Scientists Meet Scientists – TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk by Prof. Anna Keune and Prof. Pierluigi d’Acunto: “’Some of them were too simple’: Architecture students design structures with everyday objects"

On 22 May 2024, there will be a talk by Rudolf Mößbauer Professors Anna Keune (Learning Sciences and Educational Design Technologies, TUM) and Pierluigi d’Acunto (Structural Design, TUM). The talk is entitled “’Some of them were too simple’: Architecture students design structures with everyday objects".

Abstract:
In recent years, interdisciplinary approaches have emerged that call for the merging of architectural aesthetics with structural design. However, educational approaches that integrate both architectural design expertise and structural engineering principles are lacking, and providing high-quality and personally meaningful opportunities for architecture students to practice structural design remains a challenge. Guided by constructionist approaches to learning, we investigated first-year undergraduate architecture students' application of structural principles as they designed structural and balancing structures with everyday objects. Data was collected from 186 undergraduate students through learning diaries and pictures, focusing on the application of three equilibrium concepts: stacking, spanning, and cantilevering. We iteratively and thematically analyzed the concepts students applied in their structures and their reflections. The findings indicate that structural design activities with everyday objects can support the connection between aesthetic considerations and understanding of basic structural concepts, such as stacking. The use of everyday objects in design structures provides students with opportunities to apply structural concepts, identify them within the elements of their designs, and examine their aesthetic concerns to meet the structural requirements.

Date: May 22, 2024
Time: 13:00 CEST (until approx. 14:00)
Location: online

Registration: The TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee talks are held online via Zoom. To register and to receive the Zoom link, please send an email to events(at)ias.tum.de.

THE TUM-IAS WEDNESDAY COFFEE TALKS

Every Wednesday after lunch, it's all about a new topic - current research highlights at TUM, insights into the work of our Fellows from all over the world, sometimes even topics not usually found at TUM, such as history or theology.

The talks held online start every Wednesday during TUM lecture time at 13:00 CE(S)T. Everyone is welcome - TUM researchers of all levels, students, visiting scholars, and anyone interested!

Each final Wednesday of the month, a topic related to the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals will be featured as a part of the Seminar Series of European Universities on Sustainability, a new initiative of the TUM-IAS in partnership with universities across Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.

Would you like to receive regular updates on the TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk and the online link? Just send a short note to events(at)ias.tum.de.

An overview of upcoming and past TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talks can be found at the TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk Overview.