Beyond The Cube: The Architecture Of Space Frames And Polyhedra

This book offers an in-depth look at space frame architecture, including space frame projects completed by such notable architects as I. M. Pei, Buckminster Fuller, Philip Johnson and Louis Kahn. Both theory and practice are included to offer a comprehensive overview of the history, current use, and future outlook for creating space frame structures. The 15 distinguised contributors to this book have extensive background in the architecture of space frames and offer an international perspective on the subject. The text is illustrated with hundreds of line drawings, black-and-white photos, and an eight-page color insert.

J. FRAN?OIS GABRIEL is a professor at Syracuse University who specializes in the architecture of space frames. He is a member of the International Association of Shell and Spatial Structures, and he cofounded its Structural Morphology Working Group. Professor Gabriel has lectured worldwide and published widely on the topic of space frames and has conducted significant research on configurations.

Partial table of contents:

Polyhedra, from Pythagoras to Alexander G. Bell (J. Tomlow).

Polyhedrality in the Architecture of Bruce Goff (R. Ristine).

Louis Kahn and Space Frames (I. Ayad).

Buckminster Fuller and the Relevant Pattern (A. Loeb).

Philip Johnson's Crystal Cathedral and the Rhetoric of Its Free-Form Polyhedral Structure (L. Davis).

Tetrahedral Purity: The Javits Center (M. Levy).

Proportion and Symbolism in Polyhedra (R. Motro).

The Structural Morphology of Basic Polyhedra (T. Wester).

Computer-Aided Processing of Polyhedric Configurations (H. Nooshin, et al.).

Tensegrity: Theory and Application (A. Hanaor).

Visual Morphology of Space Labyrinths: A Source for Architecture and Design (H. Lalvani).

Are Space Frames Habitable?

(J. Gabriel).

Contributors.

Index.