Degree in Architecture Studies or Fundamentals of Architecture.
The objective of the structures course within the habilitating master's program is for the student to achieve the following competencies:
1. Selection of the most suitable structural typology for their project, justifying its coherence from the architectural, structural, and sustainability perspectives.
2. Ability to perform the basic predimensioning of the typical structural elements that make up their project.
3. Coherence and integration of the structural elements with the other elements of the building.
4. Verification of the characteristic structural sections of the project from both the stress and deformation perspectives.
5. Resolution of the basic constructive details of the structure of their project and drawing the necessary structural plans to describe it.
The course will be taught by combining lectures, seminars, practical workshop classes, and computer lab sessions where students will calculate a representative part of their structure. The following topics will be covered:
1. Structural types and optimization of the structure based on its geometry. Balance of spans, types of connections, influence of cantilevers, etc.
2. Stabilization of structures. Triangulations, retaining walls, rigid frames, rigid diaphragms, unbalanced thrusts, knot typology.
3. Predimensioning of structural elements: Cantilever of different types of roofs, trusses, dimensions of supports, walls, foundations, etc.
4. Verification of the predimensioned elements through computer calculation. Establishment of the calculation model, its boundary conditions, the loads to be applied, and critical analysis of the obtained results.
5. Representation of structural elements and systems according to the chosen typology. Plans for foundation layouts, structural plans, typical details, and justification of the results from the calculations performed using computer tools.
The course aims for students to take charge of their own learning. In this sense, the teacher's role is focused on guiding students, identifying their needs, and promoting the development of their critical, creative, and reflective thinking through questions directly related to their projects.
Students are actively encouraged to research structural knowledge topics directly related to their specific issues and the particular problems of their building's structural typology. They are required to participate actively and propose solutions for subsequent evaluation and technical discussion.
This process takes place in an individual and collaborative work context. In line with this pedagogical framework, the evaluation (see the course grading section) is fundamentally formative, linked to continuous feedback between the questions raised by the student and the proposed solutions, duly verified from a technical knowledge perspective.
20 % Attendance and participation in classes and workshops
30 % Coherence of the developed structural solution
30 % Predimensioning and verification of structural elements
20 % Representation and presentation of the structural project
The evaluation of the master's program will be continuous and linked to the following parameters:
- Attendance and participation in theoretical sessions.
- Attendance, follow-up, and participation in practical and correction sessions.
- Participative attitude and motivation.
- Coherence of the chosen structural typology.
- Correct predimensioning and verification of the structure.
- Graphic and oral presentation of the exercises proposed during the course.
- Preliminary project, basic project, and execution project, which should reflect (in an evolving manner) the knowledge acquired. The documents must meet the minimum content requirements set by the professors, as well as the rigor and ease of reading, through architectural arguments, of the decisions and solutions adopted in the project.
- TORROJA MIRET, Eduardo. Razon y ser de los tipos estructurales. Consejo superior de investigaciones científicas CSIC: Madrid, 1998.
- TIMOSSHENKO Y YOUNG. Teoria de las estructuras. URMO s.a de ediciones: Bilbao, 1988.
- ARROYO PORTERO, Juan Carlos. Números gordos en el proyecto de estructuras. Cinter divulgación técnica: España, 2002.
- CAMPANYÀ CASTELLTORT, Carles. Manual de Predimensionado. LaSalle arq: Barcelona 2023.
- JIMENEZ MONTOYA, Pedro. Hormigón armado. Editorial Gustavo Gili: Barcelona, 2000.
- ARGÜELLES ALVAREZ, Ramón. Cálculo de estructuras. Rigorma Grafic S.L: Madrid 1999.
- PACINI, Julio Cesar. Estructuras de madera. Editorial Nobuko: Argentina 2019.
- GUSTAFSSON, Anders. The CLT Handbook. RISE Research Institute Sweden: Skelleftea, May 2019.
- Código Estructural. Ministerio de vivienda y agenda urbana: Madrid, 2021.
- Código Técnico de la edificación.
- CTE DB-SE. CTE DB-SE AE. CTE DB-SE C. CTE DB-SE F. CTE DB-SE M. CTE DB-SE A.CTMinisterio de la presidencia: Madrid, 2024.