STS Event - Engineering for the Ecological Age: Lessons from History


Structural engineer John Ochsendorf fell in love with archaeology during college at Cornell, where his senior thesis involved a 600-year-old Incan suspension bridge made entirely out of grass. Ochsendorf learned that this apparently primitive structure owed its astonishing longevity to regular rebuilds by the locals (during a community festival), and the use of renewable, biodegradable resources. In the course of his research, Ochsendorf discovered that historical structures hold important lessons for modern building technology.  More at MIT World

Lecture sponsored by the Program in Science, Technology, and Society