IASS - International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures News & Events

Sad News: Death of Past IASS President Stefan J. Medwadowski

John ABEL — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:22:05 GMT

On March 30, Stefan J. Medwadowski died at the age of 102. He was President of IASS 1991-2000, a Torroja Medalist 1991 and an Honorary Member 2001. He was a long-time member of the Executive Council, including a few terms as Vice President, several years as Editor of the Journal of the IASS and Chair of Working Group 5 on Concrete Shells.

The IASS celebrated aspects of his life, career, structural designs and contributions to the Association in a paper published at the conclusion of his presidency: J.F. Abel, "Structures by Stefan J. Medwadowski," Journal of the IASS, Vol. 41 (2000) No. 3 December n.134, pp. 137-146.

A memorial statement will appear in a future issue of the journal.

Balloting for the annual EC Elections and General Assembly Referendum is open

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 20:04:57 GMT

Now, balloting for the annual EC Elections and Referendum is open on the Association website

from March 16 (00:00 CET) through April 15 (24:00 CET), 2026

After logging in, select MEMBER TOOLS from the top menu and then BALLOTING.

Only Individual, Honorary, Senior, Collective Members and Chapter Representatives are eligible to vote.

The following membership levels are not eligible to vote: Student, Awardee, Chapter affiliates, Collective affiliates

IASS 2026 NEW Deadlines and Other Updates

John ABEL — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 23:16:42 GMT

Please find below some important updates regarding the upcoming IASS Symposium – IWSS 2026 Joint Conference (all listed updates can be found in the NEWS section of the IASS-IWSS 2026 HomePage https://www.iass-iwss2026.org/):

Extension of abstract submission deadlines

Due to numerous requests, we are pleased to announce an extension of the abstract submission deadlines:

- Abstract Submission for Hangai Prize – NEW Deadline: 28 February 2026

- Abstract Submission for Regular Papers – NEW Deadline: 15 March 2026
Please note that the full paper submission deadline for Regular Papers will be updated accordingly. However, the Hangai Prize full paper deadline will remain unchanged, in compliance with the award process regulations.

Alignment of Pavilion Proposal deadline

We have also aligned the Pavilion Proposal deadline:

- Pavilion Proposal – NEW Deadline: 15 March 2026

Symposium Registration Fees

Registration fees are available on IASS-IWSS 2026 Website (Detailed information about the registration procedure will follow)

Workshop Proposals

All accepted Workshop Proposals have been published on IASS-IWSS 2026 Website (Information regarding the Workshop registration process will follow)

Paper Templates

All paper templates can be downloaded from the IASS-IWSS 2026 Website (Information regarding the paper submission process will follow.)

Please remember that, following abstract acceptance, submission of the full paper is mandatory to participate in the Hangai Prize, Nervi Prize, and Tsuboi Award. Full papers must be submitted by updating the original EasyChair submission, in accordance with the specific instructions that will be provided on a dedicated webpage.

Kindly note: To be included in the final programme and proceedings, at least one author per paper must register and complete payment of the registration fee.

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 66 (2025) No. 4, December n. 226

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 18:23:27 GMT

For IASS members, access to the PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue will be available soon on the Ingenta website in the usual form.
The issue includes the Annual Letter from the President, Tsuboi Proceedings Award Paper for 2024, four Hangai Prize Papers for 2025, one technical paper, a list of reviewers of papers in 2025, and announcements of upcoming events.

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 66 (2025) No. 3, September n. 225

John ABEL — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 18:10:08 GMT

Sad News: Death of Torroja Medalist R. Sundaram

John ABEL — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 00:30:04 GMT

The IASS has received sad news of the death of Torroja Medalist R. Sundaram on December 20, 2025 at age 90. He was an architect who lead his firm in Bengaluru (also called Bangalore), India in the design of thin concrete shells and many other projects. Some of his shell designs are described in the IASS Jubilee Book, "Fifty Years of Progress for Shell and Spatial Structures" (2011). A memorial statement will be published in a future issue of the Journal of the IASS.

Gentilini Award call is open

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 09:31:02 GMT

The ing. Lino Gentilini Foundation, in cooperation with the University of Roma Tor Vergata, announces two awards for master’s theses and doctoral dissertations focused on the history of structural engineering.

The 2025 Lino Gentilini award is held under the patronage of AITEC, Federbeton, ANAI, and the Ordine degli Ingegneri della Provincia di Trento.

The call has just been opened. If you have a student or PhD student who is eligible to apply, please encourage him/her to do that.

All necessary information can be found at the link:
https://www.fondazionegentilini.it/language/en/award/2025/

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 66 (2025) No. 1, March n. 223

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Mon, 05 May 2025 17:50:21 GMT

Registration for the Frei Otto 100 symposium is now open

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 23:45:41 GMT

It is now possible to register for the Frei Otto 100 symposium using the following link:
https://www.freiotto100.de/

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 65 (2024) No. 4, December n. 222

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 13:00:56 GMT

For IASS members, access to the PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue will be available soon on the Ingenta website in the usual form.
The issue includes the Letter from the President, the Tsuboi Proceedings Award Paper for 2023, three Hangai Prize Papers for 2024 and two technical papers.

Michael Balz, Honorary Member of the IASS has passed away

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 21:48:33 GMT

Michael Balz, designer of many outstanding projects especially shells and urban space structures for dense city-agglomerations has passed away.
Michael Balz was a former member of the IASS Executive Council (1994-1996 and 2001-2009) and Advisory Board (since 2010), and was awarded the IASS Honorary Membership in 2023.

