ARCH2323 Final Paper CHEN Jiajian 1155141408
Structural Mechanics and the Beginning of Structure Orientated Design:
Vladimir G. Shukhov as a Prophet of Structural Expressionism
Introduction
At the era before entering modern time of architecture, as known as the pre-modern period,
progression in science and technology during Industrial Revolution had great impact on
construction theories and technology. New machines, new materials, and new methods were
brought to architectural design in the context of new functions, new aesthetics and new
process of industrial era. Advance in engineering techniques drove architects and engineers
to involve more structural concern in architectural design. Therefore, new structures were
invented and new forms were created.
This article focuses on the invention and subsequent development of hyperbolic structures,
which symbolise the start of a new design philosophy orientated on pre-fabrication and
structures. The study is based on the scope of modernism in the history of structure and
engineering and try to discover the connection between the innovation in structural design
and movement in structural expressionism afterwards.
The study will firstly examine and elucidate the effects of industrialisation on structural
engineering, which was not regarded as architectural design at that time. To understand the
context of hyperbolic structures from material and technical aspects, the article will then go
through the rise of ferrous metallic material in construction and a brief history of how
science of structural mechanics with calculation replaces the construction tradition of
empirical crafting. Afterwards we will take a deep insight into the inventor of double curved
gridshells and hyperbolic structures, Vladimir G. Shukhov, studying from his theoretical
support and early experiments on steel construction to the invention and maturation of
hyperbolic structures as the form of tower. Finally the study will discuss the legacy of
Shukhov and its relationships with structural expressionism in the mid and late 20th century.
Material: Industrialisation and the Rise of Iron Structure
The Industrial Revolution ignited a time of changes. Inventions of machines and mass
production brought enormous socio-economic and technological changes which established
a modern life pattern with changes in transportation and buildings. New demands of building
functions emerged as life changed. Factories, railway stations, exhibition halls and similar
buildings with a need for large volume within called for an evolutionary material that can be
used for structures with large spans. Meanwhile, mass production in machines pushed the
metallurgy industry to produce iron with higher quality and large quantities. Meeting both
ends of demand and supply, iron and steel later stood on the position of being the most
popular material in architecture in the industrial time.
1
ARCH2323 Final Paper CHEN Jiajian 1155141408
Iron is often considered as material representing modern construction but in fact structural
components made of iron can be found in Roman buildings1. The mainstream use of cast iron
in construction began in the 1790s as the furnace technology advanced and the cost of cast
iron dropped due to mass production 2 . In the first half of the 19th century, cast iron
dominated in construction with iron, while wrought iron failed in the competition with
smaller quantities in production and higher cost. However, structural behaviour of cast iron
was brittle and had poor performance in weldability, which is a critical problem when
engineers were searching for more secured ways in connection.
Eventually in the mid-19th century, wrought iron and then steel with way better performance
in stiffness, tensile strength and weldability became cheap enough and sufficient for massive
use in construction3. Since then, stronger structures with less material used and larger spans
could be achieved, and consequentially gave freedom to design load-bearing structure with
steel.
Theory: Evolution in the Science of Structural Mechanics
The popularity of iron introduced a series of changes in the process of design, manufacturing
and construction. Different from the on-site flexibility of the last popular material – wood,
metal materials like iron and steel have no chance to be operated after they come out of the
factory. The use of iron in construction required detailed design and accurate calculation.
New condition of prefabrication shifted the focus from the on-site construction phase to
the design phase before components were manufactured.
Figure 1 An “industrial” architecture,
At the beginning of the epoch of iron construction in the first half of 19 th century, absence
Crystal Palace 1851
of corresponding building theory to the new type of material made “the first iron trusses to
(Source: Nozhova and Hassler,
look very much like their wooden predecessors4”. It seemed that application of iron was
Networks of Construction, 185)
limited to building conventional truss only replacing timber to achieve larger spans, less cost
and more sense of “industrial” (Figure 1). The situation changed soon because nature of iron
that called for calculation and geometric concern became influential in the rethinking of
building technology. After Claude Louis Navier’s remarkable contribution to theoretical
structural studies by his research on the elastic behaviours of structures in the early 19th
century, Johann Wilhelm Schwedler and Carl Culmann published works on theory of trussed
frameworks in the 1850s, which marked the establishment of a separate engineering
1
Bill Addis, “The Iron Revolution: How Iron Replaced Traditional Structural Materials between 1770 and 1870,” in
Before Steel: The Introduction of Structural Iron and Its Consequences, (Zürich: Verlag Niggli AG, 2010), 33.
