Architectural Structures

The book Architectural Structures summarises the long-standing teaching and professional experience of Jaroslav Drápal (1934-2023) at the Faculty of Architecture, Brno University of Technology. Inspired by the method of the German engineer and architect Kurt Siegle from 1960, he developed his own approach to teaching the principles of load-bearing structures using models made of paper, fabric or textile fibres. His method soon became well-known not only in Brno, but at all architecture schools in the country. Jaroslav Drápal was one of the most popular lecturers at the Brno faculty, whose students included the successful architects Petr Uhlíř, Aleš Burian and many others. Exhibitions of architectural structure models based on Drápal’s method continue to garner a very positive response for the Brno faculty to this day. This publication provides its readers with an initial orientation in the process of architectural design, as well as reference points upon which the process of architectural creation can be based in practice. It also reflects on the role of building structural models in the training and education of young architects, who, through their models as early as their first year of study, learn to discover the joy of creation, the exploration of the unknown, and a love of architecture.