Which laws of nature set us limits?
What laws of nature set our limits?
Natural laws are rules that are derived from observation and cannot be influenced by humans. The laws of nature and their consequences form the basis of our lives, they are a prerequisite for everything and provide a framework for it.
The builders of the pyramids and Stonehenge also had to overcome a number of challenges; inertia, mass and gravity resulted in weight, which, together with the strength of the building materials, probably played a paramount role in the art of construction. The formal language of antiquity often abstracts the load-bearing function of building components and makes it visible. The confrontation with this problem and the resulting realisation in space and volume still determine architecture today.
Other key parameters include the conduction of heat, the permeability of radiation (heat, light), the transmission of sound, resistance to the diffusion of water vapour and impermeability to liquids.
The manifold resulting effects require the use of specialists for complex tasks. They deal with them in various disciplines and make the resulting consequences plannable:
Statics: gravity, snow loads, wind and suction forces, earthquakes, earth pressure, material ageing, dynamic forces, deflection, moments and shear forces...
Cultural engineering: groundwater, rainwater, soil stability and permeability
Building physics: cold, summer overheating, sound, moisture, diffusion
Architect: combining aesthetics and engineering
Knowledge of the laws of physics enables us to understand and calculate interrelationships and also shows us the limits of what is feasible. From a positive point of view, it can be said that knowledge of the laws of nature opens up the scope for design that can be sensibly realised and makes expensive experiments on a large scale unnecessary.