2
Ibid., 34.
3
Matthias Beckh, Hyperbolic Structures: Shukhov's Lattice Towers - forerunners of Modern Lightweight Construction,
(Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell, 2015), 15.
4
Matthias Beckh, Hyperbolic Structures, 14.
2
ARCH2323 Final Paper CHEN Jiajian 1155141408
discipline called structural mechanics 5 . As subsequent development of the new realm,
Culmann made another contribution with the technique of graphic statics in 1862 (Figure 2),
but it was regarded as only an analytical method for engineers evaluating structures rather
than a design method for architecture until the second quarter of 20th century6.
After fast progress starting from the beginning of 19th century, innovations in iron and steel
Figure 2 Graphic statics applied in
construction in western Europe reached a bottleneck. Spans and buildings heights were
structural analysis
increasing successively with set lectotypes in trusses and there was no hint that the form
(Source: Hang and Wang, From
and structure of trusses would end for steel construction. There was an even worse news
Lectotype to Form-Finding, 45)
to steel, that engineers and architects in western Europe started to fix their eyes on a new
material with greater potential than steel in nearly every aspect of performance, especially
castability which can provide more freedom to form. Since steel started to have a hard time
in western Europe, we swap our scope to another side, under a unique socio-economic and
political background, viewing the journey of structural mechanics and steel structures in
Russia.
Background: The Spread of Structural Mechanics in Russia
As the development of structural mechanics, the new discipline of engineering arrived at a
crossroads between calculation and graphic after Culmann’s graphic statics entered the
mainstream. Before Culmann’s dedicated followers, Muller-Breslau and Foppl, made their
publications in introducing mathematical-physical models in statics translated and published
in Russia, books on structures and construction engineering in Russia were dominated by
the methods of calculation7.
Graphics and calculation can be jointed together in Russia because of analytical geometry
that links algebra and graphics was developed profoundly and rapidly in the country in the
late 19th century. Both Muller-Breslau’s work and advanced descriptive geometry in Russia
were dealing with the problems of surface development and modification, which contained
potential of developing a spatial framework structure. Shukhov gained knowledge of
structural mechanics from translated works of predecessors in graphic statics and descriptive
geometry from his professor of mathematics, Pafnuty Tchebichev, whose study transforms a
tissue into a network of parallelograms8. From these two theoretical sources, we can roughly
5
Matthias Beckh, Hyperbolic Structures, 15.
6
Xianchuan Meng, and Chen Zhao, “图解静力学简史 [A Brief History of Graphic Statics],” 《建筑师》 [Architect]
6 (2012): 37-38.
7
Ekaterina Nozhova and Uta Hassler, Networks of Construction, (München: Hirmer, 2016), 167.
8
Nozhova and Hassler, Networks of Construction, 167.
3
ARCH2323 Final Paper CHEN Jiajian 1155141408
see the coming of Shukhov’s first invention in the history of structure – the double curved
gridshell.
Prologue: The Truss by Shukhov and Preliminary Designs
Before Muller-Breslau’s and Foppl’s works were translated and published in Russia in 1898,
Shukhov started designing truss system in 1885. After spending twelve years on the study of
existing truss systems including English trusses with vertical posts, Belgian truss with diagonal
members and Polonceau truss with a cambered bottom, Shukhov published a monograph
The Truss explaining his own findings in optimisation for conventional truss systems9.
Shukhov adopted empirical practice and calculation as his method of research since graphical
method had not appeared in Russia yet. Even though there was no assistance from the much
simpler graphical method of analysis of trusses, Shukhov managed to come up with the
Figure 3 Shukhov’s analysis and
finding that, “a parabolic configuration is optimal for an evenly distributed load10”, which
optimisation on Belgian truss
matched the bending moment diagram derived from graphic statics with same load condition.
(Source: Nozhova and Hassler,
In The Truss, Shukhov focused on evaluation and optimisation of truss systems by the
Networks of Construction, 179)
criterion of achieving minimal truss weight. Based on this criterion, he found optimal
geometry for aforementioned truss systems and calculated their weights under “optimal”
condition (Figure 3).
