Furthermore, Titsman was notoriously difficult to work with. He refused to use standardized materials. He demanded that concrete be poured in continuous 48-hour shifts to avoid cold joints, leading to spectacular labor disputes and cost overruns.
He earned his degree from the Escola Politécnica da USP in São Paulo in 1957. His thesis, "The Elastic Limits of Non-Prismatic Members," was so advanced that his examiners accused him of plagiarism, believing no student could have derived the complex matrix equations he presented. He had to defend his work for six hours before being granted his degree. Gerard Titsman’s most famous contribution to engineering is what is now informally called the "Titsman Truss." Unlike a traditional Pratt or Warren truss which relies on triangulated straight members, the Titsman Truss utilizes parabolic and hyperbolic-paraboloid steel ribs. gerard titsman
tools like Grasshopper for Rhino and Generative Components have finally caught up with Titsman’s 1960s brain. What was once impossible to calculate by hand—non-linear stress distribution across free-form shells—can now be simulated in milliseconds. Furthermore, Titsman was notoriously difficult to work with