Wacaw Zalewski: Shaping Structures

2006 Wolk Gallery, MIT School of Architecture and Planning

All Rights Reserved.

All designs and projects by Wacaw Zalewski,
with collaborators as noted in exhibit text.

Edward Allen, Visiting Professor of Architecture and Building Technology
Exhibit Direction

David Foxe, M.Arch. Candidate
Design, Imaging, Text, and Coordination

Jeff Anderson, M.Arch. Candidate
Digital Project Reconstruction

With special thanks to:

Adle Naud Santos, Dean
School of Architecture and Planning

Yung Ho Chang, Head, Department of Architecture

Gary Van Zante, Curator of Architecture and Design, MIT Museum

Laura Knott, MIT Museum

- - - -

Force Diagrams for each project by David Foxe and Edward Allen

Additional video by Paul Felopulos

Physical models by Edward Allen

The original boards (30x40) are reprinted here in reduced form for
reference and are not for publication etc.
"...Geometry
|s the mothemot|cs
o| structuro| |mog|not|on..."
Woclow
Io|ewsk|:
Poland Venezuela
United
States
South
Korea
Masonry
Unrein-
forced
Concrete
Reinforced
Concrete
Steel
Minimal
Prefabrication
On-Site
Prefabrication
Factory
Prefabrication
Structural principle
specic to each project
1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
Wacaw Zalewski (VAHTS-wahff zah-LEFF-skee) was born in 1917. In
1935 he began his studies of structural engineering in Warsaw. Just
before he was to receive his degree in 1939, German armies invaded and
occupied Poland, making further academic work impossible. He joined
the Polish underground army, as a result of which he was frequently forced
into hiding for extended periods. These interludes provided ample time
for him to reect on his studies and read extensively about structural
behavior. He soon looked beyond the narrowly mathematical curriculum
he had been provided in engineering school to develop a strong interest
in how the ow patterns of forces through structures might suggest
more efcient structural forms.
In 1944, he took part in the ill-fated Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis.
He escaped capture when this effort collapsed, but two members of his
immediate family were killed in the punitive German bombing of Warsaw
that followed. In 1947, he was able at last to take up work as a designer of
structures. As his rst projects were built, he developed another aspect
of his philosophy of engineering: a strong concern for minimizing the
difculty and cost of construction. The dual goals of shaping structures
according to their internal forces and designing efcient processes
for their construction have been primary themes in Zalewskis work
throughout his academic and professional careers.
In 1947, when academic records had been retrieved and reconstructed
from the wreckage of the war, he received a masters degree in civil
engineering from Gdansk Polytechnic Institute. After earning a doctorate
in 1962 from the Warsaw Polytechnic, he accepted an invitation from the
Universidad de los Andes in Merida, Venezuela, where he taught and
worked as a structural designer for a period of three years. In 1966, he
was invited to join the faculty of the MIT Department of Architecture, where
he taught as a tenured professor until his retirement in 1988. He retained
his connections in Venezuela for many years, however, and continued to
design structures there during academic holidays and sabbaticals. He
was awarded an honorary doctorate for his professional achievements
by the Departments of Architecture and Civil Engineering of the Warsaw
Polytechnic in 1998.
Zalewskis ongoing career as a designer of innovative structures
is documented in this exhibition. He has been equally innovative in
the classroom, where his teaching is characterized by its nurturing of
imagination and creativity and its orientation toward nding good form
for structures based on funicular forms and ow patterns of internal
forces. He is coauthor with Edward Allen of an introductory textbook,
Shaping Structures (Wiley, 1998), that is based on this approach.
In describing his design methods, he has stated that The intellectual
delights of...analytical procedures are very different from the sensuous
pleasures of giving a structure its shape...Geometry is the mathematics
of structural imagination. This exhibit is a celebration of his imaginative
and richly diverse work and ideas.
This chart will provide an index
to highlight the diversity of the
various projects and buildings
shown in the exhibit.
Wacaw Zalewski:
Shaping Structures
This exhibition was organized for the
Wolk Gallery at the MIT School of
Architecture and Planning by:
Edward Allen, Visiting Professor of
Architecture and Building Technology
Exhibit Direction
David Foxe, M.Arch. Candidate
Design, Imaging, Text, & Coordination
Jeff Anderson, M.Arch. Candidate
Digital Project Reconstruction
With special thanks to:
Adle Naud Santos, Dean
School of Architecture and Planning
Yung Ho Chang, Head,
Department of Architecture
Gary Van Zante, Curator of
Architecture and Design, MIT Museum
John Ochsendorf, Assistant Professor,
Architecture Department
Building Technology Group
Nancy Dalrymple, Administrator
Architecture Department
Building Technology Group
Rotch Library of Architecture
and Planning
and many students for their
insights, comments, and memories
Years
Location
Primary Material
Prefabrication
Structural
Principle
Physical, visible form is both one of the strongest and the most
deceptive aspects of Wacaw Zalewskis incredibly varied body
of work. For the past six decades of his professional practice as a
civil engineer and a professor of structures, he has explored the
shaping of structural form to solve specic problems of structural
stability, conservation of material, and optimizing efciency of
construction processes. The work shown here gives an initial
glance at some of the ways in which he has met these structural
challenges. In pursuing such optimization and nding rational
ways to bring these solutions to physical form, his work exhibits
highly engaging uses of pattern, proportion, and light.
In his built projects and in his writings, Zalewski demonstrates
a conscious acknowledgment of visual form and its inuential
nature, its power to captivate by providing a readily recognizable
and memorable visual effect corresponding to abstract structural
principles. Yet his work goes further in offering a perspective on
how creating rational structure is not primarily a task of calculation
or a mere result of unchanging rules, but rather a truly creative
process that champions personal invention. He has often chosen
to use ordinary projects and spans as vehicles for exploring
mathematical and structural principles; he uses each projects
particular requirements to investigate the underlying principle of
optimization in shaping structures. Supermarkets can be places
to experiment with funicular roof forms that eliminate the need
for cable backstays, and industrial storage warehouses and
factories can pioneer highly articulate and exible prefabrication
systems.
Zalewskis early works in Poland became widely known through
his international publications and lectures from Paris to Berkeley,
and were the foundation for his extensive projects in Venezuela,
South Korea, Spain, and elsewhere. His method of structuring,
a lifelong pursuit of demonstrating structural truth, is also