It is to be clarified that Shukhov did not invent any truss system himself during his practice
and studies but his work provided an instrument to evaluate the weight-performance
relationship of trusses. In the study, Shukhov showed his great interest in geometry of conic
sections because parabolic geometry kept recurring from the form of bending moment
equation for trusses to the optimal truss outline achieved. Parabolic geometry trusses which
avoid secondary beams made arched roofs closer to the tissue as a surface in Tchebichev’s
study. Shukhov carried on the study and realised the network of parallelograms in the form
of lattice gridshell ().
The lattice gridshell was not invented by Shukhov but Johann Wilhelm Schwedler instead so
reticulated gridshells were also called “Schwedler domes”. Compared to Schwedler,
Shukhov’s version required no specific calculation and fabrication for components in different
sizes to meet their loads. In 1895, Shukhov transformed his lattice gridshell structure in
compression into a suspended tensile structure and he registered a patent for it 11 .
Converting an arched parabolic shell structure with positive Gaussian curvature into a
convex hyperbolic one with negative, the transformation drove Shukhov forwards to
9
Nozhova and Hassler, Networks of Construction, 168.
10
Nozhova and Hassler, Networks of Construction, 168.
11
Matthias Beckh, Hyperbolic Structures, 18.
4
ARCH2323 Final Paper CHEN Jiajian 1155141408
conceive a structure that continue the evolution in double curved systems, and the answer
came as a revolutionary one with no precedence in history: the hyperbolic lattice tower.
Climax: Structures at the All-Russia Exhibition in 1896 and the Shabolovskaya
Tower
The chance for Shukhov to realise his inventions in structures came with the All-Russia
Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896. The construction company of Alexander Bary in
which Shukhov served as a lead engineer signed contracts and provided Shukhov eight
Figure 4 Sequence of stretched arches
temporary pavilions to design12 . Shukhov displayed his extraordinary talent by designing
with strings of the lattice gridshell
seven pavilions in different types of network structures13. Moreover, the most successful
(Source: Nozhova and Hassler,
design both historically and commercially at that time was none of the pavilions but the
Networks of Construction, 185)
water tower for the exhibition in hyperbolic lattice structure by Shukhov as well. Three
major lattice structures: arched parabolic gridshells, suspended hyperbolic roofs, and
hyperbolic lattice towers shone above the rest in Shukhov’s works presented in the
exhibition and represented his greatest contribution to the history of structural engineering.
Arched lattice gridshells were the first among the three structures to be conceived and built
with the first grounded project in 1890. As a simple explanation of the structure, it featured
Figure 5 Double curved gridshell in
a main vault composed with a sequence of arches with strings and there were bracings below
Vyska 1897
the vault for stability and resistance to lateral forces (Figure 4). Called “roofs without trusses”
(Source: Matthias Beckh, Hyperbolic
by public during the exhibition , although parabolic layout of members had not yet been
Structures, 16)
14
adopted in designs of the pavilions for the exhibition, the barrel-shaped lattice gridshell
received high reputation for the unconventional application of truss systems and the
astonishing span it achieved with such little use of material. Parabolic geometry was
introduced to the layout of network in construction of the Plate-Rolling Workshop in Vyska
in 1897, one year after the exhibition15 (Figure 5).
As another form in conic sections, the geometry of hyperbolic came into Shukhov’s thinking
in his process of gridshells. A transformation was made to the gridshell. When the suspended
hyperbolic roof was constructed in the 1896 Exhibition, the hyperbolic structure finally
astonished the population with its scale and the aesthetics of industry and mathematic
Figure 6 Suspended hyperbolic structure
geometry accomplished in steel structure (Figure 6). With the geometry of the double-ruled
in the 1896 Exhibition
surface, a low self-weight curved roof was composed with straight steel strings connected
(Source: Nozhova and Hassler,
to two compression rings. In spite of its expressive performance in the exhibition, suspended
Networks of Construction, 182-6)
12
The Federal State Budget Educational Institution of Higher Education. “Владимир Григорьевич Шухов [Vladimir
G. Shukhov].” Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.bstu.ru/about/meeting/shukhov.
13
Nozhova and Hassler, Networks of Construction, 172.
14
Matthias Beckh, Hyperbolic Structures, 17.
15
Nozhova and Hassler, Networks of Construction, 175.
5
ARCH2323 Final Paper CHEN Jiajian 1155141408
hyperbolic roofs were seldom built after the exhibition. However, the success of trial in
hyperbolic geometry in 1896 still marked the first anticlastically curved tensile structure.
