Integrated Structural and Environmental Form-Finding: A Teaching Experiment

This paper presents a teaching experiment in which 3D digital computational models are explored as the representational base to integrate formal, structural, and environmental performance criteria in design. By describing the academic experience, the paper reflects on its methodologies and results, as well as on the relation between human and computer factors in the design process. This assessment is important to make the students aware of the increasingly intelligent design systems offered by digital technologies to support architectural design, as well as of their relationship with precedent digital and analog representational mediums.