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ALOSS – ALBUM OF SPATIAL STRUCTURES

K. ISHIKAWA1, Y. ISONO2, D. YAMATO3, H. NOOSHIN4 1) Associate Professor, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Fukui, Japan

2) Structural Engineer, Japan 3) Graduate Student, Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Fukui, Japan

4) Professor, Space Structures Research Centre, University of Surrey, UK

Editor’s Note: Manuscript submitted 8 December 2004; revision received 30 June 2005; accepted for publication 24 November 2005. This paper is published to inform readers of this work in progress toward a comprehensive on-line database dealing with spatial structures. While readers are invited to join in the effort to expand and improve this database, publication of this announcement of ALOSS does not constitute an endorsement of this database by the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures. Discussion of this paper and of the database should be submitted to the first author (see Section 9). SUMMARY ALOSS is an acronym for “Album of Spatial Structures.” This is the name for a database of spatial structures from all over the world containing building names, photographs, addresses, architects, structural engineers, completion years, and so on. This database has been established in Japanese and English on the Internet in 1997, and it is mainly based on information collected by the second author. The URL of ALOSS is http://www.aloss.jp. So far, ALOSS has data on around 750 structures, and this number will increase steadily. Information relating to ALOSS is stored in a computer system at the University of Fukui, Japan, and this information is being continuously updated and refined. It is hoped that many people from all over the world will volunteer to help with the further expression of ALOSS. Any interested person should contact the first author. Keywords: Spatial structures, Structural engineering, Architecture 1. INTRODUCTION

“Any structure which is designed intelligently and responsibly aspires to be as light as possible. … From ecological, social and cultural perspectives, lightweight structures have never been more relevant and necessary than today” (Jörg Schlaich, 2002 [1]). A structure is not only for supporting loads but it should also represent a creative and efficient design. The need for such designs is increasing in modern times. There is a great demand for lightweight and interesting structures instead of heavy, bulky and monotonous ones. It is true that there are some architects and structural engineers that may prefer the old style of buildings but the appetite for modern, lively and lightweight spatial structures is growing fast. In fact, there are many thousands of such beautiful spatial structures built throughout the world.

The second author of this paper, who is a structural engineer with a specialty in membrane structures, is one of Felix Candela’s admirers, as some shell

structures created by Candela are amongst the most impressive and brilliant architectural creations. Candela was a pioneer of hyperbolic paraboloidal shell structures (HP shell structures), and most experts would agree that many recent shell structures have been inspired by Candela’s work. It is also true that several of Candela’s concrete shell structures are similar to membrane structures. Collection of information about Candela's creative architectural work was the starting point of the second author's passion to become a collector of information about shell and spatial structures. He has collected over 1000 photographs of shell and spatial structures from around the world, together with a large amount of information which has been gathered together for Yoshikatsu Tsuboi’s Commemorative Lecture Meetings in Tokyo, held every year from 1993 to 2002. This collection of material is of great value for architects and engineers. To make this database available through the Internet, a website called ALOSS is created by a team based at the University of Fukui, Japan. In addition to the material collected by the second

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author, it is intended to allow ALOSS to expand and incorporate information from other sources.

The purpose of this paper is to describe ALOSS, and to explain the manner in which it may be used to retrieve information.

2. PEOPLE INVOLVED IN ALOSS

The people directly responsible for the creation, expansion, and quality control of ALOSS are the "ALOSS team" that work at the Ishikawa Laboratory at the University of Fukui, Japan. Also, the "ALOSS group" is the name of a group of people throughout the world who are interested in spatial structures and like to help with the improvement and expansion of ALOSS. The aim of this group is to make ALOSS a valuable, interesting and easily accessible source of information. The ALOSS website is useful for architects and engineers in learning about the latest innovations in all aspects of spatial structures, including new innovative ideas in design and construction. It is hoped that all the users of ALOSS will endeavor to report any technical problems in using ALOSS or any errors in the information that they may come across in ALOSS.

The first step for any interested person is to begin using ALOSS and to recommend its use to other interested people. Any person who would like to communicate with the ALOSS team, can do so through the Bulletin Board Service (BBS) on the website or by contacting the first author (see Section 9).

3. CONSTITUTION OF ALOSS

ALOSS has an album-like information retrieval system. It presents the available information on different aspects of the structures in the chronological order. Further details about these aspects are given below:

3.1. Chronological Order of Presentation

The information about the "completion year" in ALOSS is helpful for knowing the era in which the structures are built. The completion year of each building is a part of the information presented for each specific case. The overall information about the completion years of all the buildings in ALOSS is shown in Table 1.

