Inverse modelling as a tool in teaching the conceptual formation of synergistic architectural and structural forms – exploring the reception of the method

The article describes the author’s experiences in teaching the creation of synergistic architectural and structural forms, meaning those where the architectural form and the structural form are unified. A key factor is the unity in practice achieved through proper collaboration between the architectural and structural professions. The author, as a civil engineer with experience in teaching structural design at the academic level to architecture students, found that methods based on physical modelling have proven to be very effective, particularly those employing reverse shaping. The article presents a teaching method based on these principles and describes its results. The author also analyses students´ perception of the inverse shaping (form-finding) method, comparing the advantages and disadvantages reported by nearly 90 students. Currently, the process of educating civil engineers rarely utilizes manual physical modelling methods as a tool for shaping architectural and structural form. For these purpose, computational methods and digital modelling are primarily used. In the author’s opinion, these methods are only suitable for the second stage of project verification, after the initial creation of a unique concept. Similar conclusions can be drawn by observing the design workshop and the work of famous designers, who often combine the skills of an engineer and an architect. A properly constructed physical model, developed at the initial stage of design in close cooperation between the architect and the structural engineer, may already contain approximately 70% of solutions consistent with the project’s ideology. Therefore, they can serve as a basis for further stages of designing a synergistic architectural and structural form.