NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN AND THE CONSTRUCTIVE AESTHETICS OF THE VILANOVA ARTIGAS BUILDING – FAU-USP

Resumo

The University of São Paulo Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU / USP) building
project is authored by and named after the architect Vilanovas Artigas and stands out for the constructive
rationality, the spatial richness and the didactic aspect with which the building elements are shown for
the users of the building, predominantly architecture students. The project dates from 1961, while the
execution took place in the period from 1966 to 1969. The constructed area is 18.600m2 and the total
high is of 16 meters. The building follows a structural modulation of 11x11 meters, having a total of
110x66 meters. Externally the building is characterized by a rectangular volume, suspended from the
floor, supported by sculptural pillars. Internally it is as if it were two volumes of four decks separated
by a central void. A single concrete roof with 960 domes unifies both volumes. In contrast to the sobriety
and uniqueness of the external form, the internal spatiality is very dynamic, as a result of the game of
advances and retreats of the slabs on the central void, the alternation of openings and closures and the
generosity of the spaces of circulation. Reinforced concrete was the building technique adopted in
almost all of the building, not only in the foundations, beams and pillars, but also in the roof and in most
of the walls. Among the elements of greater prominence in the work are the external pillars that,
positioned outside the structural modulation, have a sculptural form, distinguishing themselves from the
other internal pillars. The objective of the present study is to understand the efforts to which the structure
is subject by means of computational tools such as the SAP 2000 software, verifying the constructive,
aesthetic and didactic justifications of the structural solution and highlighting the importance of the
structural system adopted for the result architectural.