particularly process-oriented. He has considered in great detail
the sequencing and efciencies of building as an act, a verb
in each of these locations worldwide. This is highlighted in this
exhibit by the preponderance of construction photographs and
documentation which exist for these projects, and the relative
scarcity of images of completed buildings.
His work is also the foundation for his inspirational teaching. In
nearly four decades of teaching at MIT, Professor Zalewskis
students and collaborators have beneted from both the basic and
the advanced concepts in his work. His work with MIT students in
the 1980s and early 1990s with deployable structures led him to be
chosen to work as one of the designers of the Venezuelan pavilion
at the 1992 Seville International Exposition, and his deployable
truss for the pavilion hall and theatre was subsequently folded
and taken back to South America so it could be redeployed for
another use.
Zalewskis teaching and textbook collaborations with Edward
Allen capture major portions of his ideas about how students
should learn; he remains highly critical of both engineering and
architectural education that all too often result in passive attitudes
toward research of rational forms...which constitute the essential
task of studies and of construction projects. He has witnessed how
problems relating to forces and construction processes can be the
Achilles heel of architects and has directed his teaching toward
improving the ways in which students understand the inventive
potential in shaping structures. At age 88, his wit and energy
continue to inspire students with the fundamentals of geometric
solutions to nding form. With the wisdom of a lifetime, his
energetic pencil sketches, elegant mathematical simplications,
and demonstrations with objects as humble as umbrellas make
for memorable teaching.
The architectural community has widened over time, and
innovators who span architecture and engineering have gained
increasing recognition for their structural art: Robert Maillart,
Rafael Guastavino, Felix Candela, Eladio Dieste, and Santiago
Calatrava are among these designers. Zalewskis work across the
globe, in its many responses to local material and site constraints,
shows his personal focus on inventive forms with diverse systems.
Unlike the aforementioned designers, most of whom are known
for their particular formal emphasis or their lifelong investigation
of particular systems (unreinforced masonry in compression, in
the case of Guastavino for example), Zalewski is far less easily
categorized. His work can be understood on spectra rather
than in pure categories, occupying one continuum spanning
architecture and engineering, and another spanning theoretical
mathematics and highly practical innovation. The buildings
shown here, containing functions that range from the mundane
to the celebratory, enclose spaces with structures that are truly
architectural in that they show how a masters highly inventive
work can elevate constructed tectonics. Zalewski has applied
his optimization skills to shape structural solutions that are both
rational and inspirational. In explaining the potential uses of the
structural strategy employed at the Spodek hall in Katowice, the
rst project to the right, he describes this spirit of inventiveness:
This view of the Supersam supermarket, under construction
in Warsaw, Poland, shows the funicular roof system of tensile
cables and compressive arches, with connecting members at
various angles.
The possibility for large...forms to be
handled free from [ordinary] standing
columns, vertical walls, and at roofs,
combined with the simultaneous task
of nding a solution for functional
and constructive problems, gives
an occasion for creative invention.
Such inventive possibilities, with both
practical architectural tectonics and
the artistic thought of antiquity, become
the spiritual achievement of modern
architects and engineers.
Inventive optimization in Wacaw Zalewskis structures
introductory notes by David Foxe
Any structural action,
no matter how
complex, can be
reduced to just two
types of forces, pushes
and pulls.
A push i s general l y
r ef er r ed t o as
compression, and a
pull as tension.
Compression
can cause a slender
member to buckle, so
we will represent it with
the color red to warn
us of that potential
problem.
Members in tension
cannot buckle; they
only grow straighter as
the pulling intensi es.
We will represent
tension with the color
blue.
For each project in
this exhibition, there
is a simple diagram
in the upper left hand
corner that shows
in red and blue how
the structure utilizes
pushes and pulls to
support its load. In
these diagrams:
Black arrows indicate
external forces.
Red lines
indicate pushes
(compression).
Blue lines indicate
pulls (tension).
Structural
Actions
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This muIti-use haII in Katowice, Po-
Iand became nicknamed "Spodek,"
IiteraIIy "saucer" in PoIish, meaning
"ying saucer" in popuIar usage.
Its form deveIoped in response to
severaI factors: The bowI-Iike con-
guration of the seating area, which
acts as an inverted dome, reduces
the contact area between the struc-
ture and the ground. This wouId aI-
Iow the entire buiIding to settIe as a
singIe unit if the soiI, which is honey-
combed by oId coaI mining tunneIs,
shouId subside. The bowI exerts an
outward push that is baIanced by the
inward puII of the roof cabIes at the
perimeter. This baIancing of push-
es and puIIs is a haIImark of many
of ZaIewski's structures.
The roof is the earIiest known pro-
posaI for a cabIe structure based
on the tensegrity principIe, in which
compression members are con-
nected onIy to cabIes, and not to
each other. A number of wire mod-
eIs of this structure were made to
assess feasibiIity. After ZaIewski's
departure from PoIand and prior to
construction, the roof structure was
changed to reIativeIy conventionaI
trusses.
The asymmetricaI interior of the are-
na was designed to accommodate
dozens of different interior cong-
urations of both seating and event
space to accommodate the wide va-
riety of programmed uses. Since its
opening the dramaticaIIy Iit Spodek
has hosted countIess shows, sports
events, and exhibitions, as weII as
concerts of popuIar music by inter-
nationaI ceIebrities, incIuding many
American rock music groups. CoI-
Iaborators on this project incIuded
architects Maciej Krasinski and Ma-
ciej Gintowt, as weII as engineers
Andrzej Zrawski, AIeksander WIo-
darz, and StanisIaw Kus.
Spodek
This diagram of the proposed construction
sequence was made prior to simplifcation of
the roof structure.
This nighttime view was photographed shortly
after the building's completion.
A scale model in wire was used for
early load testing of the concept.
Construction hoisting was done by a crane riding
on a perimeter track.
These short columns are among those that
balance the concrete bowl.
The half-constructed roof is viewed here from the interior of the building, looking up toward
the center ring.
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This section drawing shows both the bowl of the seating structure and the original, more complex version of
the tensegrity roof structure. The bowl is tipped to permit greater fexibility in seating arrangements.
A view of the underside of the bowl (computational rendering).

