ABSTRACT
Masonry and concrete construction systems are tied together not necessarily through their construction types but through their relatively high mass. Typically chosen for their durability, concrete and masonry are materials which do not require tectonic structure. Experimental masonry and concrete systems have a long history of innovative logic driven by their structure. Catenary forms are created and tested by mapping the shapes that fabric, chains, or string naturally fall to. In the 1950s these catenary forms were further developed into entire structures, as thin shell concrete forms, by engineers like Felix Candela and Heinz Isler. Isler would test his forms; through scale models, unable to use precise mathematical analysis, he used a more analytical common-sense approach to map thicknesses, and locations for reinforcement. The results of the experiments are a type of Form Finding: the use of self-organization of material to derive structural forms, which works particularly well for masonry and concrete as they perform so well in compression.