A memorial statement will appear soon.

The Zurich Symposium video recordings are available now

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 21:10:40 GMT

The organizers share video and photo materials from the Zurich Symposium.

Keynote recordings can be found at this link.

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 65 (2024) No. 3, September n. 221

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:30:00 GMT

For IASS members, access to the PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue will be available soon on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

The issue includes 4 technical papers.

Torroja Medalist Hoshyar Nooshin has passed away

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 22:36:35 GMT

Professor Hoshyar Nooshin, a legend of spatial structures, long-time Spatial Structures Research Centre Director, founder of the International Journal of Space Structures, and designer of many outstanding projects passed away on October 4, 2024. Professor Nooshin was a former member of the IASS Executive Council (1994-2002) and Advisory Board (2003-2008) and was awarded the Torroja Medal in 2018.

A memorial statement will appear in a future issue of the Journal of the IASS.

Hangai Prize Papers for 2024

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 22:32:05 GMT

At the Awards Conferral Ceremony of the 2024 Annual Symposium, the 22nd Hangai Prizes were conferred to the following winners, who all later presented their papers at the symposium:

Elena SHILOVA (UK): “A Framework for Parametric Structural Design of Topological Interlocking Flat Vaults”
Guusje UBACHS (UK): "Walking on eggshells: innovative methods to justify reuse of a historic thin shell roof at Smithfield Poultry Marke"
Hiroki AWAJI (Japan): “Verification of Flexible Cable-net Formwork Method for GFRC Panel Manufacturing Using Structural and Physical Optimization”
Seri NISHIMOTO (Japan): “Transformable Surface Mechanisms based on Bending-active Scissors Structures”

Their papers will not only appear in the Proceedings of the 2024 Symposium but will also be published in the December 2024 issue of the Journal of the IASS.

In addition to their medals and other benefits, each of the winners will receive one dues-free year of IASS membership. (This award of one-year dues-free membership accrues also to each of the non-winning entrants into the Hangai Prize competition who presented their papers at the 2024 Annual Symposium.)

Tsuboi Awards for 2023 Conferred in 2024

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 22:29:19 GMT

At the Awards Conferral Ceremony of the 2024 Annual Symposium, the 2023 Tsuboi Awards were conferred to the following winners:

For the best Journal paper of 2023: Luis BORUNDA, Jesús ANAYA, “Hierarchical Structures Computational Design and Digital 3D Printing”, Journal of the IASS, Vol. 64 (2023) No. 1 March n. 215, pp. 5-18.

For the best Proceedings paper for 2023: Munkyun LEE, Tomohiro TACHI, “Design and evaluation of compliant hinges for deployable thick origami structures”, Proceedings of the 2023 IASS Symposium, Melbourne, Australia, Paper 867, Session 17.

The best Proceedings paper will be published in the December 2024 issue of the Journal of the IASS.

Honors Conferred at the 2024 IASS Annual Symposium

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 22:27:41 GMT

At the IASS Annual Symposium held in Zurich, Switzerland, the following distinguished honors were formally conferred:

IASS Honorary Membership for David M. Campbell (USA)

Distinguished IASS Member Honored by Vote of the Executive Council

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 22:25:35 GMT

At the annual meeting of the IASS Executive Council held on 25 August 2024, the following honor was approved and announced for conferral at the 2025 Annual Symposium in Mexico City, Mexico:

IASS Honorary Membership for Juan Gerardo Oliva Salinas (Mexico)

2024 Annual Elections to the IASS Executive Council

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 22:19:00 GMT

The annual Executive Council meeting was held on Sunday, August 25, one day before the start of the 2024 Annual Symposium in Zurich.

The Executive Council approved the results of the annual election by the membership for renewal of one-third of the IASS Executive Council and seated the following for 3-year terms:

Jianguo CAI (newly elected)
Su-Duo XUE (re-elected)
Philippe BLOCK (re-elected)
Caitlin MUELLER (re-elected)
Olivier BAVEREL (re-elected)
Olga POPOVIC-LARSEN (re-elected)

In addition, at the meeting, the EC co-opted the following to 3-year terms:

Stefano GABRIELE (Chair of the Organizing Committee of the IASS 2026 Symposium in Turin)
Marisela MENDOZA (Chair of the Working Group 17)

And the following former EC members were elected to the Advisory Board:

Alireza BEHNEJAD (Co-Chair of Working Group 20)
Annette BOEGLE

Cancellation of SLTE VIII

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 07:51:22 GMT

The SLTE VIII – VIII Latin American Symposium on Tensile Structures, scheduled on October 14-16, 2024 in Buenos Aires has been canceled. More info on the event's website:

https://www.latensored.org/slte-viii-buenos-aires-argentina-2024/

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 65 (2024) No. 1, March n. 219

John ABEL — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 22:23:35 GMT

For IASS members, access to the PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue will be available soon on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

The issue includes 6 technical papers.

Full access to the Proceedings of IASS Symposia now available to all

John ABEL — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 20:03:56 GMT

According to a resolution approved by the IASS Executive Council, the Proceedings of IASS Symposia are now freely available to all users, regardless of their membership status.

As of April 2, all articles on the Ingenta Connect website that archives the accumulated proceedings since 2013 are marked as fully free access. This allows anyone to view and print the articles they select.

Balloting for the annual Executive Council Election 2024, and General Assembly Referendum 2023 is open!

