Synergy between structural and architectural engineering: the point of view of the structural engineer

Abstract

Two departments of Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB), being the Department of Architectural Engineering (ARCH) and the Department of Mechanics of Materials and Constructions (MeMC), both in the Faculty of Engineering, are both scientifically active in various aspects of structural and architectural engineering. What, at first sight, could be seen as reciprocal attempts to cover each other's fields of research activities is far from the truth. On the contrary, their continuous collaboration, which originated years ago, showed an intense synergy, not only in the field of scientific research, but also in teaching and external activities. The present paper illustrates that statement with case studies, taken in the three activity components, from the point of view of the structural engineer and shows that "one and one can be (significantly) more than two".A parallel paper will report on the point of view of the architectural engineer at VUB.