The tipped bowl confguration permits many different seating layouts for basketball, stage shows,
and boxing, among other activities.
This computational rendering shows Spodek before later additions were appended. An elevation drawing shows the taller end of the arena (as seen from the left in the above rendering).
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ZaIewski invented of a system of
structuraIIy efcient roof beams
whose proIes are based on the fu-
nicuIar shape, that taken by a chain
under the same conditions of sup-
ports and Ioad. Beams of funicuIar
shape do not need interior diagonaIs
or a web. The beams he designed
in coIIaboration with StanisIaw Kus
were intended to be cast on site, us-
ing rising formwork, in stacks of six.
The stacks were Ieft to cure for sev-
eraI weeks before the beams were
Iifted and instaIIed.
Torwar, the structure shown here, is a
grandstand roof for a stadium for ice
hockey and other uses buiIt in War-
saw in 1960. It features an expres-
sive cantiIever of 12 meters (aImost
40 feet). TensiIe reinforcing cabIes
aIong the tops of these Iong funicu-
Iar beams were post-tensioned after
being Iifted into pIace. This type of
beam? is one exampIe from a famiIy
of anaIogousIy-shaped beams that
were wideIy used in industriaI con-
struction in PoIand. AIthough this
may appear to the casuaI observer
to be a VierendeeI truss design, it is
fundamentaIIy different. A Vierend-
eeI truss is arbitrariIy shaped and
is made stabIe by bending action in
its nodes. In contrast, this truss is
funicuIarIy shaped, which therefore
resuIts in an absence of bending.
Iorwor
The roof trusses for Torwar soar above the
area where the seating was constructed.
An elevation of a typical beam is dimensioned in centimeters. The shape of the element follows the shape of
the bending moment diagram, which produces constant forces throughout the straight members.
This computer rendering shows how the beams for a stadium roof are covered with precast
concrete roof deck elements.
Zalewski's sketches show the concepts and
proportions of the beams.
Post-tensioning cables in the top chords carry
tensile forces.
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In these expIorations, eIements
arranged aIong funicuIar Iines act as
both cabIes and arches to resist the
IateraI forces of wind and earthquake
that predominate in taII buiIdings.
In the same way that cabIe and arch
bridges can span farther than truss
bridges, funicuIar bracing is more
appropriate for taIIer buiIdings than
the wind-resisting trusses commonIy
used. The curves resembIe those of
the EiffeI Tower, which was designed
on a simiIar principIe. However, the
fuII proIe of the EiffeI shape wouId
require a very broad buiIding. The
arrangement shown to the right
uses just one side of the EiffeI shape
on each facade. The arrangement
beIow shifts the two sides of the
EiffeI structure inward so that they
overIap. Both arrangements permit
a more sIender tower.
Both exampIes are appIied to
buiIdings with very standard
gIass curtain waIIs. Either couId
become the basis for truIy originaI
skyscraper architecture. The
symmetricaI bracing scheme beIow
was deveIoped in coIIaboration
with architect ManueI Sayago in
Caracas, and the asymmetricaI
scheme to the right, with architect
Jerzy Jakubowicz in Boston. The
buiIdings' facades are enIivened by
the gesture of the curved eIements;
the bracing emphasizes the
reIationship between the top of the
tower and the foundation at ground
IeveI aIong the street.
Fun|cu|or
Skycroper
This structure would use even less material
if the funicular braces ran to the ground.
Paired funicular braces create a
graceful symmetry of curves.
This rendering shows a single
funicular brace on each building face.
Zalewski's sketch of the funicular beam, its concept and proportions
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This unbuiIt research expIoration was
conducted at MIT during the spring
of 1969 and pubIished soon after by
the MIT Press. ZaIewski was aided in
this project by research assistants
W. Robert Kirby and Reinhard K.
Goethert, and the drawings were
produced by student coIIaborators.
Based on the premise that the
growth of many dense urban areas
is restricted by precipitous vaIIey
waIIs, the drawings demonstrate
simpIe strategies to buiId on
steep areas with chaIIenging soiI
conditions. AppIications were
proposed for pIaces such as Los
AngeIes, Rio de Janeiro, Caracas,
Hong Kong, and HonoIuIu. The most
deveIoped exampIe, the one shown
here, expIored the possibiIities
in Pittsburgh, PennsyIvania. The
overaII strategy is to concentrate the
major foundation eIements (driven
piIes, caissons, or a foundation mat,
depending on soiI conditions) in a
smaII, at area at the foot of the sIope.
From this is constructed a strong
sIab, a concrete carpet that reaches
up the sIope as far as the highest
portion of the site. This sIab, which
works primariIy in axiaI compression,
carries incIined components of
Ioads to the foundation at the foot
of the sIope. The forces in the sIab
compress and thus stabiIize the
soiI beneath it. This strategy avoids
having to construct independent
foundations of questionabIe sta-
biIity under the difcuIt working
conditions and uncertain soiIs
presented by steep terrain. The
design is for an underIying, inno-
vative construction process rath-
er than a singIe naI form. The
amaIgamation of structures such as
these at the urban periphery hoIds
potentiaI for expanding many of the
worId's denseIy popuIated cities at
reasonabIe cost.
8u||d|ngs on
S|opes
Loads on the inclined slab are supported by
compression of the slab and the earth beneath.
Roads and pedestrian ways ascend the slope
between structures.
A prototypical plan for a large-scale development
on formerly unbuildable slopes.
Structural strategies vary, depending on local
soil conditions.
(1) The base is prepared and (2) piles are driven to support (3) the frst level; (4) The
compression slab is slip-formed up the slope; the (5) utility core and (6) foor plates proceed.
Any of several construction methodologies
may be employed.
The same underlying principles may be applied
to other shapes.
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This sketch perspective shows how box-type
components may also be used with this system.
Structural components are hoisted into place
from a crane anchored at the utility core base.
Red areas show steep slopes in river
corridors near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The frame may be inflled with precast concrete
panels.
The proposed system has advantages pertain-
ing to structure, circulation, and construction.
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These unbuiIt studies are directed
toward nding optimaI forms for
structuraI bracing in taII buiIdings.
As structures increase in height be-
yond 200 feet (60 m), accommoda-
tion of wind forces requires more
structuraI materiaI than is required
by gravity forces, and the design of
more efcient IateraI bracing sys-
tems becomes increasingIy impor-
tant. In these theoreticaI investiga-
tions, ZaIewski drew upon research
compIeted a century ago by the
AustraIian mathematician MicheII.
MicheII deveIoped shapes that re-
quire the absoIute minimum of ma-
teriaI for a given appIied force. The
ame-Iike shape of an ideaI cantiIe-
ver truss, shown beIow, wouId use
Iess materiaI than any other shape
for a wind truss in a taII buiIding, and
wouId have the advantage of pIacing
a buiIding with very Iarge totaI oor
area on a compact base, thus mini-
mizing foundation costs as weII. But
without architecturaI interventions,
the oors wouId become very Iarge
in extent, too Iarge to be dayIit and
with too much windowIess space,
especiaIIy for apartment buiIdings.

