tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8840322931604687672024-03-12T23:09:07.032-05:00Thinking, Making, Breaking: Structures by DesignExperiments in Architectural Education and ResearchRob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-87334230009477367092020-03-08T10:56:00.000-05:002020-03-08T10:56:49.761-05:00Structures by Design: Thinking, Making, Breaking: THE BOOK<h2 style="font-family: Times; font-variant-ligatures: normal; height: 0px; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">I'm happy to announce the publication of my latest textbook, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Structural-Design-Exercises-Architects-Think/dp/1138224154" style="color: #954f72;">Structures by Design: Thinking, Making, Breaking</a>, (Routledge, 2019). This is not your conventional structures textbook--the title tells the story of what makes it different in premise and practice.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I began writing the book after leading </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">teaching and learning experiments in our award-winning structural technology program in <a href="https://www.design.iastate.edu/" style="color: #954f72;" target="_blank">Iowa State University’s Department of Architecture</a>. There was never a textbook that matched our design-centric, hands-on lab learning approach—so I wrote one. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Rule 1: Structural design IS design. </span><i style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Structure is the primary form-defining, volumetric, and expressive elements of architecture, therefore, all buildings must consider structural principles as a central part of this non-linear, reiterative process of creation and evaluation. The book should show how this process works.</span></i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Train Station Roof: Chapter 4.1 </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">When structures are considered as part of an integrated design process they can't be analyzed simply as either "right or wrong." They have relative measures of qualitative and quantitative information that <i>must</i> include broader design goals. This can be hard to explain. To do so, I used a problem-based learning format for each chapter to generate conversations about how structural design can respond to various architectural design, material/assembly, and construction issues. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Rule 2: Concepts before calculations. Teach the value of <i>Thinking, Making, and Breaking</i>. </span><i style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Foundational structural concepts are often “hidden” which makes them conceptually abstract. Explain <u>how to learn</u> these principles through various methods as part of the narrative.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Effective learning of complex technical topics happens through diverse experiences including hands-on learning and physical prototypes. After explaining the structural concepts with words and images, include examples of how to apply these concepts (“the thinking”) to a series of digital and physical models (“making”) that are tested and assessed (“breaking”). </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Again, a problem-based approach is key.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">A variety of structural design tools are used, including the human body, physical models, historical precedents, static diagrams, traditional formulae, and advanced digital analysis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Learning through a reiterative process that involves testing to failure increases cognitive ability to understand hidden behaviors. Breaking reduces the fear of structural failure associated with right/wrong answers. And, ultimately as readers of the blog have seen, breaking (thus a structures class) can be fun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Rule 3: Challenge conventional structural graphic methods—always draw in 3D. </span><i style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Why do traditional structures books for architects show abstract diagrams using engineering-based graphic standards that have been outdated for decades? Structures are volumetric physical entities with formal consequences that are best seen three-dimensionally. Model it and show it this way.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Digital analysis of shell design proposal: Chapt. 5.1</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Progressive practice models (and design studios) have been modeling and analyzing their work fully in 3D for decades. By representing nearly everything in three-dimensions in the book it links visual learning with a process of “making and breaking.” Demonstrating this link between the act of drawing / modeling and evaluation and understanding the limitations of each approach is an essential lesson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">I drew more than 500 original illustrations for the book and loved this part of the process (another 100 photographs of student activities and historical precedents make up the balance of the graphic representations). This works out to be around one image for every paragraph throughout the book so there really is a great balance between the words and the images.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Form Resistant Options: Chapter 2.0</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Rule 4: Form Follows Forces (Especially for effective, efficient, and expressive structures). </span><i style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The book’s narrative is based on this fundamental philosophical bias (and set of scientific facts). Understanding how structural resistance can be provided: Form, Section, Vector, Surface, and Frame establishes realms of possible forms, materials, and behaviors. Responsive solutions become more readily apparent.