ALOSS is an acronym for “Album of Spatial Structures”. This is the name for a
database of spatial structures from all over the world containing building
names, photographs, addresses, architects, structural engineers, completion
years, and so on. This database was established in Japanese and English
languages on the internet in 1997. It is mainly based on information collected
by Mr. Isono, who is a member and official photographer of IASS
(International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures). He is a structural
engineer with specialty in membrane structures. The URL of ALOSS is
http://aloss.jp. So far, ALOSS has data on over 2000 structures, and this
number is increasing steadily. Information relating to ALOSS is stored in a
computer system at the University of Fukui, Japan and this information is being
continually updated and refined. The purpose of this paper is to describe
ALOSS, and to explain the manner in which it may be used to retrieve
information. The results revealed that ALOSS is a useful source of information
for students, architects and engineers interested in study of various types of the
shell and spatial structures. It applies a pictorial and a keyword search method.
This paper presented precisely and briefly all the basic aspects of ALOSS and
especially the way of finding specific information about required spatial
structure.
福井大学名誉教授 石川浩一郎、Emeritus Professor Koichiro ISHIKAWA
email: ishikawa@u-fukui.ac.jp