Working with the architect W. Za-
bIocki, severaI ways of resoIving
this probIem were deveIoped. The
soIution shown here is a Y-shaped
pIan that opens up the deep interior
of the buiIding to naturaI Iight and
air. The MicheII "ame" congura-
tion is appIied to the geometry of the
IateraI bracing eIements, which are
expressed in the facade geometry.
ZaIewski's hand-drawn comparison
at the Iower right shows that the Iast
two aIternative bracing schemes for
taII buiIdings, both MicheII-based,
use substantiaIIy Iess materiaI than
conventionaI systems.
M|che||
Structures
Mathematical feld of low-weight solutions
to end-loaded cantilevers (W.S.Hemp, Optimum Structures)
This version uses a more literal
pattern of Michell bracing
This architectural rendering of a building of approximately 50 stories uses a simplifed pattern of Michell bracing. The overall building form is a Y-shape with three wings on
a central core; Zalewski notes this could also be further braced with enclosed elevated walkways between wings.
n this handmade sketch, Zalewski compares the relative amounts of material in fve different bracing
schemes. The last two, both Michell confgurations, are by far the most effcient.
This section drawing illustrates the core and
foors of the building shown immediately above.
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There existed a compeIIing reason
to design a depIoyabIe structure
for the VenezueIan NationaI PaviI-
ion at the 1992 InternationaI Expo-
sition in SeviIIe, Spain: The exhibi-
tion was deIiberateIy temporary. If
the structure were depIoyabIe (abIe
to foId and unfoId), it couId be made
in VenezueIa, where costs were Iow-
er, transported in its foIded form,
and unfoIded quickIy in SeviIIe. At
the concIusion of the exposition, it
couId be taken down promptIy, re-
foIded, transported, and unfoIded
again on other sites.
ZaIewski was seIected to design the
frame of this structure because of
his work on depIoyabIe structures at
MIT and his ongoing participation in
the design community of VenezueIa.
CoIIaborators on this project incIud-
ed architects Henrique and CarIos
Hernandez, the Iatter of whom aIso
coIIaborated as structuraI engineer,
with supporting work by IDEC (Insti-
tuto de DesarroIIo ExperimentaI de
Ia Construccion). There were many
coIIaborators who designed speciaI
artistic eIements.
Sev|||e
Fov|||on
An early concept sketch shows the
mechanical principle of the roof.
n this connection detail, the folded position is shown with light lines, and the unfolded position with heavy
ones; all components are made of aluminum.
A view of the completed pavilion shows the
deployed roof trusses.
A section sketch shows how the trusses relate to the auditorium space inside. The trusses were lifted in their folded position.