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 21:22:33 GMT

Now, balloting for the IASS Executive Council Elections 2024, and General Assembly Referendum 2023 is open on the Association website

from March 21 (00:00 CET) through April 20 (24:00 CET).

After logging in, select MEMBER TOOLS from the top menu and then BALLOTING.

Only Individual, Senior and Distinguished Members as well as Collective Representatives and Chapter Representatives are eligible to vote.

The following membership levels are not eligible to vote:
Student, Awardee, Chapter affiliates, Collective affiliates

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 64 (2023) No. 4, December n. 218

John ABEL — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 23:50:09 GMT

For IASS members, access to the PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue will be available soon on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

The issue includes the following:

The Annual Message by the President, Carlos Lázaro
A Memorial Statement for Avelino Samartín Quiroga (1939-2023), an esteemed professor of structures and an IASS Honorary Member
The Tsuboi Proceedings Award paper for 2022
The four Hangai Prize papers for 2023
One additional technical paper

The abstract submission deadline for IASS 2024 has been extended

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 12:05:28 GMT

The abstract submission deadline for IASS 2024 in Zurich has been extended. The new deadline for abstract submissions is now (end of day CEST) January 21st, 2024.
For more information about the symposium, visit the IASS 2024 website.

Honorary Member Avelino Samartin Quiroga has passed away

John ABEL — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 00:10:45 GMT

The IASS regrets to report the death of Honorary Member Avelino Samartin Quiroga in early October. He was until his retirement in 2011 a distinguished professor of structural mechanics at the Polytechnic University of Madrid and was active in the IASS starting in 1979, serving on the Executive Council for many years. He was Treasurer of the Association from 1991 to 2006. A memorial statement will appear in a future issue of the Journal of the IASS.

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 64 (2023) No. 3, September n. 217

John ABEL — Sat, 07 Oct 2023 00:23:49 GMT

For IASS members, access to the PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue will be available soon on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

The issue consists of 5 technical papers and an announcement of the new Working Group 22 on Architectural Geometry by the co-chairs.

Also included is a memorial statement for Narendra K. Srivastava (1937-2023), a distinguished professor of structures, former Vice President of the IASS and an IASS Honorary Member.

New Working Group 22 on Architectural Geometry is Formed

John ABEL — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 20:15:25 GMT

The Working Group 22 "Architectural Geometry" was approved during the IASS EC meeting held in Melbourne on July 9, 2023 and is being organized under the leadership of co-chairs Cyril DOUTHE (France), Toby MITCHELL (USA) and Eike SCHLING (Hong Kong). The working group pages have been set up on the IASS website and are under construction by the co-chairs. IASS members interested in joining WG 22 should contact the co-chairs or the Secretariat.

Hangai Prize Papers for 2023

John ABEL — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 22:20:50 GMT

At the Awards Conferral Ceremony of the 2023 Annual Symposium, the 21st Hangai Prizes were conferred to the following winners, who all later presented their papers at the symposium:

Zoe COOPERBAND (USA): "Towards Homological Methods in Graphic Statics"
Kentaro HAYAKAWA (Japan): "Panel-pin Model for Kinematic and Equilibrium Analysis of Rigid Origami"
Jonas WARMUTH (Germany): "Computational Conceptual Design –Typological Exploration of Spatial Truss Systems through Optimization"
Yiwei ZHANG (China): "Modular Design of Multistable Pneumatic Structures from a Flat Pattern of Air Pouches"

Their papers will not only appear in the Proceedings of the 2023 Symposium but will also be published in the December 2023 issue of the Journal of the IASS.

In addition to their medals and other benefits,each of the winners will receive one dues-free year of IASS membership. (This award of one-year dues-free membership accrues also to each of the non-winning entrants into the Hangai Prize competition who presented their papers at the 2023 Annual Symposium.)

Tsuboi Awards for 2022 Conferred in 2023

John ABEL — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 22:13:42 GMT

At the Awards Conferral Ceremony of the 2023 Annual Symposium, the 2022 Tsuboi Awards were conferred to the following winners:

For the best Journal paper of 2022, Gabriele MIRRA, Alberto PUGNALE, “Exploring a Design Space Of Shell and Tensile Structures Generated by AI from Historical Precedents,” Journal of the IASS, Vol. 63 (2022) No. 3 September n. 213, pp. 172-188.

For the best Proceedings paper for 2022: Lasse W. RAHBEK, Carsten R. TERP, Umberto ALIBRANDI, Poul H. KIRKEGAARD, “Stock optimization of naturally curved wood logs on freeform truss structures,” Proceedings of the 2022 IASS Symposium, Beijing, China, Paper 143, Session S03.

The best Proceedings paper will be published in the December 2023 issue of the Journal of the IASS.

Honors Conferred at the 2023 IASS Annual Symposium

John ABEL — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 22:01:56 GMT

At the IASS Annual Symposium held in Melbourne, Australia, the following distinguished honors were formally conferred:

Eduardo Torroja Medal for Matsuro SASAKI (Japan)
IASS Honorary Membership for Michael Valentin BALZ (Germany)
IASS Isler Prize for Janet ECHELMAN (USA)

The last is the first award of the recently established IASS Isler Prize described at https://iass-structures.org/Isler-Prize/.

Distinguished IASS Member Honored by Vote of the Executive Council

John ABEL — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 21:57:28 GMT

At the annual meeting of the IASS Executive Council held on 9 July 2023, the following honor was approved and announced for conferral at the 2024 Annual Symposium in Zurich, Switzerland:

IASS Honorary Membership for David M. CAMPBELL (USA)

2023 Annual Elections to the IASS Executive Council

John ABEL — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 03:52:49 GMT

The annual Executive Council meeting was held on Sunday, July 9, one day before the start of the 2023 Annual Symposium in Melbourne.