Besides the pavilions with different types of structures, the most eye-catching building in the
exhibition should be the water tower by Shukhov, which carried 114,000 litres water at a
height of 25.6 metres with extremely light self-weight16. There is no solid evidence saying
Figure 7 Change in φ and form of the
that where the hyperbolic structure in Shukhov’s mind came from. In spite of the
structure
introduction by parabolic structures achieved before, there is an assumption that his
(Source: Matthias Beckh, Hyperbolic
inspiration came from the analytical non-Euclidian geometry developed by Lobachevski .
Structures, 30)
17
The hyperbolic tower structure can be described as the surface of a one-sheet hyperboloid
from a skewed line rotated around a vertical axis. The form and behaviour of the structure
was largely determined by the rotation angle φ (Figure 7) and functioned together with
radius on both top/bottom rings, height of the structure and numbers of members under
relationships in algebra.
Success of the hyperbolic lattice tower brought contracts to Bary’s construction company
and also chance for Shukhov to spread his unique structural invention all over the rapidly
industrialising Russia and its colonies. In the following years after the All-Russia Exhibibiton
Figure 8 Water towers by Shukhov in
in 1896, Shukhov built 37 water towers
the 1910s
18
(Figure 8). Frequent practices in laying out the
hyperbolic structure inspired Shukhov to push this structure further. He was commissioned
(Source: Nozhova and Hassler,
to design and built a radio tower for Moscow in 1919 after the revolution. Shukhov purposed
Networks of Construction, 129)
his design of Shabolovskaya Tower with a height of 350 metres in competition with the Eiffel
Tower at 305 metres, and its estimated weight was only 2,200 tons while its competitor in
Paris cost 7,300 tons19. The height was achieved by stacking hyperboloids in nine sections
successively. Unfortunately, the 350-metre scheme faced a shortage in material due to
priority of supply for military use in wartime and it needed to be shrink into a 150-metre
tower with six sections, costing 240 tons of steel (Figure 9). Today the Shabolovskaya Tower
still stands in Moscow, marking the apex of timeless creations by Shukhov.
Epilogue: Shukhov’s Legacy and Successors in the 20th Century
With Shukhov’s water towers were built all over Russia, their aesthetic of expression in
Figure 9 Construction of the
structure and geometry based on mathematic calculation provoked thinking of industrial
Shabolovskaya Tower
(Source: Nozhova and Hassler,
Networks of Construction, 248)
16
The Federal State Budget Educational Institution of Higher Education. “Владимир Григорьевич Шухов [Vladimir
G. Shukhov].” Accessed December 12, 2021. https://www.bstu.ru/about/meeting/shukhov.
17
Matthias Beckh, Hyperbolic Structures, 20.
18
Nozhova and Hassler, Networks of Construction, 113.
19
Elizabeth C. English, “Vladimir Shukhov and the Invention of Hyperboloid Structures,” Paper presented at ASCE /
SEI 2005 Structures Congress, April 2005, 5.
6
ARCH2323 Final Paper CHEN Jiajian 1155141408
architecture among population in Russia. His influence was not limited in the field of
structural engineering but took its extension in art, architecture and even philosophy in the
early 20th Russia.
When Vladimir Tatlin, the famous avant-garde artist in Russia, designed the Monument to
the Third International with long, slender steel bars in a tower form of spiral geometry, he
referred to the 350m Shabolovskaya Tower by Shukhov 20 (Figure 10). Opinions believe
Shukhov is one of the trail blazers of constructivism judging from Tatlin’s reference but they
are doubted because of the relationship between Shukhov and other pioneers in the same
movement21. Shukhov’s work originated more from the mathematic nature and geometry
studies rather than the rethinking of modern industrial society and aesthetic of the
Figure 10 Model of Monument to the
practitioners in constructivism. However, Shukhov’s relationship with constructivism was
Third International
not ended just because he should not be counted in its realm. His empirical methods of
(Source: Wekipedia)
structural analysis and thoughts on techniques for structural design based on calculation and
geometry helped constructivism successors in the 20th century conceive and realise their
concepts on forms.
Outsides Russia, Shukhov’s influence on modernism is also remarkable in western Europe.