</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Structural instructors have different approaches based on constraints of curriculum, time, and personal perspective. But fundamentally, every course must learn the different ways structures (and their materials) can resist forces through form. Therefore, each section of the book is focused on a particular manner by which structural resistance is provided: Form (Arches and Cables), Sections (Beams, Slabs, and Columns), Vectors (Trusses and Space Frames), Surfaces (Shells and Plates), and Frames (Connections and High-Rises). Clearly this has been the approach that giants in structural design and education have taken for decades (e.g., <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Structure-Systems-Heino-Engel/dp/3775718761" style="color: #954f72;">Engel</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Form-Forces-Designing-Expressive-Structures/dp/047017465X/ref=asc_df_047017465X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312126345020&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8653760706680054293&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017956&hvtargid=pla-330025439982&psc=1" style="color: #954f72;">Allen, Zalewski, Ochsendorf</a>, etc.).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">3D drawings show complex forms and forces transfer: Chapt. 4.1</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Interestingly, once certain fundamentals of force statics and materials are understood, these don’t have to be learned in any particular order (I’m a “beams before trusses” person (so you can explain trusses as a cross-sectional improvement) but I hear you “cables then trusses” people…but I digress). This format gives the book a flexibility in how it can be used. You don’t have to read it from start to finish (e.g., Part 1, 2, 4, then back to 3 and end with 5…).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Rule 5: Write it to be read.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Be concise. <i style="font-weight: normal;">Easier said than done, but an essential effort. Understanding building structures depends on a consolidation of a complex set of physical, material, statical, and spatial qualities that are sometimes hard to understand. Drawings alone won’t suffice.</i> <i style="font-weight: normal;">Make the words matter.</i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">A "map" of the book's narrative outline</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">The best sentences make difficult concepts easier to understand; they explain what illustrations cannot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Throughout the book I’ve aspired to create consolidated, clearly written explanations and descriptions. Technical writing may not be memorable or lyrical and that’s just fine. I’d be lying if I said this was easy (for what it is worth, I now know that my colleague <a href="https://architecturefarm.wordpress.com/" style="color: #954f72;">Tom Leslie’s</a> superpower is copy editing…).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">To promote the use of this book as one of many teaching tools, I’ve included several inserts in each chapter to be used in a flipped-classroom lecture format or as part of an active-learning teaching strategy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Rule 6: Do the Work. It’s worth it.<span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Perhaps the most gratifying moment for me was hearing from the book reviewers (both educators and professionals whom I hold in the highest regard): <a href="https://architecture.calpoly.edu/faculty/Theodoropoulos" style="color: #954f72;">Christine Theodoropoulos</a> (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlon_Blackwell" style="color: #954f72;">Marlon Blackwell</a> (University of Arkansas)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IuaWrvM8keE/XmUQ_FXTdRI/AAAAAAAADac/zfDhAjkaEYMfv31EkVWQZMLaneI3e-3oQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_2124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #954f72; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IuaWrvM8keE/XmUQ_FXTdRI/AAAAAAAADac/zfDhAjkaEYMfv31EkVWQZMLaneI3e-3oQCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/IMG_2124.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Labs are homework, not problem sets: Chapt. 6.0</span> </td></tr>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"Structures by Design: Thinking, Making, Breaking </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">is a robust introduction to architectural structures that emphasizes structural design as a creative activity and the understanding of structural concepts through active modeling. Drawing from his innovative teaching in architectural design studios, Rob Whitehead guides us through hands on exercises that develop the intuitive and analytical understandings that underlie structural design thinking. The text interweaves a typology of structural systems and a survey of classic and contemporary case studies with a fusion of conceptual design tools ranging from traditional graphic, analytical and physical models to computational analysis and a profoundly simple, yet powerfully impactful experience constructing models using our own bodies. Whitehead's approach is unique in its premise that understanding modeling theory and the assumptions and limitations inherent in modeled systems is as important as the concepts the models are designed to teach. " - <i>Christine