Challenges of structural Decisions in contemporary architecture

Abstract

Design in contemporary architecture has become increasingly exploratory in recent years. Digital architecture and the huge number of construction products allow a diverse range of complex forms to be created. Today, sustainability is a key factor in architecture, with architects continually looking for ways to reduce the use of energy and other natural resources, and then harvest and re-use those resources.As a result of these new perspectives and tools, the architectural design process must become more conscious. Architects need to take into consideration the full complexity of available social, cultural, functional, economic, natural, structural, material and technological data, while providing control over the decisions of the design process. The Holistic Performance Based (HPB) [9] method and its approach to  the design process could be a toolkit for choosing the most appropriate structural solutions. The essential part of the decision process is a properly modifiable Project-oriented Site-specific Database (PSD) [15], continuously fitted to the project, consisting of real, up to date and comparable data.