3.2. Structural Systems

The classification of "structural systems" in ALOSS is in terms of the following 4 categories:

• Shell and arch structures • Lattice structures • Tensile structures • Others The easiest way of finding specific information about an aspect of a particular structure is to follow the route from the album-like first pages (classifying structural systems or countries) to a specific structure.

3.3. Location of Structures

ALOSS presents information about the geographical locations of the structures that are listed in its database.

3.4. Architects and Structural Engineers

The works of a few outstanding architects and engineers, whose creations are included in ALOSS, are summarized in Tables 2 and 3. Table 2 contains a summary of the works in terms of the types of structures and Table 3 shows the countries in which the structures are built.

ALOSS also contains some special pages that present samples of the works of outstanding architects and engineers. An example of this for Felix Candela is shown in Figure 1. The easiest way of finding these specific pages is to follow the route from the album-like first page for "outstanding architects and engineers" to a specific architect/engineer.

3.5. Primary Use of Buildings

The "primary use" of each building is a part of the information presented for each specific case. The overall information about the primary use of buildings in ALOSS is shown in Table 4.

4. INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM

ALOSS has adopted a pictorial search method. The framework of the current information retrieval system in ALOSS is designed to resemble a photo album as shown in Figure 2. As a result, it is easy for users to identify each structure visually.

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Table 1. Classification by completion year

HangingRoof

HangingDeck Membrane Cable

Net1770s 1 - - - - - - -1780s - - - - - - - -1790s 1 - - - - - - -1800s - - - - - - - -1810s 3 - - - - - - -1820s 6 - - - - - - -1830s 2 - - - - - - -1840s 2 - - - - - - -1850s 4 - - - - - - -1860s 5 - - - - - 1 -1870s 2 - - - - - - -1880s 6 - - - - - - -1890s 8 - - - - - - -1900s 10 2 - - - - - -1910s 7 1 - 1 - - - -1920s 18 - - 1 - - - -1930s 32 9 - - - - - -1940s 6 4 - - - - - -1950s 5 54 4 9 - 3 - -1960s 13 64 8 28 1 1 1 -1970s 9 26 19 10 1 9 4 -1980s 11 24 25 6 - 24 1 -1990s 20 6 21 14 - 40 3 12000s 8 3 3 4 - 12 - -etc. 5 41 63 27 - 21 2 -

184 234 100 2 110 12

Lattice structureShellCompletion year Arch(Bridge)

122

Tensile structure

1

Hybridstructure

TOTAL418

143102

Table 2. Summary of the works of some outstanding architects and engineers (by structural types)

Name Shell Arch

(Bridge) Beam SpaceFrame Flat Plate Folded

PlateHanging

Roof Steel etc Total

Robert Maillart 2 20 3 - - - - - 1 26

Eduardo Torroja 15 6 - - - 2 - 1 - 24

Pier Luigi Nervi 3 15 - - 1 1 1 - 4 25

Felix Candela 47 - - 1 - - - - - 48

Heinz Isler 45 - - - - - - - - 45

Total 112 41 3 1 1 3 1 1 5 168

Table 3. Summary of the works of some outstanding architects and engineers (by locations of buildings)

Name FRANCE GERMANY ITALY MEXICO MOROCCO SPAIN SWITZERLAND USA Total

Robert Maillart - - - - - - 26 - 26

Eduardo Torroja - - - - 1 22 1 - 24

Pier Luigi Nervi 6 - 16 - - - - 3 25

Felix Candela - - - 47 - 1 - - 48

Heinz Isler 3 6 - - - - 36 - 45

Total 9 6 16 47 1 23 63 3 168

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Architect:Structural engineer:Structural system:Primary use:Construction year:Country:Address:Admission:

Restaurante Los Manantiales

Pabellones de Rayos de Cosmicos

Bacardi y Cia

Auditorio, Hotel Casino de la Selva

Parroquia del Senor del Campo Florido

Architect:Structural engineer:Structural system:Primary use:Construction year:Country:Address:

Admission:

Architect:Structural engineer:

Structural system:Primary use:Construction year:Country:Address:

Admission:

Architect:Structural engineer:Structural system:Primary use:Construction year:Country:Address:

Admission:

Architect:Structural engineer:Structural system:Primary use:Construction year:Country:Address:

Admission:

Jorge Gonzalez Reyna, et al.Felix CandelaShell, RCObservatory1951MEXICOCiudad Universitaria. Mexico, D. F.Stand in the public space.