This time the great contribution comes to his work on hyperbolic structures and the
methods in geometry. Hyperbolic structures evolved in the first half of 20th century, from
purely hyperboloid to hyperbolic paraboloid, which continued the skewed lines and the ruling
element transformed from spherical reservoirs to doubly ruling planes. The evolved
hyperbolic structure was practiced by Felix Candela in his projects of reinforced concrete
and then Le Corbusier joined the discussion in the 1950s with Philips Pavilion and the
parliament building at Chandigarh22 (Figure 11). It is also believed that the way Shukhov used
steel members has direct influence on geodesic domes by Buckminster Fuller in the mid-20th
Figure 11 Model of the parliament
century . Even entering the end phase, Shukhov’s influence still possesses a strong existence.
building at Chandigarh
Arsen'ev even listed out architects gaining nutrition from Shukhov’s inventions like mesh
(Source: Aurelio Muttoni, The Art of
shells, like Frank Gehry, Richard Rogers, Zaha Hadid, etc . Even though the connection
Structures, 102)
23
24
between Shukhov and modern structural expressionism is doubted by Pryadko and
20
Elizabeth C. English, “Vladimir Shukhov,” 7.
21
I.P. Pryadko and E.A. Shnyrenkov, “Vladimir Shukhov – Engineer and Architect (to the 160th anniversary),”
Строительство: наука и образование [Construction: Science and Education] No. 4, Paper 1 (2013): 2.
22
Aurelio Muttoni, The Art of Structures: Introduction to the Functioning of Structures in Architecture, 1st ed, (Lausanne:
EPFL Press, 2011), 102.
23
Pryadko and Shnyrenkov, “Engineer and Architect,” 2-3.
24
S.V. Arsen'ev, “Использование патентов академика В.Г. Шухова в XXI в [The Use of Patents of the Academitian
V.G. Shukhov in the 21st Century],” in Актуальные проблемы механики: Современная механика и развитие идей
В.Г. Шухова: сб. трудов [Current Issues of the Mechanics: Modern Mechanics and Development of the Ideas of V.G.
Shukhov: Collection of Works], eds. F.L. Chernous'ko, (Moscow: Nauka Publ., 2011), 151.
7
ARCH2323 Final Paper CHEN Jiajian 1155141408
Shnyrenkov25, the thought on industrial aesthetic of mathematics and geometry by Shukhov
enjoyed large share in modern structural and architectural design.
25
Pryadko and Shnyrenkov, “Engineer and Architect,” 2.
8
ARCH2323 Final Paper CHEN Jiajian 1155141408
Bibliography
Beckh, Matthias. Hyperbolic Structures: Shukhov's Lattice Towers - forerunners of Modern
Lightweight Construction. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell, 2015.
Dai, Hang, and Wang Qian. From Lectotype to Form-Finding: Structural Approach to Architectural
Design. Nanjing: Southeast University Press, 2019.
English, Elizabeth C. “Vladimir Shukhov and the Invention of Hyperboloid Structures.” Paper
presented at ASCE / SEI 2005 Structures Congress, April 2005. DOI: 10.1061/40753(171)73.
Muttoni, Aurelio. The Art of Structures: Introduction to the Functioning of Structures in
Architecture. 1st ed. Lausanne: EPFL Press, 2011.
Nozhova, Ekaterina, and Uta Hassler. Networks of Construction. München: Hirmer, 2016.
Pryadko, I.P., and E.A. Shnyrenkov. “Vladimir Shukhov – Engineer and Architect (to the 160th
anniversary).”
Строительство: наука и образование [Construction: Science and Education] No. 4,
Paper 1 (2013).
Rinke, Mario, and J. Schwartz, eds. Before Steel:The Introduction of Structural Iron and Its
Consequences. Zürich:Verlag Niggli AG, 2010.
The Federal State Budget Educational Institution of Higher Education. “Владимир
Григорьевич Шухов [Vladimir G. Shukhov].” Accessed December 12, 2021.
https://www.bstu.ru/about/meeting/shukhov.
Arsen'ev, S.V. “Использование патентов академика В.Г. Шухова в XXI в [The Use of
Patents of the Academitian V.G. Shukhov in the 21st Century].” In Актуальные проблемы
механики: Современная механика и развитие идей В.Г. Шухова: сб. трудов [Current
Issues of the Mechanics: Modern Mechanics and Development of the Ideas of V.G. Shukhov:
Collection of Works]. Edited by F.L. Chernous'ko. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 2011.
Meng, Xianchuan, and Chen Zhao. “图解静力学简史 [A Brief History of Graphic
Statics].” 建筑师[Architect] 6 (2012): 33-40.
9