2006 Structural Engineering Traveling Fellowship
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: An Evolutionary History of Architectural Structural Systems

Man has always sought shelter from the elements. From the most primitive stick, stone, and animal skin structures to modern sustainable buildings, the fascinating evolution of architectural structural systems can be traced throughout history, noting the influence of style, the inspiration of symbol, and, especially, the progressive development of material efficiency and the refinement of structural form.

Architecture, as a human art and social activity, is relatively infantile—beginning with the revolutionary discovery of agricultural cultivation and animal husbandry nearly ten thousand years ago. The historic transition from nomadic, tribal cultures to more permanent settlements brought with it the dawn of human civilization, and, for the first time in history, man began to shape, influence, and alter his natural surroundings by constructing his own built environment separate from the natural world.

Flimsy tent-like structures were replaced by more substantial dwellings, constructed in resource-rich fertile river valleys. Numerous dwellings gave rise to villages; contact between families became more frequent and more personal. Flourishing villages developed networks of trade, between which paths were worn, crossing rivers, ravines, and gullies, requiring the construction of roads and footbridges made of logs and natural fiber vines.

The growth of cities required new construction, both physical and social. Common structures were built to serve the social, political, and, especially, the religious needs of peoples in the communities, which, for most cultures, remained central to the organization and structure of the village itself. Indeed throughout history, the larger, more impressive architectural monuments were often motivated by spiritual requisites.

But basic human needs have changed little over the centuries. Like our ancestors we eat, sleep, procreate, worship, and socialize in our communities much in the same ways as humans have for thousands of years. To that end, architecture is considered to be a conservative art, changing little in its functional purpose. It is, however, with the growth of populations, the advancement of human intuition and ingenuity, and in the increase in political, religious, and social influences that architecture has seen much evolution. Increasing populations required efficiently designed housing; larger, taller buildings were erected and bigger spaces were enclosed for religious and social activities. However, despite these changes in space, people in cities gather, still, to see the same sorts of spectacles, to socialize in the same way, and to perform the same basic, daily tasks as our ancestors have for thousands of years.

To serve these basic needs, architecture is meant to perform a specific function—namely to protect people from weather and the elements by enclosing a series of interconnected rooms and spaces. The construction and functional services of buildings are reliant upon its structural components—columns, beams, floor slabs, walls—which delineate internal and external space. The material properties of these structural components are utilized to safely transfer the loads carried by the structure to the ground, maintaining the integrity of the entire structural system while imposing natural strength limits to what is structurally feasible.

With the exception of modern prestressed concrete and high-strength steel, modern structural materials are very similar to those used by our forefathers—wood, stone, bricks, and masonry still dominate construction in many parts of the world. They must be used in applications compatible with their material properties. Though the material structural components of architecture have seen little alteration throughout history, their arrangement, form, and varying material composition have indeed seen much evolution.

It is in this aspect—in the development and refinement of structural form—that architecture is in a constant state of evolution. This continuous evolution is prompted and shaped by many things—changes within political, social, and religious organizations, as previously aforementioned—and also by the sheer fascination and natural curiosity of the human mind.

For example, man has always had an aspiration to reach new heights in the sky. This “Tower of Babel” complex has led to the erection of taller and taller buildings, sparked the aviation industry, and launched the age of space exploration. Furthermore, man has also pushed the limits of the horizontal, from the most basic post lintel trabeation systems of prehistoric Stonehenge and the temples of ancient Greece to the more elegant, refined, curvaceous forms of modern hyperboloid, tensile frame, and dome structures.

Although man has seen much more success in his quest for verticality, the tremendous accomplishments of revolutionary horizontal structural systems have spanned centuries and are worth examination. What follows is a précis of the historical evolution of long-span structural systems from prehistory to modern times, highlighting the revolutionary architecture of the ancient Egyptian and Byzantine civilizations, as well as the remarkable engineering feats of the Roman Empire. Such a survey is meant to be a thorough, yet not exhaustive, account of architectural history throughout Western Europe, in order to understand not only the innovations and achievements of horizontal structures, but to emphasize the inherent influence, innovation, and inspiration of form and structure throughout the epic sagas of historic world architecture.