Theodoropoulos, AIA, PE, Dean, College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #666666;">“Structures by Design</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #666666;"> is an empowering text that provides straightforward techniques for structural design solutions using our own bodies as models. Engaging for both students and faculty, Rob Whitehead has written a timely contribution to the discourse of Integrated Design that surpasses abstract complexity for visualizing structures that are essential to the design process, and based in history. This is the structures text I needed when I was a student, and it’s one I’m pleased to have now.” -<i>Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, E Fay Jones Distinguished Professor, Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design, University of Arkansas<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xuL6dr6S4gc/XmUTYtL_ZEI/AAAAAAAADa0/bqUUsiJB56s0jYdm-Ojze9p5qxlwDj27wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/3.1.30c_upclose%2B2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="1600" height="151" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xuL6dr6S4gc/XmUTYtL_ZEI/AAAAAAAADa0/bqUUsiJB56s0jYdm-Ojze9p5qxlwDj27wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/3.1.30c_upclose%2B2a.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Integrate structures and architecture: Chapt. 3.1</span></td></tr>
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</i></span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">I'm thankful to those students from the architecture department at Iowa State University that have participated in this active-learning process for the last 10 years. Thanks for Routledge for committing to a new type of structures book and for putting together such a well-designed book. I'm hoping the book provides a useful framework to other schools and students in structures and studio that are interested in learning about structures as a creative and reiterative design endeavor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">I'm grateful to report that it has already been adopted at several prominent architecture schools in the U.S. and internationally (UK, Ireland, Spain, & Australia). Hoping it continues to find a place in progressive curricula. If you have questions about the book and how it would work for your class, email me at <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #954f72; text-decoration: underline;">rwhitehd@iastate.edu</a> and I'll be happy to talk to you about it and put you in touch with the publisher.</span></h2>
Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-32083527620819622852014-09-19T15:18:00.001-05:002014-09-19T15:20:25.483-05:00Saarinen's Shells and the Emerging Influence of Engineering<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt;">
<b>Saarinen's Shells</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mx2VqEiWs0k/VByAluzMydI/AAAAAAAABmg/OLXI-CZUAdU/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mx2VqEiWs0k/VByAluzMydI/AAAAAAAABmg/OLXI-CZUAdU/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_01.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“(The) structural and rational cannot always take precedent when another form proves more beautiful. This is dangerous but I believe true.” Eero Saarinen, dictated reflections, “General Statement about the sculptural, curved shapes…”, between 1958-60.</span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Much of my research over the last few months has been
centered on the confluence of two of my favorite topics: Eero Saarinen and structural
shell design. Luckily, I was able to present this research this week at the
International Association for Structural Shells (IASS-SLTE) in Brasilia—I
couldn’t have picked a better venue or audience (more on the intriguing content of the conference in a follow-up post). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tnkojWvPSWg/VByAl7tt7uI/AAAAAAAABmk/shrcRPiSSQk/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tnkojWvPSWg/VByAl7tt7uI/AAAAAAAABmk/shrcRPiSSQk/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_02.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve spent a great deal of time studying and writing about
Saarinen over the years because I feel that the range of his work, and the way
he approached his work, is incredibly instructive. He wasn’t always good, but
frequently he was GREAT. And most importantly, when he was bad, he was bad in a
way that is actually quite instructive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F1VvZ4OG21Q/VByAl18PfeI/AAAAAAAABms/LXlWuBOTANo/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">He was a prolific designer with a prodigious mind who
intentionally ran toward the untested realm of architectural
creation—frequently experimenting with structural technologies, new materials,
and/or new construction methodologies to inform his designs. </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F1VvZ4OG21Q/VByAl18PfeI/AAAAAAAABms/LXlWuBOTANo/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F1VvZ4OG21Q/VByAl18PfeI/AAAAAAAABms/LXlWuBOTANo/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_03.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like all
experiments, there were some incredible results, including some very
instructive failures that I’ve written about <a href="http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/arch_conf/13/">previously</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0buSZSdw5CA/VByAmma1IxI/AAAAAAAABm0/csHeOO5l0mg/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">Saarinen was a brilliant man, surrounded by the brightest young
designers (Roche, Dinkaloo, Pelli, etc.), but architects aren’t solely
responsible for all their innovations (or the failures). The large percentage