The roof is unfolded with the aid of an auxiliary

beam.
The trusses lie side by side when the roof
is in its folded position.
This interior view shows the auditorium
lobby and the sloping trusses over the entry.
The unfolded truss is tilted into place. The fully deployed roof is anchored to the
foundations.
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After moving from PoIand to Venezu-
eIa in 1962, ZaIewski worked for the
VenezueIan Department of PubIic
Works. In this capacity he designed
a number of civic structures, incIud-
ing severaI dramatic encIosures for
athIetic faciIities. These sport arenas
encIose coIumn-free spaces over 80
meters (260 feet) wide.
The exampIe shown here, at Bar-
ceIona, VenezueIa, designed in
coIIaboration with AdoIfo Pea, is
spanned by steeI cabIes that stretch
from a quadripod - four Iarge rein-
forced concrete compression struts
- to curved perimeter edges, aIso
of reinforced concrete. The paraIIeI
Ioadbearing cabIes are stiffened by
secondary cabIes of opposite cur-
vature that wrap over them and ex-
ert a downward puII.
The arena is naturaIIy ventiIated by
convection currents that enter at
Iow perimeter openings and exit at a
Iarge roof cap vent at the apex of the
quadripod. The roof deck was cre-
ated by rst attaching simpIe sheet
metaI pans to the secondary cabIes,
then pIacing insuIating foam paneIs
in the pans before instaIIing steeI
reinforcing fabric and pouring con-
crete over the entire roof.
Venezue|on
Areno
Successive roof deck sections show the
installation sequence of metal pans, foam
insulation, and concrete fll.
An elevation drawing shows the curvature of the main cables and the secondary cables that wrap over them.
The roof plan shows the X of four compression struts, the curved perimeter edges, and the parallel
loadbearing cables.
The completed hall, over 80m wide, has a
fnished ceiling formed by the metal pans.
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This diverse series of buiIdings, of
which onIy a sampIing is presented
here, expIored the repetitive use
of thin concrete sheIIs as roofs
for industriaI buiIdings. Once the
overhead crane raiIs were con-
structed on the beams spanning
between the coIumns, they became
tracks that aIIowed a singIe, wheeIed
moduIe of formwork to be used
to form one sheII. This was then
Iowered, moved down the raiIs,
raised, and used anew for the next
sheII.
The sheIIs' funicuIar forms aIIowed
them to act IargeIy in compression,
which minimized the voIume of
concrete used for the vauIts and gave
an overaII feeIing of Iightness to the
roof. Large cIerestory windows are
featured in aII the variant designs.
They admit generous quantities of
north Iight to provide even, diffuse
iIIumination within.
She|| koo|s
|or Foctor|es
A diagram of a double-curved surface, a
portion of which was used as a roof shell.
All the shells feature generous daylighting by
means of large clerestory windows.
An exterior urban view of the shells whose
interior is shown above.
The extreme depth of the trusses used to support the formwork kept member forces very low and allowed the
use of small, economical sections for the members.

