'Can an 8-inch slab span 80 feet without the assistance of columns or beams? With a span-to-depth ratio of 120, this proposal seems unlikely. Nevertheless, this structural challenge was just one the most visible of many posed by the architects for the new 110,000 square foot Architecture and Art Building at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU). Undulating red brick façades float above perimeter landscaping. Canted walls and leaning columns abound. Slabs cantilever up to 12 feet without backspans.

Freestanding walls, standing up to 50 feet, guard the entrances to a small theater. At the center of it all, three elegant stair spans of 8-inch thick concrete sweep column-free from 40 to 80 feet through the three-story “architectural canyon” that forms the central arterial spine of the building. In addition to helping realize the architect’s incredible vision for this building, the numerous creative structural solutions that solved each of these challenges provide visible structural lessons to the generations of architectural students who will be trained in this building...'