With a background in Architectural Engineering and training in Europe Ron has particular skills in the structural aspects of architecture, including designs of bespoke roofs and facades, long span structural design and analysis and construction detailing.

Throughout his architectural career, Ron has managed the architectural development and documentation of a variety of large scale buildings including sports stadia, multipurpose arenas, convention centers, airport terminals, subway stations and a number of office blocks.

Ron was the Project Architect for the innovative Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand - the world’s only stadium with a natural grass pitch growing under a fully fixed roof. This project has been made possible through the use of ETFE - A transparent polymer originally developed for the space industry, to clad the stadium’s roof and facades.

He was the Project Architect for the Manila Arena in the Philippines, which is the world’s largest enclosed arena, with a capacity of 50,000, as well as the Taipei Dome - a baseball stadium which forms part of a large commercial mixed use development in Taiwan.

Nicholas Goldsmith is a Senior Principal at FTL Design & Engineering Studio since 1978. Prior to joining the firm, he was a designer at Atelier Frei Otto in Stuttgart, Germany. He is a member of the College of Fellows of the AIA, the IASS, and former Chairman of the Lightweight Structures Association.

Nicholas Goldsmith was in charge of design for many of FTL’s projects, including the award winning Russell Aitken Seabird Aviary at the Bronx Zoo, the award winning DKNY Headquarters Building in New York, and the MOMRA Recreation Center in Saudi Arabia. In addition, he designed the Carlos Moseley Music Pavilion for the Metropolitan Opera and NY Philharmonic a deployable concert facility, traveling to all NYC’s parks.

Nicholas Goldsmith has designed exhibitions including “Under the Sun” an exhibition on solar energy for the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in NY and Smithsonian Institution in ‘98 and ‘99, a worldwide traveling interactive exhibition for the United Nations (UNFPA), and an exhibition for Material Connexion on “Tensions in Architecture”.

He has been featured in innumerable publications including an Architectural Monograph titled: FTL: SOFTNESS, MOVEMENT & LIGHT, published by Academy Editions in 1998, and the entire May 1995 Interiors Magazine.

Nicholas Goldsmith’s academic experience includes Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania from 1990 to 2004 and the 2001 Visiting Professor in Innsbruck, Austria. He was a visiting Professor at the Pratt School of Architecture from 1992 through 1997 and a wide range of international lectures and teaching in the US, the UK, Germany and South America.

 LSAA 2016 Conference and Design Awards

Theme: Design Beyond Boundaries
The Intersection of Architects and Engineers

Melbourne from Thursday September 1st to Friday September 2nd 2016.

The event was great due to a varied, excellent and inspirational program put together by Peter Lim, LSAA and the Monash Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture.

Conference Program and details of Keynote & Public Lecture Presentations can be downloaded HERE (PDF, 3Mb)

The LSAA 2016 Conference and Awards are proudly supported by our Sponsors

Platinum Sponsor Serge Ferrari

Gold Sponsors Mehler Texnologies and Gale Pacific

Silver Sponsors are Ronstan Tensile Architecture and Hiraoka

"Design Beyond Boundaries"
- The Intersection of Architects and Engineers"

The LSAA is pleased to have two keynote speakers at this year's Conference.

Nicholas Goldsmith Senior Principal FTL Design Engineering Studio, NewYork.

Ron van Sluijs – Associate Principal Populous, Brisbane

A summary of their presentations is given below.

S1A Keynote Address - Nicholas Goldsmith

Shape Making or Form Finding?

Often design professionals conflate the process of shape making with the more deliberate form finding approach. This lecture will discuss the differences in the design process between these two approaches. It will examine historical traditions of both approaches and look at Frei Otto and his physical modeling approach as an example of the Form Finding process, how it examines material intelligence to set in motion an iterative approach where the end result is discovered and not known beforehand. Examples of the work of FTL will be used as descriptive case studies to illustrate the different aspects of membrane envelopes including ETFE foil cushions, tensile membranes, and cable nets.

