Six Months in Copenhagen

The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, near Copenhagen, is currently showing an exhibit inspired by the works and philosophy of a structural engineer named Cecil Balmond. He works for one of the largest structural consulting companies in the world. Balmond's unique and forward thinking approach to building design has drawn collaboration with some of the most creative modern architects. In many of his projects, it is difficult to discern where the architectural concepts stop and the structural mind takes over.

Upon completion, the CCTV tower in Beijing will be his most recognizable landmark. The building might be best described as a pair of pants in the sitting position. The structure works because the two legs lean against each other. It's a wild design; one that I'm sure took hundreds of hours of computer simulations to get just right. Unfortunately, the exhibit glosses over the considerable technological challenges presented by the design.

Instead, it begins by deconstructing Balmond's ideas to the basics of numbers and geometry. You are first introduced to the symbolism inherent in the first nine digits. For example, in western culture, the number five evokes association with mysticism, as represented by the five pointed pentagram. From numbers, you graduate to geometry and the so-called golden rectangle. This rectangle is proportioned so that the long side is equal to 1.617 times the short side. You can apply the golden rectangle with some imagination to classical art like Michelangelo's David, the Cathedral of Notre Dame and even modern skyscrapers.

After that, the concepts become a lot more theoretical but still do not address the structural questions invoked by the sketches and models. The largest model was a section of tensioned cable netting - a scale representation of a much larger structural art project. The exhibit never draws the line between Balmond's work and his collaborating architects. This treatment serves to emphasize how engineering can inform creative design.