Joaquin and Fernand A. OrdonezFelix CandelaShell, RCRestaurant1958MEXICOManantiales, Pueblo Nativitas,Xochimilco, Mexico, D. F.Every day from 11:00 to 19:00Closed on Tuesday

Saenz-Cancio-Martin-Alvarez-GutierrenzFelix Candela/Consulting Engineer:Luis Torres Landa.Shell, RCBottling Plant / Factory1960MEXICOAutopista Mex-Qro. 4431,Tultitlan, Estado de Mexico.An appointment is necessary in advance.

Jesus MartiFelix CandelaShell, RCAuditorium / Hotel1960MEXICOVicente Guerrero S/N,Cuernavaca, Morelos.If closed, ask the reception desk ofthe hotel.

Felix CandelaFelix Candela / Juan Antonio TondaShell, RCChurch1966MEXICOPaseo de la Florida/Cir. Heroes Colegio,Ciudad Satelite, Estado de Mexico.Every day 7:00 - 12:00 / 16:00 - 19:00

Figure 1. Examples of Candela's work

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Table 4 (1st Part). Classification of primary use of buildings

AUSTRALIA - - - - - - 1 - 3 1 - - - - - - - - AUSTRIA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BELGIUM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BULGARIA - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - CANADA - - - - 1 1 1 - 2 - 2 - - - 1 - - - CHINA 4 - 3 1 2 - 1 2 7 15 - 5 18 - - - 3 - CZECHREPUBLIC - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DUBAI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FINLAND - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FRANCE - 1 2 - 3 3 2 - 1 1 - 2 1 - 1 - - - GERMANY - - 1 1 1 - - 1 2 - 2 7 1 1 - 1 - - HOLLAND - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HONG KONG 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HUNGARY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ITALY - - 2 1 1 - 1 2 7 2 - - - - - - - - KOREA - - - - 2 - - - 3 - - 1 - - - - - - MALAYSIA 3 - 2 - - - - 1 2 - - - - - - - - - MEXICO - 2 5 2 5 2 - 5 1 2 - 1 1 - 1 - 2 - MOROCCO - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - POLAND - - - - 1 - - - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - PORTUGAL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ROMANIA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - RUSSIA - - 3 - 2 - - - 5 - 2 1 6 - - - - - SINGAPORE - 1 6 - 2 1 - 1 3 2 - - 1 - - - - - SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - 1 - - - - 1 - - - - - SPAIN - - - - 2 - - 2 1 - - - 1 - - 1 - - SWEDEN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SWITZERLAND - - - - 5 2 - 8 - 2 6 5 13 - - - - - TAIWAN 2 - 3 - - - - 1 1 3 - - 1 - - - - - TURKEY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - UK 4 1 12 - 3 - 2 1 1 - - - 1 - 1 - - - USA 5 2 - 1 - 1 2 4 8 - 3 - 5 - 3 - 1 1 etc. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

19 7 39 6 30 10 10 30 47 29 15 22 52 1 7 2 6 1

Business Facilities

etc.

Educational Facilities

KinderGarden School InstituteAuditoriumStudent

Center

Sports Facilities

StadiumGymnasium IceRink Pool etc.

Transportation Facilitiess

COUNTRY

TOTAL

Airport BusTerminal

TrainStation etc.

17

CommercialFacility

71 80 165

Office Hall

continued

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Table 4 (2nd Part). Classification of primary use of buildings

ReligiousFacilities

AmusementPark Zoo Botanic

Garden Cinema etc. Museum Hall etc.

AUSTRALIA 1 - - - - - 1 1 - - - 1 - - - 4 AUSTRIA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6 6 BELGIUM - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 45 46 BULGARIA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7 7 CANADA 5 - - - - - 2 - 4 - - - - - 3 14 CHINA 2 - - - - - 3 4 3 2 - 1 - - - 15 CZECHREPUBLIC - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - 16 17 DUBAI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7 7 FINLAND - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 5 6 FRANCE 14 - 1 - - - 2 - 1 - - - - 2 6 26 GERMANY 15 - 1 - - - 9 1 1 - 3 - 1 2 39 72 HOLLAND 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 25 28 HONG KONG 2 - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - 4 HUNGARY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15 15 ITALY 1 - - - 2 - 1 - - - 3 - - 1 2 10 KOREA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7 7 MALAYSIA - - 1 - - - - 1 1 - - - - 1 2 6 MEXICO - 3 1 - - - 2 1 - - - 3 - 13 13 36 MOROCCO - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0 POLAND - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15 15 PORTUGAL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 3 ROMANIA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 19 19 RUSSIA 1 - 1 - - - 1 - - 1 - 1 - - - 5 SINGAPORE 4 - - - 1 - 2 - - 1 - - - - 3 11 SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 24 24 SPAIN 8 - 1 - - - 1 - 1 - - - - 4 11 26 SWEDEN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 11 SWITZERLAND 26 3 - - - - 2 - 2 - - 1 - 3 11 48 TAIWAN 2 - - - - 1 - 2 4 - - - - 1 4 14 TURKEY 1 - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - 2 UK 36 1 1 4 1 2 - 1 6 1 - - - - 25 78 USA 18 2 5 1 - - 8 2 3 2 - 3 - 5 57 106 etc. - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - 5 6

138 9 12 5 6 3 35 14 26 7 6 11 1 3512159 63 39

COUNTRY

TOTAL

Public Facilities

Bridge Monument etc.

