page_title: Structural art
section_title: Contrast with architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Structural art / Contrast with architecture
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: St. Louis am Mississippi River mit dem Jefferson National Expansion Memorial bei Nacht. English: St. Louis on the Mississippi river by night. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial aka. Gateway Arch and Old Courthouse are visible. Español: La ciudad de San Luis de noche. El Arco Gateway y el viejo palacio de justicia son visible. Français&#160;: la ville de Saint-Louis vue de nuit. Le Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Gateway Arch) et l'ancien tribunal sont visibles. Polski: St. Louis i rzeka Mississippi nocą. Widoczne Jefferson National Expansion Memorial i stary budynek sądu. Română: Oraşul St. Louis aflat pe cursul râului Mississippi, noaptea. Memorialul Jefferson National Expansion cunoscut şi ca Gateway Arch şi clădirea vechiului tribunal sunt de asemenea vizibile. Русский: Река Миссисипи и мемориал Врата Запада в Сент-Луисе ночью. This image was created with Hugin
context_page_description: Certain works of structural engineering design are also works of structural art. Such works can be classified as structural art when they attain excellence in the three areas of efficiency, economy, and elegance, as defined by Prof. David P. Billington of Princeton University. A key part of the concept of structural art is that the structural engineer making the design must exercise his or her creativity and playfulness to create an elegant structure within the constraints imposed by engineering requirements. These constraints include the safety and serviceability of the structure. Therefore, a structure cannot be a successful work of structural art without also being a successful work of structural engineering design, yet many works of structural engineering design that are safe and serviceable do not rise to the level of structural art because they fail to be economical, efficient, or elegant.
context_section_description: Structural art is distinct from architecture primarily in that the constraints under which structural artists practice are very different from those under which architects practice.  Structural artists, while seeking elegance, must satisfy safety and serviceability, efficiency and economy, and usage needs.  Architects are somewhat freer in making designs, constrained primarily by usage needs.
  Eero Saarinen's Gateway Arch and the Eiffel Tower provide a contrast that illustrates the difference between structural art and architecture.  The Gateway arch is widely thought to be a highly successful work of architecture, and the Eiffel Tower is recognized as a work of structural art.  Both structures must primarily resist wind loads yet have very different forms.  The Eiffel Tower has been shown to be the near optimal form for resisting wind loads, and therefore is more in line with the ideals of structural art than architecture.  The Gateway Arch succeeds as a work of architecture and does not meet the ideals of efficiency and economy.
caption: Gateway Arch, a successful work of architecture
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