What is "diagrid"

n. a structure, used by some buildings, which is made up of triangles formed from beams of steel or sometimes other materials

The diagrid (a portmanteau of diagonal grid) is a framework of diagonally intersecting metal, concrete or wooden beams that is used in the construction of buildings and roofs. It requires less structural steel than a conventional steel frame. Hearst Tower in New York City, designed by Sir Norman Foster, uses 21 percent less steel than a standard design. The diagrid obviates the need for columns and can be used to make large column-free expanses of roofing. Another iconic building designed by Sir Norman Foster, 30 St Mary Axe, known as "The Gherkin", also uses the diagrid system.

British architect Ian Ritchie wrote in 2012:

DiaGrid is a large, multicampus distributed research computing network utilizing the HTCondor system and centered at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. In 2012, it included nearly 43,000 processors representing 301 teraflops of computing power. DiaGrid received a Campus Technology Innovators Award from Campus Technology magazine and an IDG InfoWorld 100 Award in 2009 and was employed at the SC09 supercomputing conference in Portland, Ore., to capture nearly 150 days of compute time for science jobs.