of projects Saarinen’s office designed required experimental structural
engineering work and they primarily worked with two different firms: Ammann
& Whitney and Fred Severud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0buSZSdw5CA/VByAmma1IxI/AAAAAAAABm0/csHeOO5l0mg/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0buSZSdw5CA/VByAmma1IxI/AAAAAAAABm0/csHeOO5l0mg/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_04.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because
of their expertise in concrete shell design and analysis, Ammann & Whitney
worked on the shells projects (Kresge, TWA, Dulles, etc.) while Severud (one of
the leading experts in tensile structures) worked on the Gateway Arch, Ingalls
Hockey Rink, and the majority of Eero’s other work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Engineering
Influence:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">“In many
cases (Saarinen) has relied upon the sheer ingenuity of modern technology to
get him out of difficulties that would have presented insurmountable obstacles
a quarter of a century ago” – N. Keith Scott, Architectural Forum, Feb. 1955</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jwRx8sPtdWI/VByAnCVDNnI/AAAAAAAABm8/rniQaLO4kGU/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jwRx8sPtdWI/VByAnCVDNnI/AAAAAAAABm8/rniQaLO4kGU/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_05.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pn2PQ9qeFP0/VByAoFtWFrI/AAAAAAAABnI/mL6LOYdqdTE/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">The research
started when I wondered, <i>what effect did Eero’s relationship with his engineers
have on the development of his work on structural shells of Kresge Auditorium,
TWA Terminal, and Dulles Airport?</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In only <b>ten years</b> the work went from very bad
structurally (Kresge), to a more coherent and stable (albeit very
unconventional) structural form for TWA Terminal, to the highly efficient and
optimized structural form and architectural expression at Dulles. Saarinen went
from Shape-Finding to Form-Finding (more on this in a future post as well). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pn2PQ9qeFP0/VByAoFtWFrI/AAAAAAAABnI/mL6LOYdqdTE/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pn2PQ9qeFP0/VByAoFtWFrI/AAAAAAAABnI/mL6LOYdqdTE/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_06.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4hrq60VLObM/VByAqcNFDpI/AAAAAAAABnY/KYiZOE720e4/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">But
HOW did this happen? Saarinen was very busy (working simultaneously on his other master buildings: GM Tech Center, Jefferson Memorial, Ingalls Hockey, John Deere headquarters etc.), so he certainly relied on others for help in developing the projects. More specifically who, or what, caused this evolution in technical competency and structural form optimization? </span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4hrq60VLObM/VByAqcNFDpI/AAAAAAAABnY/KYiZOE720e4/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4hrq60VLObM/VByAqcNFDpI/AAAAAAAABnY/KYiZOE720e4/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_07.jpg" height="261" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">I set out to
try and determine the nature his collaborative relationship with the engineers;
specifically trying to determine the extent of influence that was exerted by
engineers during the design process. These simple questions have profound
implications on the historical reading of Saarinen’s work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Interestingly,
this topic is largely un-documented in any previous scholarship and I found it frustratingly
difficult to reassemble as most original records of direct correspondence between
the firms have been destroyed or misplaced at both the Saarinen Archives and at
the firms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7DvzNwM6h74/VByAo-41O_I/AAAAAAAABnM/QhQZjfs2kl8/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">In sorting through the remaining drawings, letters, and
records of many projects at the wonderful Yale Manuscripts and Archives
library, I’ve been able to piece together a few conclusions (I will link to the
final paper once it is available at the ISU Digital Repository).</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7DvzNwM6h74/VByAo-41O_I/AAAAAAAABnM/QhQZjfs2kl8/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7DvzNwM6h74/VByAo-41O_I/AAAAAAAABnM/QhQZjfs2kl8/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_08.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a>There was a great deal of interesting work done by the professional publications at the time (Progressive Architecture, Architectural Forum, etc.) but the really insightful information often came from construction and engineering publications (Engineering Record, etc.) as they tended to focus on how it was designed and built instead of simply the architectural implications of the unique forms.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x13xE_rbnLk/VByBbr73iVI/AAAAAAAABnk/FLULtMIbjKw/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x13xE_rbnLk/VByBbr73iVI/AAAAAAAABnk/FLULtMIbjKw/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_09.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a>I had my research assistant Barrett Peterson help me put together a series of drawings that showed the construction process of Kresge and Dulles using parametric modeling. We were trying to understand how a particular economy of construction could also be evidence of an efficiency in the design process and structural form. The drawings were great and very informative but they weren't definitive about the source of the improvements; they simply indicated what we already knew....the projects got better. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MHfDYLbW-to/VByBb4xewFI/AAAAAAAABns/B8KaRR3K8Vw/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MHfDYLbW-to/VByBb4xewFI/AAAAAAAABns/B8KaRR3K8Vw/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_10.jpg" height="286" width="320" /></a>The breakthrough in the research, and frankly one of the highlights of my academic and professional career occurred when Eero's former partner, Kevin Roche (obviously now of the legendary firm, <a href="http://www.krjda.com/">Kevin Roche + John Dinkaloo Associates</a>) agreed to talk with me about the projects. </div>
