A NEW METHOD FOR THE DESIGN OF TALL BUILDINGS - THE MIT DESIGN METHOD

A new method for the design of tall and super-tall buildings is presen ted in this paper. The method is based on transforming the stiffness p roperties of the building to equivalent beam properties. The equivalen t beam is allowed to deform both in bending and shear to capture the t rue behavior of the building. The method is a stiffness based approach that later requires checks for strength. This is quite appropriate si nce the design of tall and super-tall buildings is governed by stiffne ss and not by strength. Knowing the load and assuming a desired shape of the beam, the required shear and bending rigidities of the beam can be calculated. The method is robust and easy to apply, and is particu larly suited for space truss systems. The simplicity and efficiency of the method are illustrated with an example.