Get Inspired

Designs start with ideas. Ideas start with inspiration. Explore a variety of architectural resources below including videos, publications, articles, and more, and take the first step toward The Forge Prize.

Online Resources

Browse a variety of relevant online resources and discover steel-related information ranging from past steel structure award winners to structural standards and guidelines.

AISC

The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), headquartered in Chicago, is a non-partisan, not-for-profit technical institute and trade association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel design community and construction industry in the United States.

Modern Steel Construction

This authoritative monthly magazine is made available online free of charge. MSC covers the use of fabricated structural steel in a variety of structural types. It presents information on the newest and most advanced applications of structural steel in a wide range of structures. Issues of Modern Steel Construction (1996 – present) are available online.

AISC IDEAS² Awards

AISC IDEAS² Awards recognize the most innovative structures. Check out the archive for inspiration!

AISC Code of Standard Practice

AISC Code of Standard Practice, Reference Section 10: Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel. 2022 COSP (ANSI/AISC 303-22) provides a framework for a common understanding of the acceptable standards when contracting for structural steel. Section 10 deals explicitly with AESS.

AESS Sample Specification

AESS Sample Specification is an editable document that can be updated and inserted into individual project specifications. The document was originally developed by the Structural Engineers Association of Colorado/Rocky Mountain Steel Construction Association Steel Liaison Committee (SEAC/RMSCA).

AESS Cost Matrix

AESS Cost Matrix is an editable spreadsheet that can be updated to anticipate cost implications by specifying various levels of AESS on projects. This document was originally published by SEAC/RMSCA Steel Liaison Committee in November 2017.

AESS Shop Drawings

These shop drawings of the five AESS sculptures can be downloaded and used to fabricate users' own versions. Contact AISC Steel Solutions Center at solutions@aisc.org if you’d like to be put in touch with a local fabricator to purchase your own drawings.

AESS Sample Images

These images can be used to supplement project meetings to understand expectations for various categories of AESS.

Publications

View relevant publications below to stay updated on recent steel design news as well as exclusive design tips, industry announcements, and more.

Steel Construction Manual, 16th Ed. | AISC, 2023

The New Categorized Approach to Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel: An Overview | AISC, November 2017 (reprint from MSC)

Understanding Steel Design: An Architectural Design Manual by Terri Meyer Boake | Birkhäuser, 2013

2021 IDEAS2 Awards | AISC, 2021

Steel and Beyond: New Strategies for Metals in Architecture by Annette LeCuyer | Birkhäuser, 2003

Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel: Specifications, Connections, Details by Terri Meyer Boake | Birkhäuser, 2016

Videos

Below are Steel Resource videos from Professor Terri Meyer Boake from the University of Waterloo, School of Architecture on Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel (AESS). These videos are provided from The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, and Professor Boake.