The Executive Council approved the results of the annual election by the membership for renewal of one third of the IASS Executive Council and seated the following for 3-year terms:

Sigrid ADRIAENSSENS (re-elected)
Kai-Uwe BLETZINGER (re-elected)
Tomohiro TACHI (re-elected)
Toru TAKEUCHI (re-elected)
Yi Min "Mike" XIE (previously co-opted)
Jinzhi WU (newly elected)

In addition, at the meeting, the EC co-opted the following to 3-year terms:

Emily BAKER (newly co-opted as Chair of the Communications Committee)
William BAKER (previously elected, now co-opted to break tie in election)

And the following former EC members were elected to the Advisory Board:

Niels De Temmerman (chair of Working Group 15)
Juan Gerardo OLIVA SALINAS (former Vice President and former Chair of the Membership Committee)

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 64 (2023) No. 2, June n. 216

John ABEL — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 02:25:44 GMT

For IASS members, access to the PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue will be available soon on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

This is a special issue prepared by IASS Working Group 8: Metal Spatial Structures with guest editors Toru Takeuchi, Su-Duo Xue and Shiro Kato and consisting of a preface and 12 technical papers.

Also included is a memorial statement for Horst Berger (1928-2019), a pioneering designer of fabric tension structures and an IASS Torroja Medalist.

Honorary Member Narendra K. ("N.K.") Srivastava has passed away

John ABEL — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 20:25:06 GMT

The IASS regrets to report the death of IASS Honorary Member N.K. Srivastava on April 21. He was an IASS member since the early 1970s, was a long-time member of the Executive Council 1990-2012, was Vice President 2003-2012, and was conferred Honorary Membership in 2014. His significant service to the Association included membership of the Editorial Committee since 1983, Scientific Chair and Organizer of the 1992 IASS Symposium in Toronto, Chair of TAC 1993-2003, and Chair of Honors & Awards 2006-2012. He was also IASS representative to SEWC and Vice President of the SEWC Board for many years.

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 64 (2023) No. 1, March n. 215

John ABEL — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 15:12:37 GMT

For IASS members, access to the PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue will be available soon on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

ICCT 2023 has been CANCELLED

John ABEL — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 00:26:26 GMT

The ICCT 2023 Conference, co-organized by IASS Working Group 3 and originally scheduled for October 2023 in Shanghai, has been cancelled by the local host and organizing committee.

Balloting for the IASS Executive Council Elections 2023, and General Assembly Referendum 2022 is open!

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 18:50:03 GMT

Now, balloting for the IASS Executive Council Elections 2023, and General Assembly Referendum 2022 is open on the Association website

from March 01 (00:00 CET) through March 31 (24:00 CET).

After logging in, select MEMBER TOOLS from the top menu and then BALLOTING.

Only Individual, Senior and Distinguished Members as well as Collective Representatives and Chapter Representatives are eligible to vote.

The following membership levels are not eligible to vote:
Student, Awardee, Chapter affiliates, Collective affiliates

Online access to Journal & Proceedings restored after interruption

John ABEL — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 21:05:31 GMT

Early this year, security enhancements to underlying software inadvertently interrupted the ability of IASS members to log into the Ingenta websites hosting issues of the Journal of the IASS and the Proceedings of Annual IASS Symposia. As of 10 February, this full online access for members has been restored through the "Publications Gateway for IASS Members" page of the website (but members already logged in may need to reload the page before selecting Ingenta access).

Torroja Medalist Horst Berger has passed away

John ABEL — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 15:59:04 GMT

Distinguished Member Horst Berger died in May 2019. Because no obituary was published, the IASS has only belatedly learned of Berger's passing. He was a well known contributor to the field of long-span tension and membrane structures, including the Hajj Terminal in Saudi Arabia and the roof the the Denver International Airport. His Wikipedia page is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_Berger. A memorial statement will appear in a future issue of the Journal of the IASS.

Honorary Member Tien T. Lan has passed away

John ABEL — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 16:32:55 GMT

The IASS is sad to announce the death of IASS Honorary Member Tien T. Lan at age 95 as communicated by Prof. Su-Duo Xue.

Professor Lan founded China Association for Spatial Structures. He devoted his life to the scientific research and engineering practice of spatial structures. He made a remarkable contribution to the development of China's spatial structures. He has also played an important role in academic exchanges of spatial structures between China and the IASS.

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 63 (2022) No. 3, September n. 213

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 16:02:16 GMT

For IASS members, access to the PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue will be available soon on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

IASS/APCS 2022 Symposium: Videos of Plenary Sessions Available Until the End of 2022

John ABEL — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 15:50:46 GMT

The Organizing Committee of the IASS/APCS 2022 Symposium have posted the videos of the plenary sessions online on the symposium website at http://www.iass2022.org.cn/Video.html. These include the 18 plenary lectures and the 4 Hangai Prize lectures as well as the opening ceremony, the IASS Technical Activities session, the IASS Award conferral session, the IASS Future Events session, and the closing ceremony. No login is necessary, so these videos are available until 31 December 2022 for any interested person to view.

