The conceptual design of structures is at the heart of the design process and when the most fundamental and influential decisions are taken for a project. It merges experience, intuition, tradition, site constraints, technical solutions and, above all, the genius and sensitivity of the designers.
The International fib Symposium on Conceptual Design of Structures 2021 took place in September 16-18 2021 at Attisholz (Switzerland) and online. The aim of the Symposium was to generate a fruitful exchange event for academics and practitioners from engineering, architecture and other disciplines on the topic of the conceptual design of structures. The focus was placed on experiences made particularly during the design process. The discussions reflected how a project emerges, how design decisions are taken, how responsibilities are distributed, how obstacles and constraints are handled, how fundamental design principles are applied and the way the individual members of the design team collaborate.
The International fib Symposium on Conceptual Design of Structures 2021 was jointly organized by the Laboratory for Structural Concrete Engineering at EPFL Lausanne (Prof. Aurelio Muttoni) and the Chair of Structural Design at ETH Zurich (Prof. Joseph Schwartz) in collaboration with the fib (International Federation for Structural Concrete). The event continued a series of symposia opened by fib and whose first edition was held in Madrid in 2019.
Photos: Shuaizhong Wang