquire proficiency in the following areas:

Comprehensive Design

1. Ability to produce an architectural design that broadly integrates contextual factors, structural systems, regulatory requirements, and environmental stewardship; and
2. Ability to integrate appropriate structural systems into a building and to use appropriate representational media, including freehand drawing and computer technology, to convey essential structural elements at each stage of the design development process.

This course uses a project-based approach to learning about structures. In particular, it will ask you to use a variety of media from drawings to models to hands-on experiments to understand not only how structures work but how these systems can be integrated into your own designs.

Technical Studies: Structural Systems and Materials

3. Understanding of the principles of structural behaviour in withstanding gravitational, seismic, and lateral forces, including the evolution, range, selection, and application of appropriate structural systems;
4. Understanding of the basic building science principles and the appropriate application and performance of various construction materials, products, components, and assemblies common to the Canadian construction industry, including their environmental impact and reuse;
5. Ability to analyze structural elements in terms of equilibrium, the resolution of forces, and shear and bending moments; and
6. Ability to make technically precise drawings in order to develop a structural system for a proposed design.

You will conduct experiments to understand structural behaviour and you will use an approach called graphic statics to design structures (by drawing) for real-world situations and your own design projects.

Ecological and Environmental Systems

7. Understanding of the broader ecologies that inform the design of buildings and their systems and of the interactions among these ecologies and design decisions; and
8. Understanding of the basic principles that inform the design of passive and active environmental modification and building service systems, the issues involved in the coordination of these systems in a building, energy use and appropriate tools for performance assessment, and the codes and regulations that govern their application in buildings.

Your choice of a structural system plays an important role in the ecological footprint of your design. You will explore key concepts such as embodied energy in your own designs.

Critical Thinking and Communications

9. Ability to raise clear and precise questions; record, assess, and comparatively evaluate information; synthesize research findings and test potential alternative outcomes against relevant criteria and standards; and reach well-supported conclusions related to structural systems; and
10. Ability to write, speak, and use visual media effectively to appropriately communicate on structural matters related to the architectural discipline within the profession and with the general public.

You will be asked to compare different structural systems and for your final project, you will be asked to reflect on and evaluate what you have learned. In addition, for every project, you will be asked to consider the way in which you present information both graphically and in writing.

Course Materials

Textbook

There is one eText for this course:

Allen, E., & Zalewski, W. (2010). Form and forces: Designing efficient, expressive structures. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.

This course also uses a number of key Open Educational Resources (OERs). Here are three of the most important OERs:

• The Technical Section of the Publications area of the Centre for Architecture’s website. Here you will find a variety of materials to help you with your studies. These can be accessed at http://architecture.athabascau.ca/publications/index.php
• The Adaptive Map Digital Textbook on Engineering Statics that can be accessed at http://adaptivemap.ma.psu.edu/
• Introductory Structural Analysis, which is a series of very comprehensive video lectures (with examples), that can be accessed at http://lab101.space/Course-StructuralAnalysis.asp

You will find these resources invaluable in your study of structures. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with these websites and resources.

The academic expert may assign additional readings during the course.

Student-Provided Tools and Equipment

The graphic statics method requires that you hone your drafting skills and accurately draw angles and lines, so you will need good drafting equipment—although you are also welcome to use a CAD program. You must also have access to a digital camera to record some of your projects, as well as a few other tools. The items you will need to provide are listed below:

Photography tools:

• smartphone with camera, or digital camera (SLR preferable)

Drawing tools:

• 2H to 2B pencils or mechanical pencils
• compass
• protractor
• ruler
• set square
• drawing board with T-square or parallel rule (recommended). A portable drawing board like the one shown here is ideal.
• sketchbook

Modeling materials:

• cardboard
• modeling clay (such as Plasticine)
• string
• paper
• tape

Modeling tools:

• self-healing cutting mat: 18” × 24” (45.75 cm × 60.96 cm) or larger preferable
• metal-edge cork-back ruler, various sizes
• stainless steel knife
• masking tape/painter’s tape
• white glue
• modeling set square

Throughout this course, you will also perform hands-on experiments to help you learn about structures. The items you need for these experiments are listed in the projects.

Use of Computers

The technique of graphic statics used in this course does not require the use of a computer since in most cases, the solutions will be drawn by hand. You can, however, use a CAD program to draw the same solutions. You are welcome to use either method.

Delivery

The course is valued at three credits and contributes to the Canadian Education Standard, now referred to as Conditions and Procedures for the Certification of Educational Qualifications Required for Admission (Registration or Licensing) to Provincial and Territorial Architectural Associations in Canada.

In addition, this course is designed to meet the following performance standards of the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB) Student Performance Criteria:

• Understanding of principles of structural behavior in withstanding gravity and lateral forces, and the evolution, range, and appropriate application of contemporary structural systems.
• Understanding of the basic principles and appropriate application and performance of various construction materials, products, components, and assemblies common to the Canadian construction industry, including their environmental impact and reuse.

This course is delivered online by Athabasca University for study at home. You will also be in regular contact with the course academic expert who will provide guidance and feedback on your projects and collections. You are expected to spend about three hours of online classroom time each week and an additional six hours each week reading, doing research, drawing, and/or completing assignments.

You will need convenient access to an Internet browser.

You will have six months after the course start date to complete the course and its projects.

Note: Students who have received financial assistance through the Student Finance Board of their province must carefully follow the guidelines of that Board. For example, in the province of Alberta, students accepting financial aid are required to complete three-credit courses within four months. For more information on financial aid for graduate students, see Athabasca University’s Student Financial Aid website.

Evaluation and Grading

Your work in this course will be evaluated based on four collections. Scan each collection and save it as a PDF. Submit each collection to your academic expert via the Project Submission links on the course home page. Each collection is weighted as shown below.

Marking Matrix for Projects 1–10

Projects 1–10 will be evaluated using the following marking matrix:

Marking Matrix for Project 11

Project 11 will be evaluated using the following marking matrix:

You must complete all projects. A final course grade of 67% or higher is required to pass the course. If you plan to pursue registration or licensing in architecture through the Syllabus program, this grade will satisfy the CACB requirement.

All work completed for each assignment must be original and must conform to the policies and guidelines outlined in the Athabasca University Student Manual. Written materials must follow APA style. You may wish to consult the university’s Write Site resource centre to review writing processes; you will find APA style guidelines on the Documentation and Plagiarism page.

Suggested Study Schedule