The following is a 14 minute edutainment upload presenting the funicular hanging chain and other techniques of deriving optimal structural compression geometry using the opposite form in pure tension (sounds more complicated than it is), by Architecture and Design Professor Stewart Hicks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRv_syz2DAc
This is a must watch as it shortcuts math and modeling in useful ways for design with minimal materials. I’m sharing as a 3d printing FreeCAD parts designer that likes to integrate all elements without printed supports in every possible case. The funicular draping chain idea is very much adjacent to how I think about integrating elements into a print design. I have designed with shells that integrate my structural elements, but this upload was an aha moment that takes my empirical design process to a new conceptual level. Modeling structural elements and knowing the math to apply can be challenging, but this kind of principal is a very useful shortcut. More info in article form: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funicular_curve