The north-facing crescents of glass make up a

compelling rhythm.
This sectional diagram, for the variant with Y-shaped columns, shows the relationship of the fnal poured concrete shells (left) shown with their actual poured
thickness, to the temporary formwork and bracing (right) which can be reused in the construction of successive shells.
The Y-shaped columns are a prominent feature
of the interior space of the factory.
The clerestory windows are framed with thin
steel mullions.
This computational rendering shows the effect
of the repeated clerestory windows.
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The Super Sam buiIding in centraI
Warsaw houses two supermarket
seIf-service food areas ("sam"
means "seIf" in PoIish) that ank
storage and preparation areas in
the center. The probIem addressed
in the structuraI soIution for this
prominent urban site was to create
a "signature" roof that wouId aIso
express the tripartite conguration
of interior spaces.
A hanging roof was favored from the
start of the design process. However,
this design wouId ordinariIy require
sIoping cabIe backstays that wouId
consume vaIuabIe Iand area and,
because of their outdoor, ground
IeveI exposure and smaII cross-
section, couId be particuIarIy
vuInerabIe to catastrophic damage
caused by vehicuIar coIIisions or
vandaIism. Through progressive
design iterations, a soIution was
deveIoped that eIiminates backstays
by aIternating cabIes and arches
of simiIar curvature. The outward
component of arch thrust exactIy
baIances the inward component of
cabIe puII at each end, Ieaving onIy
the verticaI components of these
forces to be supported by coIumns.
The steeI angIe components of the
roof were fabricated in pieces 3
meters (10 feet) wide so that they
couId be transported through the
city streets.
The aIternation of cabIes and arches
produces a pIeasingIy rich, pIeated
form for the roof. Inside the market,
the roof structure is covered with
wood sIats that visuaIIy reinforce
the pIeated geometry. CoIIaborators
on the project were architect Maciej
Krasinski and engineers Andrzej
Zrawski, AIeksander WIodarz, and
StanisIaw Ku .
Super Som
An aerial construction view shows the site
within central Warsaw.
A wood slat ceiling reveals the form of the roof
inside the market.
The completed roof displays the forms of the
arches and cables as a ffth facade.
How the structural concept developed: a. Separate cable roofs for the two sections would require four sets of backstays. b. A single cable span eliminates
interior backstays. c. Struts alternating with cables eliminates all backstays. d. Replacement of struts with arches balances horizontal components of force.
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Steel bipods resist differences in cable tensions

caused by asymmetrical wind or snow loads.
The columns taper toward the bottom, allowing
them to fex with small roof movements.
The dimensions of the roof are shown in centimeters on this plan, which also shows the unequal
proportions of the shopping areas on either side of the central storage zone.
Zalewski created these notes on the design of
Super Sam for his MT classes.
This construction view shows the alternation of
cables and arches.
The roof terminates with a cable rather than an
arch at each side for a more unifed appearance.
To protect them from weather, cables were
grouted into channels created by paired steel angles.

