Long-Span Buildings That Defy Gravity


Teshima Art Museum / Ryue Nishizawa. Photo: © Iwan Baan

Teshima Art Museum / Ryue Nishizawa. Photo: © Iwan Baan

In architecture, ‘span’ is the term given to the length of a structural component that extends between two supports, or the continuous space created between two pillars of a building structure, and when we think of this element, one cannot help recalling classics such as Lina Bo Bardi’s MASP, Álvaro Siza’s Expo’98 Portuguese National Pavilion, and the Roman Pantheon. However, there are several other buildings with this feature, and recent projects have been using innovative and bold structures to create even more unexpected designs.

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