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Prompt #6 Find a series of images that somehow connect design to Mathematics. Comment.

I have chosen structural systems as my topic for this weeks blog prompt. Upon looking at the structural systems used in architecture, I noticed that most buildings are built using a few basic structural systems. These basic systems are used again and again and modified to suit each specific project.

It seems as though early builders probably did not have the mathematical knowledge we have today and must have done most of their building using trial and error to guide them. Over time, new systems have developed, due to both increased mathematical knowledge and advancements in materials. Today, designers use mathematical formulas and knowledge of materials to calculate the load that a structure can bear early in the planning phases.

I sketched some examples posted above and I have included some photographs of these examples in built form below. Some of these examples below use several structural systems.

As I look at these images I begin to ponder the ways structural systems really form the built environment. It seems like some structures are limited (as one would imagine) by systems, materials, gravity ect. At the same time, other buildings seem to be enhanced by their structural systems (or their limitations).