Lightweight Construction (also available as English Edition 1/2011)

The lightweight constructions featured range from small, prefabricated units to exciting civil engineering structures. They include, for example, a building system for a mobile pavilion or a residential area of steel houses, a filigree rope bridge in the Alps, or the kilometre-long roof construction of the EXPO axis in Shanghai. How lightweight constructions can also solve special challenges in everyday building work is demonstrated by the façade of an office building in Lausanne, Switzerland. Its membrane support minimises the pressure on the underground car park via a four-layer configuration as well as fulfilling its thermal demands. Further developments in lightweight construction with artificial materials are summarised in the section ‘Technik’. A look back at the work of the engineer Vladimir G. Šuchov, who devised highly innovative and aesthetically pleasing minimalist constructions during a time of material shortage, shows how his principles are still relevant today.