Change of Name and New Co-Chairs of WG 3 and WG 5

John ABEL — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:43:42 GMT

Working Group 3

The IASS Executive Council approved the change of the name of WG 3 from “Technical Expert Group on Cooling and Solar Updraft Towers” to “Technical Expert Group on Shell Structures for Energy Supply” at the meeting held online on Sept. 16, 2022. Prof. Arndt Goldack (University of Wuppertal, Germany) and Prof. Lin Zhao (Tongji University Shanghai, China) have been appointed co-chairs of the group.

Working Group 5

The change of name of WG 5 from “Concrete Shell Roofs” to “Continuous Shells” was also approved at the EC meeting. Prof. Stefano Gabriele (Roma Tre University, Italy) has been appointed co-chair of this group.

Tsuboi Awards for 2021 Conferred in 2022

John ABEL — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 19:24:26 GMT

At the Awards Conferral Ceremony of the 2022 Annual Symposium, the 2021 Tsuboi Awards were conferred to the following winners:

For the best Journal paper of 2021, Mario SEIXAS, Luís EUSTA QUIO MOREIRA, Patrick STOFFEL, Joao BINA, “Form Finding and Analysis of an Active Bending-Pantographic Bamboo Space Structure,” Journal of the IASS, Vol. 62 (2021) No. 3 September n. 209, pp. 206-222.

For the best Proceedings paper for 2021: Christopher ROBELLER, Eduardo DE OLIVEIRA BARATA, Enrico Valentino TAGLIABOSCHI, Felix SCHMIDT-KLEESPIES, “HexBox Canopy: a segmented timber plate shell with hardwood wedge joints,” Proceedings of the 2020/21 IASS Symposium, Guilford, UK, Paper 646.

The best Proceedings paper will be published in the December 2022 issue of the Journal of the IASS.

Hangai Prize Winners for 2022

John ABEL — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 18:59:32 GMT

At the Awards Conferral Ceremony of the 2022 Annual Symposium, the 20th Hangai Prizes were conferred to the following winners, who all later presented their papers at the symposium:

Kazuki HAYASHI (Japan): "Assembly sequence optimization of spatial trusses using graph embedding and reinforcement learning"
Yao LU (USA): "A Method for Designing Multi-layer Sheet-Based Lightweight Funicular Structures"
Jiaming MA (Australia): "PrintNervi – Design and construction of a ribbed floor system in the digital era"
Kanata WARISAYA (Japan): "Freeform auxetic mechanisms based on corner-connected tiles"

Their papers will not only appear in the Proceedings of the 2022 Symposium but will also be published in the December 2022 issue of the Journal of the IASS.

Distinguished IASS Members Honored by Vote of the Executive Council

John ABEL — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 18:49:02 GMT

At the annual meeting of the IASS Executive Council held in virtual form on 16 September 2022, the following honors were approved and announced for conferral at the 2023 Annual Symposium in Melbourne, Australia:

Eduardo Torroja Medal for Matsuro SASAKI (Japan)

IASS Honorary Membership for Michael Valentin BALZ (Germany)

IASS Isler Prize for Janet ECHELMAN (USA)

IASS Officers Elected at Executive Council Meeting

John ABEL — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 18:40:19 GMT

At the IASS Executive Council meeting held in virtual form on 16 September 2022, the following officers were elected for three-year terms:

Ken'ichi KAWAGUCHI re-elected as Vice President
Makoto OHSAKI re-elected as Treasurer

In addition, Susana FERNÁNDEZ was named to replace Beatriz MATEO as Secretary of the Association. The Executive Council expressed its gratitude to Beatriz for her valuable efforts while in office for seven years.

Annual Elections to the IASS Executive Council

John ABEL — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 18:14:21 GMT

The annual Executive Council meeting was held this year in virtual form on 16 September 2022, just a few days before the Annual Symposium.

The Executive Council approved the results of the annual election for renewal of one third of the IASS Executive Council were elected for 3-year terms:

Charis GANTES (previously co-opted)
Ken'ichi KAWAGUCHI(re-elected)
Carlos LÁZARO (re-elected)
Makoto OHSAKI (re-elected)
Ruy Marcelo de Oliveira PAULETTI (re-elected)
Sergio PELLEGRINO (re-elected)

In addition, at the meeting, the ED co-opted the following to 3-year terms:

Caitlin MUELLER (previously elected)
Mogens NIELSEN (re-co-opted)

And the former EC member Andras FALK was elected to the Advisory Board.

ICCT/WG3 Conference in Shanghai Postponed to 2023 October 18-20

John ABEL — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 22:05:52 GMT

After careful consideration regarding the pandemic in China, the local host and the organizing committee decided to postpone the ICCT 2022 Conference to October 18-20, 2023, renaming it ICCT 2023. The new website homepage is www.icct2023.com and the event listing on the IASS website has been updated.

Recent updates from Structural Engineers World Congress (SEWC)

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Wed, 18 May 2022 10:13:03 GMT

SEWC Presidents
R. Sundaram (India) was the association’s president from 2007 to 2022. At the SEWC Board Zoom meeting on May 6th, 2022, Professor Akira Wada (Japan) was elected as the new SEWC President.

SEWC Congresses
The 8^th SEWC Congress to be held in Shanghai, China, in 2021, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic situation, was postponed to October 2022. Unfortunately, the conference was again delayed to the year 2025, and it will be the 9^th edition of the SEWC Conference. The SEWC South Korea Group will conduct the 8^th SEWC Congress in Seoul in 2023. The 10^th SEWC Congress will be organized in Wroclaw by the SEWC Poland Group in 2027.