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This buiIding for a Jesuit Lyceum
(high schooI) in VaIencia, VenezueIa,
was designed in coIIaboration with
architects Iaki Zubizarreta and
FeIipe Montemayor and engineer
Jos AdoIfo Pea. It incIudes the
further deveIopment of precast
concrete capitaIs for the oors, and
precast concrete roof vauIts. This
combined strategy capitaIized on
the need for the oor spans to have
at-topped sIabs whiIe the roofs had
sIoping surfaces to shed water.
Taking advantage of the Iight oor
Ioading for schooIs, ZaIewski
designed a sIender cruciform coIumn
capitaI that Iies within the thickness
of the oor structure. The capitaI
and oor sIabs are designed on a
two-meter grid with eight meters (26
ft.) between coIumns. The coIumns
are square with chamfered corners.
Roof vauIts are precast in four
identicaI segments per bay. The
ocuIus at the top of each vauIt is
sheItered with a cap that permits
free airow but excIudes rain. The
schooI, which has no windows, is
naturaIIy ventiIated by convection
currents that rise through the vauIts
and out each ocuIus. At the perimeter
of the roof, saddIe-shaped vauIts
provide scuppers at their Iow points
to drain water from the integraI
gutters between the Iines of vauIts.
Schoo| |n
Vo|enc|o
This explanatory diagram shows tensile
and compressive forces in the roof vaults.
A canopy shelters each oculus
but allows free convective airfow.
The precast roof vault elements are as thin as 4
cm. (1.6 inches) in places.
Each vault is made up of four identical precast
segments.
The foor capitals appear delicate. A view of the central courtyard features the
scalloped edges of the roof.
At the entrance, the multilevel nature of the
building is revealed, together with the vaulted roof.
This photograph of the uppermost foor was
taken before the canopy was installed.
The mode of assembly of the roof shells is
shown in this reproduction from the blueprints.
The forms of the shells are echoed by
the hills beyond.
The formwork for the roof vault segments includes pipes through which water is pumped to
separate the concrete from the form. These produce a ribbed pattern on the interior of the shells.
This exploded perspective by the architect shows
how components connect, from roof to foundation.
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Awarded by the metropoIitan govern-
ment of Pusan, South Korea through
a nationaI competition, this project,
the Keum Jung Sports Park and Sta-
dium, was designed by Kyu Sung
Woo Architects Inc. of Cambridge,
Massachusetts, with ZaIewski as
structuraI consuItant for the main
roof. The buiIding was constructed
as one of three major sport venues
buiIt for the 2002 Asian Games. The
site continues to serve as an athIetic
faciIity, community center, and park
for the surrounding Keum Jung area.
In particuIar, this 4000-seat gym-
nasium functions as both a sports
venue and as a haII for gatherings
and performances.
The structuraI soIution for the roof
is a three-dimensionaI truss that is
simiIar in proIe to a IenticuIar truss
of funicuIar proIe, tapering towards
brackets that connect to masonry
supports at the edge of the roof.
What appears to be a main girder
truss on the Iong axis of the buiId-
ing does not continue to any verti-
caI supports, but rather is a device
for connecting the shorter trusses
that carry the Ioad to the waIIs. This
shaping of the structure, combined
with the centraI and perimeter sky-
Iights, aIIows naturaI Iight to Iter
through the center and at the edge
of the roof, creating a dramatic iIIu-
sion of Ievitation.
Keum Jung
Sports Fork
Zalewski's early sketches show exploration
of several alternative roof structure schemes.
This view of the gymnasium demonstrates
the levitating effect of the perimeter skylights.
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The large inclined tubes carry the weight of the roof to the walls; two smaller tubes brace each
large tube laterally. The tubes midway between the large tubes are for roof drainage.
This axonometric drawing shows the form of the roof structure. The entire structure forms a lenticular shape,
which is highly effcient in supporting uniform loading conditions.
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WhiIe working and teaching in Ven-
ezueIa, ZaIewski's work attracted
the attention of CarIos RauI ViIIan-
ueva, one of the country's most re-
nowned architects. Three decades
earIier, ViIIanueva had designed the
originaI art museum in a cIassicaI
styIe. Now he was designing exten-
sions to the museum, incIuding this
wing for modern art and scuIpture.
He asked ZaIewski to deveIop an
innovative, scuIpturaI oor system
for this ve-story buiIding, one that
couId be exposed to view.
The primary chaIIenge was to pro-
vide 450 square meters of oor space
on each IeveI with the capacity to
support heavy scuIptures weighing
severaI tons, whiIe not distracting
from the scuIptures or creating a
strong directionaIity. ZaIewski's so-
Iution satised these requirements
and aIso enabIed the oor system
to be exposed without a faIse ceiI-
ing. Visitors from the buiIding and
design trades throughout Venezu-
eIa ocked to the project during its
construction in the Iate 1960s and
earIy 1970s, noting its efciency,
eIegance, and the way its post-ten-
sioning system made the assembIed
kit of parts abIe to act as a monoIith-
ic structure. Here ZaIewski's earIy
expIorations of precast capitaIs for
industriaI uses informed this archi-
tecturaI work which was compIeted
and opened in 1973.
The structure is made up of three
components: a precast concrete
sIab eIement on top, a star-shaped
concrete eIement in the middIe, and
an open rectanguIar pIate of con-
crete on the bottom. These were as-
sembIed on temporary supports and
grouted together. Then prestressing
cabIes were Iaid and tensioned and
a topping was poured. The system
acts as a space frame and presents
a pIeasing, coffered appearance as
seen from beIow.
Corocos Art
Museum
A model (ca.1967) of the main addition
(left) and the rest of the museum wings.
Steel formwork was used repeatedly to form all
the elements of the system.
n this view looking upward along the facade, exposed concrete boxes mark the anchorages
of the prestressing cables. The indentations of the slabs' edges express the manner in which
compressive forces radiate from the anchorages.
This interior view of an upper-level gallery shows the coffered ceiling and narrow slit windows offering views
out above the surrounding foliage.
Workers assemble reinforcing for the structural elements.
Workers install a foor panel.