Public Lecture - Nicholas Goldsmith "From Mass to Membrane" - see LINK

S6A Keynote Address - Ron van Sluijs

Stadia roof typology through design methodology

The large urban scale of stadia mean the structure often simultaneously dictate the form and the architecture of the venue though for the large span stadia structures only a limited number of typologies can be identified. It's a challenge to methodically select the best fitting structure while maintaining a fresh and different aesthetic language. By illustration of various case studies this talk shall elaborate on a number of structural stadia roof typologies, both lightweight and heavy, and how these were developed architecturally and structurally.

Public Lecture - Nicholas Goldsmith "From Mass to Membrane"

If we look at a historical evolution of architecture from the massive pyramids of Egypt, to the framed structures of Greek/Roman construction, to the lighter Gothic vaulting, to eventually Modern architecture of the 20th century, we see a continuous almost linear progression from solid mass constructions to framed buildings of glass and steel. Today we are in the early steps of moving from glass and steel structures to diaphanous skins of membrane and foil structures. These new materials incorporate inherent technologies and the aim is to understand how these technologies will affect our spatial experiences and in the process explore lightness as a visual, physical and sustainable approach. Mass to Membrane is our human architectural journey; can we use less material, be more sustainable, and help reduce our carbon footprint on the planet we call earth? Can this linear progression become one of the keys in a more sustainable tomorrow?

Special Film Screening

Frei Otto: Spanning the Future –The Evolution of Tensile Membrane Architecture

A film by Simon K. Chiu, Michael Paglia and Joshua V. Hassel.

Article in The Age

An article appeared recently in the Melbourne Age which covers an interview with Peter Lim (main conference organizer) and discussing the impact and visions of Frei Otto.

Click HERE for the link.

Registrations are now open - please read carefully !!

Registrations for LSAA2016 Event are being done by an external "Eventbrite" booking site where you can buy "tickets".
When you link (given below) to that site you will see the event graphic.

There is a GREEN "Tickets" button on the right side under the main banner image to access the different types of tickets. You will probable need to scroll down through the different types of options.

All attendees to the Conference or the Public Lecture MUST register.

You must also bring any booking vouchure to the Conference Registration Desk at the Conference.

This is the LINK to the Eventbrite Booking System

The Main Registration Fees ($AUD) are:

An important element of the 2016 Conference is our "mini-workshop". It will be a unique opportunity for current architecture students to interact with established members in the lightweight structures industry.

It is also an opportunity for those in the industry to reflect on the inspirational methods used by Frei Otto - the acclaimed father of modern membrane and other forms of lightweight structures. Frei used many forms of physical models such as hanging chain meshes, soap films and "stretchy" materials.

In the mini-workshop we will be tackling a design brief brought to us by a company commissioned by a planning authority to assist in the planning of a new community "central park" complex in a rapidly expanding regional centre.

Workshop groups will develop conceptual designs for a number of small to medium sized tensioned membrane structures to provide coverage to seven identified venues. The concepts will be represented by physical models (made from lycra etc) which will be invaluable for the bureacrats to get excited and fund a further stage in the design contract.

The workshop will be assisted by a number of mentors with extensive expertise in model building and suitable structural forms for tensioned membrane structures. Key Mentors include Prof Vinzenz Sedlak, the founding President of LSAA, and Dr Robert Roithmayr from Vienna. The mentors will circulate around the various creative groups.

Watch this space for further details.

LSAA 2016 Conference and Design Awards - Sept 1-2 2016

"Design Beyond Boundaries - The Intersection of Architects and Engineers"

The web page dealing with the 2016 Conference is now under Events

Voted as one of the best LSAA Conferences due to an excellent and inspirational program which was greatly enhanced by working closely with Monash University Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (MADA).

The LSAA 2016 Conference and Awards were proudly supported by our Platinum Sponsor Serge Ferrari, Gold Sponsors Mehler Texnologies and Gale Pacific and Silver Sponsors  Ronstan Tensile Architecture and Hiraoka

Congratulations to all Entrants for our Design Awards and particularly to our 2016 Award winners: Fabritecture (3 Awards), Fabric Structure Systems, Tensys, John Wardle Architects, Aurecon and Taylor Thomson Whitting.

