what i like to do sometimes is walk
through the city looking at the
buildings to try and assume how they've
been framed up however most modern
buildings today hide their structural
framing one thing i really enjoy though
is looking at heritage buildings which
typically combine both architectural
features and structural framing much
like the arch that you can see behind us
it serves two purposes
not only is it architecturally
impressive but also serves to span over
this opening
archers do two things they're both
architecturally impressive as you can
see here but they also show the flow of
forces where the force flows naturally
from the top arching down in a
compressive action making it truly
efficient when we think about
architectural infested buildings we
think about civic centers art buildings
and libraries and other buildings such
as that we don't often think about car
parks as they're quite mundane typically
however the university of melbourne has
a unique harper that is not only
heritage listed but also has its own
wikipedia page
this car park was first proposed by
bryce moore in the 1970s to solve two
issues for first is obviously the
increased demand in parking but second
was also to maintain the landscaping
architectural features at the heart of
melbourne university
much like me stacking these bricks
don't forget to stack down on top of
that like button not only does it help
me out but also allows this content to
get out to more people the first sign
that we actually see something unique in
this car parks the fact that the trees
dictating these locations
however when we go into the structure we
can see the true innovative solution on
display with these impressive arches
these arches are more reminiscent of
gothic arches all the impressive designs
done by gowdy in barcelona this project
required the engineer in charge denver
de moulton to come up with this unique
hyperbolic arch that is not only both
structurally efficient architecturally
impressive but also functional you see
the arch is relatively thin as it is a
shell structure and but it also
encompasses the trees that are over the
top allowing for the tree the root bulb
and the soil required you also
integrated inside the drainage that we
can see through this picture a
hyperbolic arch is when two parabolas
come and join up in two different
directions so what our hyperbolic arch
is it has two parabolas that come in and
join
intersecting with each other forming a
saddle shape that is not only both
unique but also structurally efficient
the arch is formed out of institute
concrete that's exposed and beautifully
on display and we can see this through
the joints of the form boards that are
still visible shell and arse shocks has
been around for at least a thousand
years to form some buildings that are
both architecturally impressive and
structurally efficient you see an arch
or shell structure utilizes the natural
flow of forces allowing gravity forces
above to arch down in a compression
force you see this type of form allows
forces to naturally flow from above
around the openings and down onto the
ground this what makes it truly
impressive and efficient as it's only
utilizing compression forces to transfer
these loads now you may think
if we're doing it back in ancient days
why is it impressive now
see it still requires a lot of
computational analysis and assessment to
get to the point so computers weren't
around for hundreds of years but they're
still able to form up these unique
efficient shapes so how were they able
to do without the power of computing
behind them
some of it may have been trial and error
however there is a better way
they came up with it with just a little
piece of string
you see
we can see that natural arches can form
in masonry structures
however when we've got a bit of rope or
string
when we pull the ends together
it forms a natural curve
so it's doing this through the weight of
gravity pulling it down
forming the loads in pure tension forces
however if we flip it up the other way
that same load can be transferred
through compression forces
so through using a simple bit of rope or
string they're able to come up with a
method of seeing what those natural
arches are going to be without the need
of computed aided software our
structures can be formed out of anything
that can really take compression
more traditional arches are formed out
of masonry structures that we see behind
you as a lady form unique blocks
stacking them up to form the arch
however more modern arches are formed
out of concrete as it allows you to form
any shape allowing for thin uniquely
shaped arches
we enjoyed finding out about the
engineering behind this fascinating car
park at melbourne university you'll also
enjoy learning about the engineering
behind one of australia's largest towers
australia
if you're interested in supporting the
channel i've got links to my patreon in
the below description through a small
monthly donation you can help make this
content possible much like these many
members here without their support this
type of content would not be possible
and as always stay safe keep learning
i'll see you next week bye