Structural art: Past, present and future

•We present a state-of-the-art review on the topic of structural art.•We highlight research studies on shaping the idea of structural art during the past three decades.•We introduce eminent works of structural art along with driving factors for their successes.•We introduce renowned structural artist from the education and practice point of view.•We discuss the future of structural art with education reform and new resources.

The idea of structural art has gained an increase in interest due to the pioneering book by David Billington in 1983. With this, a paradigm shift is emerging with the belief that structural engineers can become artists in the design process by cooperatively integrating three tenets: economy, efficiency, and elegance. The objective of this up-to-date review is to present a broad perspective of structural art during the past three decades (1983–2013). Historical engineering projects and the stories of their structural engineers are discussed to identify the key conditions that have contributed to various works of structural art. Further, this review promotes the importance of the structural art concept and equips future engineers by discussing the potential resources and tools that can be utilized to learn more about structural art.