A component being hoisted during

construction.
The cable anchorages are strong visual
elements in the facade of the building.
This plan shows the layout of the foor panels and the
prestressing cables that relate to the irregular cantilevers.
Zalewski's proposal for details of the
reinforced precast concrete capitals.
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This buiIding was constructed at the
campus of the university (Universi-
dad de Los Andes) in Merida, Ven-
ezueIa where ZaIewski taught from
1962- 1963. The buiIding was de-
signed in coIIaboration with archi-
tect Jos AdoIfo Pea, and housed
the Department of Forestry Engi-
neering. It constitutes another step
in ZaIewski's Iong deveIopment of
precast concrete coIumn capitaIs.
In this case, the architecturaI con-
cept required a sIab with a recti-
Iinear grid of beams to faciIitate a
moduIar system of partition paneIs.
The capitaIs, which Iie entireIy be-
neath the sIabs, have Iong arms that
reach out to become part of the grid
at their extremities. The cruciform
coIumns are shaped to accept waII
paneIs on their indented faces.
This system was far Iighter and
spanned wider bays than the earIier
capitaI designs, because the insti-
tution's academic spaces had oor
Ioadings far Iower than those in the
industriaI factories and warehouses
in PoIand. CapitaIs in the Iower coI-
umns within muItistory spaces are
shorn of their arms where they are
not carrying oor Ioads. This trunca-
tion articuIates the versatiIity of the
system and its potentiaI for encIos-
ing muItistory spaces with the same
Iimited number of discrete oor, coI-
umn, and capitaI eIements.
bn|vers|ty
8u||d|ng |n
Mer|do
sonometric, section, and partial plan views
show the prefabricated capital with curved arms.
The upper lobby shows effects of refected and
diffused light on the underside of the coffered slab.
A detailed section through a typical capital
reveals its reinforcing pattern.
The section and plan drawings for a typical bay demonstrate how the three componentsslabs, capitals, and
columnswork together to create a foor structure.
The lower lobby features truncated columns that
support full columns for the foor above.
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With the upper story columns in place, the next
level is ready to be formed and concreted.
Reusable steel forms produced precisely
detailed capitals.
This construction view shows the two-story columns that are without arms on the lower level.
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This system for efcient construction
of concrete buiIdings consists of four
discrete types of eIements, aII of them
precast on the buiIding site: a tapered
coIumn; two oor sIab components,
one hexagonaI and one square; and
the "capitaI" component, which serves
to transfer Ioads from the oor to the
coIumns. The arms of the capitaI de-
crease the effective Iength of each of
the spans in this two-way system and
faciIitate intentionaI omission of indi-
viduaI oor components to create cir-
cuIation shafts, atria, and other muI-
tistory spaces. After aII the precast
eIements are in pIace, post-tensioning
cabIes are Iaid on top of the oor sur-
face. These run in both the principaI
directions of the buiIding and in par-
aIIeI pairs, one cabIe on either side of
the bases of the coIumns. Then a con-
crete topping is poured over the ca-
bIes and precast pieces to create the
nished oor. After this topping has
cured, the post-tensioning cabIes are
stressed, causing the nished buiId-
ing to behave as a monoIithic whoIe.
This system might be envisioned as
a modern reinterpretation, in precast
concrete, of stone cross-vauIting tech-
niques pioneered by ancient and me-
dievaI masons. The proIe of the as-
sembIed arms and sIabs is a funicuIar
arch, and the horizontaI component of
the arch thrust is resisted by the post-
tensioned cabIes. A number of vari-
ants of this system were produced in
a process of deveIopment that sought
to make the proIe of the structure
express more eIegantIy the arch-Iike
structuraI behavior, and to simpIify the
formwork and detaiIs. Most of the buiIt
exampIes in PoIand were for industriaI
storage, but the system was aIso ex-
tended to far more expressive appIica-
tions incIuding ofce and apartment
towers and other buiIdings for human
occupation. BuiIdings of many types
continued to be constructed with this
system even after ZaIewski Ieft Po-
Iand. This generaI type of system aIso
became a precedent he drew upon and
revised for other appIications in Ven-
ezueIa incIuding those in this exhibit
from Caracas, Merida, and VaIencia.
Cop|to|
System
Each foorplate component had internal
reinforcing bars.
The construction process required allowances for tolerances and assembly; the post-tensioning cables under
the fnal pour of the concrete slab for the fnished foor made the system monolithic and flled tolerance gaps.
Omitting hexagonal panels
allows for multistory utility shafts.
The columns were prepared for upper foors.
Typical partial plan.
Square and hexagonal foor panels,
and cruciform capitals were cast on site.
This construction view shows potential panel
enclosure systems.
Elevation showing exposed concrete capitals
and foor components at facade edge
Precast elements were guided down onto
columns within the constrained site context.
Construction drawings were published in
engineering trade journals.
This computational rendering shows the spatial
potential of multistory voids.