Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 846 de 957
Two classroom experiences: Structure for a temporary market
and International competition for a new bridge in San Sebastián
Structure for a temporary market in Madrid (E.T.S Arquitectura de Madrid)
The purpose of this exercise, proposed at the Master on Building Structures of the
Architectural school in Madrid, is to design, from concept to detail, the structure of a
existing project, a temporary market in Madrid. The initial data students are provided with
consists of a set of the architecture drawings and a presentation of the project by the
design architects (Nieto y Sobejano in this case). During this presentation the main
architectural requirements and formal considerations are introduced, and students can
freely ask any question or comment about the project they may have. Besides, they are
also encouraged to visit the building, and to consult existing publications and articles on
the project. Any other initial data (loading, ground conditions, functionality requirements,
building regulations...) remains under the students’ scope of work, who work in groups of
two or three people.
Starting from this point, several phases and project submissions are considered, from the
definition of the basis of design and the structure conception, to the structural analysis
and sizing of the different elements, and finally the design of the connection details. In the
first phase (concept design), students are encouraged not to reproduce the existing built
structure of the project, but to propose innovative alternatives, changing the architectural
shape and geometry if necessary (but preserving the architectural concept). Besides,
during the design process they are also encouraged, and in some cases requested, to
reconsider the initial proposed design, according to the results of the analysis undertaken
(for example, the connection design of a structural element may imply a change on the
sizing of the members, or even in the configuration of the structural element itself).
The teaching purpose of this exercise is to reproduce the design process of a real
architectural project, encouraging the students’ implication in the conception phase, and
following them during the design process, with a double task from the teacher of assisting
the students in pure technical issues, and playing the role of the rest of participants in the
project (client, architect, contractor...), in order to discuss and challenge their proposals
from their respective point of view.
The result from this classroom experience has been very satisfactory, arising a number of
different possible structural solutions, and generating fruitful discussions (technical of
course, but also formal and aesthetical) during the presentation sessions undertaken at
the end of each phase (Fig. 5).
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011