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Even though Mr. Roche is 92 years old, he was able to remember detailed circumstances and stories about the design development of all of the projects (he was frequently pictured next to Eero during the legendary model making process). His stories confirmed many of my suspicious about the changing design process (yes the engineers were collaborators) but he also clearly gave the primary credit to Saarinen's evolving clarity of vision for the designs. </div>
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<b>Shape Finding and Form Finding</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l89qsn0G2DU/VByBb705rKI/AAAAAAAABno/KlIEs3NaMv0/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l89qsn0G2DU/VByBb705rKI/AAAAAAAABno/KlIEs3NaMv0/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_11.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a><i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt;">“…the reason why these (plastic forms) are being built now…is really aesthetic and not economic; and we should face that.” Eero Saarinen, Speech to Architectural Association, August 1957</span></i></div>
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-63KWcwjq7Kc/VByBcgnkR1I/AAAAAAAABn4/-qHJ4DPluMc/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-63KWcwjq7Kc/VByBcgnkR1I/AAAAAAAABn4/-qHJ4DPluMc/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_12.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a>Things started badly with Kresge. Because its shape wasn't a viable structural shell form for a thin shell (1/8th of a sphere supported on only 3 points is NOT a funicular shape) it performed terribly. It was a nightmare to<a href="http://www.engr.psu.edu/ae/thinshells/module%20III/case_study_3.htm"> construct</a> and it had terrible structural performance. After the scaffolding was removed, it went through 6 weeks of unabated creep, eventually sagging 5" total at the arches. The scaffolding was put under the building again until the window system under the arches could be changed to a structural system that would support the arches....basically is wasn't transferring loads like a shell should at all. Ed Salikis at Cal Poly called Kresge the "Angel of Death" for structural shells because these truly fundamental problems greatly affected the perceived viability of these types of structures.<br />
<br />
<b>A Common Cause</b><br />
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BXX18shBLIE/VByBd_nl1pI/AAAAAAAABoM/sQaQU-MRpls/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BXX18shBLIE/VByBd_nl1pI/AAAAAAAABoM/sQaQU-MRpls/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_13.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a>Things got better with TWA because Saarinen involved the engineers earlier in the process and listened to their feedback throughout the design development. Saarinen was unsatisfied with Kresge (primarily for aesthetic reasons) and he really wanted TWA to not feel as "earth-bound" so he asked Anderson to help develop an elliptical paraboloid upwardly curving roof. Eero didn't need help in finding the form (he sketched in on a menu at dinner before talking with anyone else about it) and he had drew a legitimately viable structural form. The issue came when Saarinen didn't feel that the building was formally expressive enough about the system of movement going on inside the building.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PWmx08OxLV0/VByBdO5jNJI/AAAAAAAABoA/4yVagq6qolw/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PWmx08OxLV0/VByBdO5jNJI/AAAAAAAABoA/4yVagq6qolw/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_14.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a>The simple structure shape was changed to look more like a series of four shells combined in one big roof. Roche tells me that Saarinen was clearly influenced by Utzon's design for the Sydney Opera House---after all, it was Saarinen that picked the project out from the discard pile and convinced the jury of the design's merits. But the Anderson, and the other project engineer, Abba Tor, told Saarinen that the shape simply wouldn't work as a shell (the folds would take bending, it couldn't be poured without control and expansion joints, etc.).<br />
<br />
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<o:Subject>Chapter 24 Space Frame Structures</o:Subject>
<o:Author>Tien T. Lan</o:Author>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
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<!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">“It took a considerable
amount of interaction with the architect to impose some structural logic or discipline
on it…it was a creature which started out wild and needed to be tamed and