SEWC Website
The current address of the SEWC website is suspended. A new SEWC website is under construction.

Abstract Submission for IASS 2022 Extended to End of March

John ABEL — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 22:50:03 GMT

The deadline for submission of abstracts for IASS/APCS 2022 has been extended from the original date of 31 January to 31 March. Note that this extension applies also to Hangai Prize applicants (see Hangai Prize Page).

For more information, see either the symposium website http://www.iass2022.org.cn/ or the appropriate entry in the Events page of this website.

IASS/APCS 2022 to be held in hybrid format

John ABEL — Sun, 20 Feb 2022 21:24:29 GMT

A decision has been made to hold the IASS/APCS 2022 Symposium in hybrid online and in-person format. All delegates from outside China should pay the online registration fee, and then pay the remaining fee if and when they have met the requirements and can enter in accordance with China's epidemic prevention regulations.

The earlybird registration deadline is 30 June 2022. See the symposium website http://www.iass2022.org.cn/ for full information about registration and the fee structure, including reduced fees for IASS members.

Tsuboi Award for 2020

John ABEL — Sun, 31 Oct 2021 19:10:50 GMT

At the 2021 Annual Symposium, the Tsuboi Award for the best paper in the Journal of the IASS in 2020 was conferred to:

Ch. Robeller and N. von Haaren (Germany): "Recycleshell: Wood-only Shell Structures Made From Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) Production Waste," J. IASS, Vol. 61 (2020) No. 2, n. 204 June, pp. 125-138.

There was only one award for 2020, because the Symposium award was not conferred since the 2020 symposium was postponed until 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hangai Prize Winners for 2021

John ABEL — Sun, 31 Oct 2021 18:59:35 GMT

The Hangai Prize Committee announced the winners of the 19th Hangai Prize, and their papers were presented at the 2021 Annual Symposium:

Ting-Uei Lee (Australia): "From ruled surfaces to elastica-ruled surfaces: New possibilities for creating architectural forms"

Kotaro Sempuku (Japan): "Self-folding rigid origami based on auxetic kirigami"

Xiuming Liu (China): "Study on thermal damage of large-span ice shell structure based on thermal-mechanical coupling"

Qian Zhang (China): "Programmable and reconfigurable surfaces with kirigami-inspired bistable elements"

The papers will be included in the December 2021 issue of the Journal of the IASS.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Distinguished IASS Members Honored by Vote of the Executive Council

John ABEL — Sun, 08 Aug 2021 17:13:59 GMT

At the annual meeting of the IASS Executive Council held in virtual form on 5 August 2021, the following honors were approved and announced:

Eduardo Torroja Medal for Past President Sergio PELLEGRINO, to be formally conferred at the 2022 Annual Symposium.

Honorary Memberships for the following:

José Manuel GÁLLIGO ESTEVEZ, to be conferred at the 2021 Symposium
Yeong-Bin YANG, to be conferred at the 2022 Symposium
John CHILTON, to be conferred at the 2022 Symposium

New IASS President and Other Officers Elected

John ABEL — Sun, 08 Aug 2021 17:00:28 GMT

At the Executive Council meeting held in virtual form on 5 August 2021, the following new officers of the Association were elected:

President for a three-year term: Carlos LÁZARO
Executive Vice President from the Administrative Organization: Pilar ALAEJOS GUTIÉRREZ
Vice President for a three-year term: Sigrid ADRIAENSSENS
Vice President for a two-year term to fill the position vacated by the election of the new President: Ruy Marcelo de Oliveira PAULETTI

Annual Elections to the IASS Executive Council

John ABEL — Sun, 08 Aug 2021 16:34:16 GMT

The annual Executive Council meeting was held this year in a virtual form on 5 August 2021.

The Executive Council approved the results of the annual election for renewal of one third of IASS Executive Council. The following members of the Executive Council were elected for 3-year terms:

Philippe BLOCK (re-elected)
Su-Duo XUE (re-elected)
Olga POPOVIC-LARSEN (re-elected)
Olivier BAVEREL (newly elected, formerly co-opted)
Alireza BEHNEJAD (re-elected)
Annette BÖGLE (re-elected)

In addition, at the meeting, the EC co-opted the following to 3-year terms:

Charis GANTES
Yi-Min (Mike) XIE

And the following former EC members were elected to the Advisory Board:

Alberto DOMINGO
José Manuel GÁLLIGO

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 62 (2021) No. 2, June n. 208

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 18:37:38 GMT

This is the special issue on “Computational Methods for Shell and Spatial Structures” prepared by WG13, and contains eight technical papers. Access to the PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue will be available soon on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 62 (2021) No. 1, March n. 207

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 20:48:40 GMT

The issue contains four technical papers and two book reviews. Access to the PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue will be available soon on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

Balloting for the annual Executive Council Election 2021 and General Assembly Referendum on 2020 Actions of EC is open!

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 13:38:28 GMT

Now, balloting for the annual EC Elections and Referendum is open on the Association website
from February 15 (00:00 CET) through March 14 (24:00 CET).

After logging in, select MEMBER TOOLS from the top menu and then BALLOTING.

Only Individual, Honorary and Senior members as well as Chapter and Collective representatives (bundle adminstrators) are eligible to vote.

