Abstract

Faced with a pronounced shortage of conceptual synthetic competences, a track emphasizing on the creative component of structural studies has emerged in academia in recent years, both in the engineering and architectural realm. The present work seeks to be part of this discourse by unfolding a proposition by the Chair of Structural Design of the Department of Architecture of the ETH-Zurich; discussing structural concepts within an inclusive design perspective. This educational strategy tries to extend the learning-by-doing pedagogy to a projective modality by activating the mode of inquiry of the design culture into the structural realm. Playful active-learning practices by means of material constructs are employed to explore structural concepts beyond typological boundaries. Furthermore, the incorporation of multiple design objectives beyond mere structural optimization, introduces an extended understanding of the structural concept that encompasses both formal and relational interpretations.