Peter Lim's outstanding long-term contribution to the LSAA, particularly in his contribution to the technical programs of many Conferences, was recognized in his Honorary Life Membership of LSAA. Well done and thank you Peter!

Welcome to our new members: Pattons, Create Ltd, Copelands & Pickers and Miami Stainless and welcome back ABC Products and Oasis Tension Structures  
Feedback about the Conference has been very positive with new members joining up as a result. The Workshop although fairly rushed was also received well with the various teams of mixed experience tackling five different conceptual projects. Here they are hard at work:

Back to HOME

The LSAA is pleased to be working collaboratively with the Monash University Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture in holding this Conference.

Not only are we physically holding the event at the Caulfield Campus but the staff and students have been contributing their skills.

The design skills are evident in the Conference Flyer and the branding graphics for the event (more details at a later stage).

Some thumbnail pictures of the LSAA 2016 Design Award Evening can be downloaded HERE

Some thumbnail pictures of the Workshop can be downloaded HERE

Congratulations to Peter Lim (new LSAA Life Member) and the 2016 Design Award Winners below:

Back to HOME

The LSAA is pleased to be working collaboratively with the Monash University Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) in holding this Conference.

Not only are we physically holding the event at the Caulfield Campus but the staff and students have been contributing their skills.

The design skills are evident in the Conference Flyer and the branding graphics for the event.

The Venue is at the Caulfield Campus of Monash University in the Monash Art Design and Architecture (MADA) Faculty - Building G. The LSAA is excited to be collaborating with MADA who describes itself as: 

"MADA is a place of excellence and innovation across art, architecture and design. Our vibrant faculty at the Caulfield campus of Monash University is at the forefront of education in the creative arts, architecture, and design disciplines. The faculty fosters a spirit of enquiry and collaboration, and is widely respected for its excellence in education, practice and research."

Download a copy of the following notes as a PDF HERE

The name Frei Otto (1929-2015) is synonymous with the evolution and development of lightweight structures. Otto exerted a huge influence on the industry by way of his visionary creative concepts, exquisite soap-film and other 3D models and, of course, his completed structures.

Otto was born in Berlin in 1925 and studied architecture there, before serving as a fighter pilot in World War II. The ravages of war created an enormous housing shortage in Germany and Otto considered using tents as a temporary solution. While visiting the USA in the early 1950s he was inspired by the construction of the cable-net roof at the State Fair Arena in Raleigh N.C.

Otto began his architectural practice in 1952. His early hypar or saddle-shaped stressed canvas tent for the music pavilion at the 1955 Federal Garden Exhibition in Kassel brought him considerable attention. He worked alongside the tent-maker Peter Stromeyer, and together they took the art of tent-making to a new level. No longer did tents consist of planar panels. Instead, the surfaces were made from strips, each cut to different patterns to reflect the end-3D shape and the stresses in the structure.  Many contemporary outdoor stage coverings use a variant of this doubly-curved stressed tensile form.

LSAA 2016 Conference and Design Awards

Theme: Design Beyond the Boundaries of Architects or Engineers

Melbourne from Thursday September 1st to Friday September 2nd 2016.

The Venue is at the Caulfield Campus of Monash University Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (Link for Description)

We are developing a theme based on the evolution of lightweight structures with the particular influence of the remarkable German Engineer - Architect Frei Otto who passed away in 2015. He had a profound impact on the use of new structural forms and materials. His work covered cablenets, fabric structures, timber gridshells and he was, and still is, an inspiration for many.

The Conference team are working on inviting several eminent overseas and local speakers who have had direct contact with Frei to share their memories as well as reflect on the enormous contributions made to the design process. Frei Otto often "workshopped" projects around sketches and evolving physical models to arrive at geometric forms that suited the materials, technology and the design brief.

The LSAA is also planning to have a "mini-workshop" as part of the conference where participants can interact and be mentored by guest speakers whilst they work towards a design outcome for a lightweight tensioned fabric structure.

Aside from the central theme, the committee would welcome contributions from LSAA Members in particular. Some Guidelines for Authors can be found HERE.