domesticated.” – Abba Tor, Ammann & Whitney</span></i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IV1mQiwxov0/VByBeA7fK1I/AAAAAAAABoQ/AiF1frlJ0SM/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IV1mQiwxov0/VByBeA7fK1I/AAAAAAAABoQ/AiF1frlJ0SM/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_15.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a>Mr. Tor takes credit for pushing the design from this stage to it's final iconic form of four separate cantilevered barrel vaults joined in the middle. Roche disputed this and claimed that it was Saarinen who insisted on the four shells in order to create the roof skylights that would better light the way for travelers below. I call it a tie. In fact, it doesn't really matter who's idea it was---it was the right idea for the architectural design and the structural performance.<br />
<br />
<b>Expressing Time and Convenience: Dulles</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
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logical, imaginative, and responsible answer.” – Eero Saarinen, 1960</span></i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GFuDiT0zBGo/VByBeXRGMrI/AAAAAAAABoU/fSoxuEHGV3I/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GFuDiT0zBGo/VByBeXRGMrI/AAAAAAAABoU/fSoxuEHGV3I/s1600/Presentation_iass_Page_16.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a>Interestingly I found that Ammann & Whitney was the contract holder for Dulles (Saarinen worked for them). The firms immediately set out to study all the major implications for jet travel around the U.S. (as it was an untested phenomenon). Famously, r<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">epresentatives
of both firms completed a detailed analysis of existing airports in an effort
to understand how the movements of passengers and jets could be optimized to
provide a more convenient, flexible, and effective set of operations.
Ultimately Saarinen proposed the use of “mobile lounge” vehicles to transport
passengers from the terminal to the jets allowing the terminal building to be
smaller, more efficient, and more precisely illustrative of its purpose—the
building form was intended to express this.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Saarinen asked his friend Charles Eames to make <a href="http://laughingsquid.com/the-expanding-airport-by-charles-and-ray-eames-1958/">a film about it</a> to convince everyone about the merits of the idea. </span><br />
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Remarkably,
the main roof was constructed without </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">any</i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
scaffolding because the catenary curve of the roof wasn't cast in place as many people believe, but was instead made up of lightweight concrete precast panels that were slid down along a series of cables. They were eventually poured together to get the lateral stability and resistance to uplight that they required structurally. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Because the structural elements were regular and repeating, multiple trades could be working simultaneously as construction progressed from one end to another. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I will talk more about this during a presentation at the upcoming </span><a href="http://www.5icch.org/" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">International Construction History Conference </a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">in Chicago, but this process of construction was so much more effective and efficient than Kresge that it is quite notable.</span></div>
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<b>Imparting Influence</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: italic;">“I think this terminal building (Dulles)
is the best thing I have done…Maybe it will even explain what I believe about
architecture.</span><span style="font-style: italic;">”</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">-</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Eero</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">
Saarinen (as quoted by </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Aline</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;"> Saarinen), 1962</span></div>
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It is clear that the <span style="font-family: 'Adobe Caslon Pro';">incremental evolution in the structural responsiveness and constructability of these shell projects can be largely attributed to Saarinen’s willingness to accept and embrace a greater level of influence and expertise from the structural engineers during the early stages of design formation, <b>and</b> the correspondingly increased level of expertise in shell design by the project teams in both offices born from this collaboration. In other words, the more these talented firms worked on shells together, the better they got in designing, documenting, and constructing them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Sorry for my absence in blogging regularity, but as I always, I appreciate you reading and sharing the work.<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Adobe Caslon Pro';">“No phrase so aptly
describes the status of shell designs as this:
‘In its strength lies its weakness.’” – A.L. Parme, Portland Cement
Association, Chicago, 1954<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Adobe Caslon Pro';"><br /></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Adobe Caslon Pro;">Thin shell concrete structures
are fascinating and complicated spatial enclosure systems. They are incredibly
structurally efficient, sustainable, expressive, and experiential spaces. They
are also difficult to design and build—in fact, their relative success is
inextricably tied to a fully integrated process of design and construction, in
which the form must be structurally responsive, architecturally accommodating,
AND buildable. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">My affinity for this building
typology isn’t just about architectural form; it’s about architectural thought,
creativity, and resource-conscience design. Culturally, thin shells design is