The following membership levels are not eligible to vote:
Student, Awardee, Chapter affiliates, Collective affiliates

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 61 (2020) No. 4, December n. 206

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 20:54:56 GMT

The issue contains Tsuboi Award Proceedings Paper for 2019 and five awarded Hangai Prize 2020 Papers. Access to a PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. The issue is also available on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

Hangai Prize winners for 2020 announced

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 21:10:19 GMT

Hangai Prize Selection Committee announced the winners of the 2020 compettition. These are:

Yusuke Sakai (Japan): "Parametric study of non-periodic and hybrid auxetic bending-active gridshells"
Liesbeth I.W. Arnouts (Belgium): "Coupled sizing, shape and topology optimisation of bistable deployable structures"
Nicolas Montagne (France): "Voss surfaces: A design space for geodesic gridshells"
Cameron Millar (UK): "A graphical method for determining truss stability"
Diego Rivera (USA): "Adaptive framework for structural pattern optimization"

All five papers are to appear in the December issue of the IASS Journal. Awards will be conferred on winners during the 2021 Symposium in Surrey.

Congratulations to all awardees!

IASS 2020/2021 Abstract Submission Extended to 31 December

John ABEL — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 17:11:52 GMT

The Organizing Committee of IASS Annual Symposium 2020-21 has announced today that the deadline for the submission of abstracts has been extended from 30 November to 31 December but that there will be no further extensions.

You can find more information about how to submit your abstract at the symposium website. Please submit your abstracts soon!

Tsuboi Awards 2019 have been announced

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 21:35:44 GMT

The results of 2019 annual competition for the Tsuboi Award have been announced. There are two winners respectively in the categories of the best paper published in the Journal of the IASS in 2019 and the best paper published in the Proceedings of the 2019 IASS Symposium. These are:

The best paper published in the 2019 IASS Symposium Proceedings:

J. Lehrecke, J. P. Osman-Letelier, M. Schlaich (Germany)

Tendon Geometry Optimization Using Path Integrals

Proceedings of the 2019 IASS Symposium, Barcelona, Spain
Paper 441, Session CS – Form-finding and optimization VI

The best paper published in the Journal of the IASS in 2019:

M. Muñoz-Vidal, I. R. López César, J. B. Pérez-Valcárcel, F. Suárez Riestra (Spain)

A New Approach to Expandable Structures: Crossed Expandable Frames (X-Frames)

Journal of the IASS, Vol. 60 (2019), No. 4 December n. 202, pp. 294-305

Annual Elections to the IASS Executive Council

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 21:32:17 GMT

The annual Executive Council meeting was held this year in a virtual form on September 10, 2020.

The Executive Council approved the results of the annual election for renewal of one third of IASS Executive Council. The following members of the Executive Council were elected for 3-year terms:

Sigrid Adriaenssens (re-elected)
Kai-Uwe Bletzinger (re-elected)
Tomohiro Tachi (newly elected)
Toru Takeuchi (re-elected)
William Baker (newly elected)
Juan Gerardo Oliva Salinas (re-elected)

In addition, the EC co-opted the following two members for 3-year terms:

Ruy Marcelo Pauletti (newly co-opted)
Niels de Temmerman (re-co-opted)

At the EC meeting Carlos Lázaro has been re-elected as the IASS Vice President for a 3-year term.

Fast Track and Gold Route open access now available for J. IASS authors

John ABEL — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 20:47:10 GMT

Two new services are now available for authors of accepted articles for the Journal of the IASS:

Open Access: In addition to the Green Route previously available, authors may now access the Gold Route at a cost of 400 Euros to have their article appear on the Journal's IngentaConnect website as "open access" and available to all.

Fast Track: This no-cost option allows articles to be available on the Journal's IngentaConnect website before its actual publication in the next available issue.

For full details, see Information for Contributors.

Jan B. Obrebski has passed on

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 11:23:47 GMT

The IASS regrets to announce the death of distinguished member Jan B. Obrebski on 8 September 2020. A memorial statement will appear in a future issue of the Journal of the IASS.

2021 Hangai Prize: Applications Now Open

John ABEL — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 15:53:36 GMT

The next round of the Hangai Prize competition is for the IASS 2020/21 Symposium to be held at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK, 23-27 August 2021 (postponed from 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic). Applications begin with the submission of a one-page abstract to the symposium upload site, with a deadline of 30 November 2020. For more information, see the Hangai Prize page on this website.

2020 Hangai Prize Selection & Conferral Delayed

John ABEL — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 15:50:25 GMT

Applications for the 2020 Hangai Prize have been closed. Because the Covid-19 pandemic has required the postponement of the IASS 2020 Symposium, the applications already received are still being evaluated. Winners will be announced in late autumn, the winning papers will be published in the December 2020 issue of the Journal of the IASS, and the winning authors will present their contributions in a conferral ceremony at the IASS 2020/21 Symposium in August, 2021.

Balloting for the annual EC Elections 2020 and General Assembly Referendum 2019 is open!

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sun, 15 Mar 2020 14:15:16 GMT

Now, balloting for the annual EC Elections and Referendum is open on the Association website
from March 16 (00:00 CET) through April 15 (24:00 CET).

After logging in, select MEMBER TOOLS from the top menu and then BALLOTING.

Only Individual, Honorary and Senior members as well as Chapter and Collective representatives (bundle adminstrators) are eligible to vote.

The following membership levels are not eligible to vote:
Student, Awardee, Chapter affiliates, Collective affiliates

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 60 (2019), No. 3 September n. 201

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 21:14:04 GMT

The issue contains six papers. Access to a PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. Soon, the issue will also be available on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

Mamoru Kawaguchi has passed on

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 22:06:09 GMT

The IASS regrets to announce the death of former president and distinguished member Mamoru Kawaguchi on 29 May 2019. A memorial statement will appear in a future issue of the Journal of the IASS.

