November 15, 1998

Two evolutionary ways to build strong constructions - The shell construction and the skeleton construction

The construction of a house can be compared to the creation of a body. When we study how God created bodies of animals and how architects designed constructions of houses, we can discover a striking resemblance.

When you make a house, or when God created a body, it is always necessary that such a house or body is constructed in strong ways. There are two fundamentally different solutions to this problem. Let us call the more simple solution the SHELL-CONSTRUCTION, and the second, more advanced solution the SKELETON-CONSTRUCTION.

The shell-construction is applied in the creation of, for example, mollusks. God put an external shell around the soft body of an animal. The strength of the construction is entirely in that of the shell of harder material on the outside. In architecture, that solution is chosen when a building is made with walls of concrete plates, or with walls of brickwork, or with walls made of wooden plates.

The skeleton-construction is applied in the creation of all animals having a skeleton inside of their bodies. This type of construction is also applied for buildings. For example, when a wooden skeleton is made, and afterward the walls are filled up with some material linking the skeleton.

Of course, when we study buildings, we can see that in many of them there was applied a mixture of these two construction methods.

The shell-construction is a more primitive solution to make a strong body. The skeleton-construction is more advanced, as it allows a maximum of creativity in the use of materials and forms for the building.

All animals which were created according to the principle of shell-construction share more or less the same form. Animals with skeletons could be created in a great variety of beautiful forms, allowing for even more functions to be fulfilled with such bodies.

When furniture is made, for example a table or a cabinet, the same two construction methods can be applied. A simple, but not so strong cabinet is made by linking together a number of wooden plates. Then that cabinet is finished. The form always is rather simple. The strength of the cabinet entirely depends on the material of the plates, and of the connections between the plates.

When a cabinet is made by first making a strong skeleton, in many possible forms, then that cabinet can be finished using a great variety of materials. Such cabinets are always strong, and can be made in very beautiful ways.

When the skeleton-construction is used for houses, then we have many advantages:

1. Strong basic construction

2. A great variety of construction designs is possible

3. A large choice for "fill-up materials"

4. Possibility to finish the building in many creative forms

5. Allows people to have a big part in building their own house.

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