Technology: From the Construction of a Building to the Design of the Processes involved
For every task with which it is confronted, architecture knows an almost endless number of solutions, whereas engineers can draw on only a limited range. Towards the end of the 19th century, the theory of structures was established as a tool for design and analysis, and hinged joints were introduced to arch and frame construction - not to increase the efficiency of these forms, but to make them calculable. With fewer than three hinged joints, the calculation is more complex and less reliable. More than three hinges result in an unstable system. Most of the large hall structures created towards the end of the 19th century, therefore, were based on the typology of the three-pin arch (ills. 1, 3).