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 60 (2019), No. 2 June n. 200

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 22:03:15 GMT

The issue contains five papers. Access to a PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. Soon, the issue will also be available on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 60 (2019), No. 1 March n. 199

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 21:10:26 GMT

The issue is a Special Issue coordinated by N. de Temmerman on Transformables: Deployable Structures and Rapidly Assembled Systems. It contains 7 papers. Access to a PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. Soon, the issue will also be available on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

Balloting for the annual EC Elections and Referendum is open!

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 22:32:30 GMT

Now, balloting for the annual EC Elections and Referendum is open on the Association website from April 12 through May 7.

After logging in, select MEMBER TOOLS from the top menu and then BALLOTING.

Only Individual, Honorary and Senior members as well as Chapter and Collective representatives (bundle adminstrators) are eligible to vote.

The following membership levels are not eligible to vote:
Student, Awardee, Chapter affiliates, Collective affiliates

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 59 (2018), No. 4 December n. 198

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 19:57:59 GMT

This issue contains Tsuboi Proceedings Award paper for 2017, four Hangai Prize papers for 2018, two technical papers, and information about upcoming events, including the IASS Symposiums 2019 and 2020. Access to a PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. Soon, the issue will also be available on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

Technical Activities Report for 2018

John ABEL — Sun, 16 Dec 2018 15:14:49 GMT

The TAC Report for the period 2017-18 is available on the public portion of this website by clicking here to access the page containing all recent reports.

IASS Bookshop is already open

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 20:39:21 GMT

The functionality of the Publications Gateway has been extended by adding a new tab: Bookshop.
This feature is available to both members and non-members of the IASS. It allows shopping with online payment.

At the moment there is one item available: The IASS 50th Jubilee Book "Fifty Years of Progress for Shell and Spatial Structures". This is now the only form of distribution of this book. Previously practiced ordering through the order form is discontinued.

The Bookshop is accesible through the Publications Gateway of this website.

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 59 (2018), No. 3 September n. 197

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 21:05:34 GMT

This issue contains five technical papers, one project description, a memorial to David Billington, and information about upcoming events, including the IASS Symposium 2019. Access to a PDF of the full issue is through the Publications Gateway of this website. Soon, the issue will also be available on the Ingenta website in the usual form.

Membership card is now available on the website!

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 09:01:15 GMT

A new feature has been added to Member Tools.

Members can access, print, and share their cards certifying membership in the Association 24/7 from their member profile.

For that, go to Member Tools and then select My Profile -> View profile

Membership cards are updated automatically when members renew and when member details change.

Please enjoy !

Competition and exhibition of innovative lightweight structures at the IASS 2019 Symposium in Barcelona

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 11:33:11 GMT

Working Group 21 is organising a competition for innovative pavilions at the 2019 IASS Symposium to be held in Barcelona. Full details, and application form for groups can be found here: http://www.manufacturingmaterials.org/competition.html

Please direct any questions about the competition to Arno Pronk, by email to A.D.C.Pronk@tue.nl

Results of Elections: IASS Executive Council

John ABEL — Sun, 15 Jul 2018 16:00:00 GMT

Re-Elected to Three-year Terms on the Executive Council: P. Block (Switzerland), A. Domingo (Spain), Ch. Gantes (Greece) and S.-D. Xue (China).

Newly Elected to Three-year Terms on the Executive Council: A. Boegle (Germany) and O. Popovic Larsen (Denmark).

Co-option to Three-Year Terms on the Executive Council: O. Baverel (France), A. Behnejad (UK) and A. Falk (Sweden).

Elected to the Advisory Board: J. Abel (USA), M. Mollaert (Belgium), P. Vegh (Canada) and Q. Zhang (China).

Officers of the Executive Council Re-elected Unanimously to Three-year Terms:
President: S. Pellegrino (USA)
Vice President: J. G. Oliva Salinas (Mexico)

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 59 (2018), No. 2 June n. 196

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Sat, 07 Jul 2018 06:51:00 GMT

This issue contains five important technical papers and information about upcoming events, including the IASS Symposium 2019. Access is through the Publications Gateway of this website.

Now online is J. IASS Vol. 59 (2018), No. 1 March n. 195

John ABEL — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 10:00:00 GMT

This is a special issue devoted to Frei Otto, edited by J.G. Oliva-Salina and E. Ramm. The issue includes a Memorial to John V. 'Jack' Christiansen, an IASS Torroja Medalist. Access is through the Publications Gateway of this website.

(Draft) Guide to Buckling Load Evaluation of Metal Reticulated Roof Structures

John ABEL — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 10:00:00 GMT

The guide has been uploaded to the members-only WG 8 page in the IASS website. It is a highly valuable work carried out by members of the group and led by the sustained effort of Professor Shiro Kato, former chair of the WG and now co-chair. The document is now available for all IASS members in the “Publications” section of the WG 8 web page.

Technical Activities Report for 2017

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 00:32:34 GMT

The TAC Report for the period 2016-17 is available on the public portion of this website by clicking here to access the page containing all recent reports.

New Working Group on Advanced Manufacturing & Materials

Romuald TARCZEWSKI — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 23:31:15 GMT

The IASS Executive Council has approved the formation of a new working group, WG 21 Advanced Manufacturing and Materials. The founding chair and co-chair are Arno Pronk (The Netherlands) and John Orr (UK), respectively.