The french mathematician Pierre Varignon (1654-1722) introduced the funicular polygon and the polygon of forces in his work Nouvelle Mecanique ou Statique. He describes a way to construct the form of a hanging rope with attached weights graphicaly. Based on this principle, a technique called graphic statics has been developed in the 19th century. The basic principle of graphic statics is the reciprocal relation between force polygon and funicular polygon. Recomended books: Luigi Cremona: Graphical Calculus (1890) and Edward Allen,Waclaw Zalewski: Form and Forces (2009) This grasshopper definition generates a funicular polygon for uniform loading. Download here.
Architect, gained professional experience at Herzog & de Meuron, before conducting a PhD thesis at ETH Zurich. Currently, he is working at Allplan GmbH, member of Nemetschek Group.