Cultural FacilitiesRecreation Facilities

Leisure Facilities Accommodation

Hotel HouseChurch,Temple,

etc

Totaletc.

1027386

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CATALOG(Initial page)

ACCESS

A SIMPLE INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM

SPECIFIC INFORMATION

ALOSS can display photographs of the buildings classified in4 categories. The easiest way of finding specificinformation is to choose a photograph of a building on thealbum-like initial pages.

Specific Information

The details of "Solone Nervi, Parco Acqua Santa":

Name of building:

Architect:

Structural engineer:

Primary use:

Construction year:

Admission:

Country:

Address:

Note:

Solone Nervi, Parco Acqua Santa

Mario Loreti / Mario Marchi

Pier Luigi Nervi

Assembly HallShell, RC

ITALY

Viale Guido Baccelli/Viale delle Terme, ChiancianoTerme,Toscana.

Every day 07:00-12:00 / 17:00-19:00

Tel: 0578-6-8111/8410. Fax: 0578-6-0622

Structural system:

1952

Figure 2. Example of finding specific information in ALOSS

Figure 3. Detail of information about the specific structure in Figure 2

5 ca ses

5 ca ses

5 ca ses

5 ca ses

5 cases

5 cases

5 ca ses

5 cases

5 ca ses

5 cases

5 ca ses

5 cases

5 cases

5 cases

5 ca ses

7 cases

5 cases

5 cases

5 c a s e s

1 9 c a se s

5 c a s e s

5 c a s e s

5 c a s e s

2 3 c a se s

5 c a s e s

5 c a s e s

5 c a s e s

2 0 c a se s

5 c a s e s

5 c a s e s

5 c a s e s

5 c a s e s

5 c a s e s

5 c a s e s

4 c a se s

5 c a s e s

5 c a s e s

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Figure 4. Existing and additional future types of information

The album-like information retrieval system helps to speed up the process of finding specific information from a large volume of data about shell and spatial structures. An example of the presentation of information about specific structures is shown in Figure 3.

5. ALOSS IN THE FUTURE

ALOSS can now be utilized as a virtual information resource in various ways. However, to improve and expand the system, some new aspects for presentation are considered as shown in Figure 4. It is intended that the revised version of ALOSS will contain interviews with people, technical discussions, videos showing different aspects of buildings, and additional supplementary explanations about the buildings, as shown in Figure 4.

6. CONCLUSIONS

The first stage of creating a website on the Internet relating to the work of the second author is now achieved, and ALOSS as a virtual information resource can now be further improved and expanded in various ways.

7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the help of the following students of the Department of

Architecture and Civil Engineering at the Ishikawa laboratory, University of Fukui, Japan. They have been working for the creation of ALOSS since 1997:

T. Ishii, K. Tamura, K. Suzaki, K. Nishimura, K. Ikehata, S. Okubo, Y. Ando, Y. Tanaka, Y. Mae, K. Muranaka, T. Atagi, N. Ikehata, S. Takeda, T. Tanimura, T. Noda, T. Itou, T. Oshima, Y. Nakatani, T. Nogami, Y. Hashimoto, T. Igarashi, N. Takeda, C. Tadokoro, T. Murakami, Y. Itou, Y. Miyamoto, K. Niwa, H. Hayase, M. Kawakami, M. Nakamura, H. Shimode, K. Ohomote, Y. Sekiya, Y. Ueno, Z. Uesaka, Y. Ogawa, K. Imai, Y. Takehi, M.Mihono, Y. Morishita, B. Hou.

8. REFERENCE

[1] Schlaich, J., On some recent lightweight structures, Journal of the IASS, vol.43, no.2, August 2002, pp. 69-79.

9. CORRESPONDENCE

Anyone interested in becoming a member of the ALOSS group should contact Associate Professor Koichiro Ishikawa, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Fukui, Bunkyo 3-9-1, Fukui-shi, 910-8507, JAPAN

Tel: +81 776 27 8588 Fax: +81 776 27 8746 Email: ishikawa@anc.anc-d.fukui-u.ac.jp