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The Swiss engineer Heinz Isler (1926-2009) is among the most prominent figures in shell design. Thanks to a form-finding approach based on the use of physical models, he conceived many shell projects in reinforced concrete, from the most common industrial shells developed with the pneumatic membrane principle to the more complex ones with the hanging membrane method. His unconventional shells still represent an important source of inspiration for today’s structural engineers. Physical models helped Isler to go beyond the established structural typologies, opening up endless possibilities of shell shapes. If other structural designers used physical models in specific cases, Isler worked with them throughout the entire design and construction process, from the initial concept to form-finding, until the study of the building’s structural behaviour on the full-scale shell. The doctoral thesis looks at Isler’s unconventional shell design through his physical models. The models are the main actors in his experimental approach. Indeed, not every physical model was built with the same purpose and not every physical model behaved in the same way: they were made with different materials and on different scales. In the design process, the physical model and the data derived from it became alternatively the reference for the next experiment to come. This iterative procedure refined Isler’s shell design at a global level, beyond the single projects. From this perspective, even the built shells can be considered as physical models at a full scale, to gain knowledge for the further shells to be constructed. Thanks to the rich documentation stored at gta Archives (ETH Zürich), it is not just possible to understand the successes of Isler’s famous shells, but also to inform about issues that occurred during his experimental process. The precise study of Isler’s experiments opens up a new perspective on his work by grasping the secret paths of his scientific method. In this way, the design and construction processes are reconstructed. This procedure enables a better understanding of Isler’s experimental approach to shell design, by placing him within the broader engineering context of his time. |
