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Efficient Structure

Opening context:
Structure Follows Social Spaces

Conflict

Some buildings have column and beam structures; others have load-bearing walls with slab floors; others are vaulted structures, or domes, or tents. But which of these, or what mixture of them, is actually the most efficient? What is the best way to distribute materials throughout a building, so as to enclose the space, strongly and well, with the least amount of material?

Resolution

Conceive the building as a building made from one continuous body of compressive material. In its geometry, conceive it as a three-dimensional system of individually vaulted spaces, most of them roughly rectangular; with thin load-bearing walls, each stiffened where walls meet walls and where walls meet vaults and stiffened around the openings.

Closing context:
Floor and Ceiling Layout, Floor-Ceiling Vaults, Roof Vaults, Final Column Distribution, Perimeter Beams