deeply rooted in both historical precedents (gothic vaulting and byzantine
domes) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> high-modern formal
experiments (particularly in reinforced concrete); but wonderfully, it can also
be utilized for the most basic enclosure system in which constrained resources
demand an effective structural solution where the system of construction
becomes repeatable and affordable. In fact, one of the early experts in the
field, Charles Whitney, principal of Ammann and Whitney (engineer of Kresge Auditorium,
TWA, and Dulles airports, etc.) advocated for thin shells as “a most economical
structure” under favorable conditions. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-923JDL7Gmvc/Uxt7mhvrIdI/AAAAAAAABdQ/Cha1hmvyO_o/s1600/candela+hypar+formwork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-923JDL7Gmvc/Uxt7mhvrIdI/AAAAAAAABdQ/Cha1hmvyO_o/s1600/candela+hypar+formwork.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note Candela's use of straight members in formwork</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">For Eladio Dieste and Felix
Candela, shells were appropriate because of the necessity for shelter and
scarcity of resources—not objectively “favorable” conditions, but these
constraints drove a great deal of creativity in the field. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Felix Candela so succinctly articulated in
his keynote address to the Conference on Thin Concrete Shells in 1954 (a
FASCINATING collection of proceedings if you are so inclined), “…in times of
plenty there is a tendency towards mental slothfulness.” He goes on to argue
that the relationship between an architect’s design intentions and a builders
craft are inextricably tied to an efficient use of resources (both in material
and labor), and that the process of actually building the structure elevates
the process of design (particularly through repeated iterations). <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">These aren’t simply formal
experiments to generate random architectural form—their inherent efficiency is
only available with the correct correspondence between structural form and
forces (mere inches of thickness can span 100+ feet). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WSSftKl4bU8/Uxt6mDiyctI/AAAAAAAABdI/hN25KnoHJwY/s1600/IMG_4778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WSSftKl4bU8/Uxt6mDiyctI/AAAAAAAABdI/hN25KnoHJwY/s1600/IMG_4778.JPG" height="252" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The geometry for Kresge required more complicated formwork<br />
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</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">Creating a correspondence
between structural effectiveness, constructability and architectural expression
and experience is one my foundational beliefs in architectural
design—admittedly, this is firmly within the modernist tradition of rationality
and purposefulness in design, but as my friend Paul Mankins always says, “isn’t
the world irrational enough already?” These factors have created a “high risk /
high reward” paradox of shell design has marginalized its practice use and
viability—unnecessarily so, I’d argue.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">Because these types of
structures demand challenge many of our basic beliefs about the inherent relationship
between architecture, structures, and construction process, I believe they are
central to address in an architectural education; particularly a rigorous
design and technology based sequence. However, this is easier said than done. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hTKGKCftiHY/Uxt-GhQOR8I/AAAAAAAABdg/0l3-HvwWiNk/s1600/isler-diagrams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hTKGKCftiHY/Uxt-GhQOR8I/AAAAAAAABdg/0l3-HvwWiNk/s1600/isler-diagrams.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isler's drawing for possible shell forms</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">In order to teach information
about the proper generation of responsive structural forms, one must first make
sure students understand the difference in structural behaviors of these forms.
For example, a cylindrical shell acts as a beam, a dome doesn’t simply act like
a bunch of arches, and an anticlastic (double-curved) surfaces develop a
specific type of “membrane stress” that avoid the development of bending
stress---long story short is that these very specific structural forms are all
considered “shells” and each creates a unique architectural spatial enclosure,
but they all have VERY different relationships between the type of stresses,
location of stresses, overall cross-sectional qualities, and means of
constructability. Hopefully, you’ve stuck with me through the technical portion
of the blog—but its important to make that connection between form and forces,
especially for beginning design students.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BSifuftB9cU/Uxt-2ExaTvI/AAAAAAAABdk/OKqAsONWMCs/s1600/gaudi_model_barcelona.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BSifuftB9cU/Uxt-2ExaTvI/AAAAAAAABdk/OKqAsONWMCs/s1600/gaudi_model_barcelona.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gaudi's hanging chain model</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">In our structural design
sequence, students initially do experiment with several form active structural
systems (cables and arches as I’ve posted previously) so that they are prepared
to see how surface-active systems, like shells, are different in terms of form
and stresses. But one can’t simply introduce structural shell design theory in
a traditional manner and expect to get understand and engagement using
drawings, equations, and free-body diagrams. Swiss engineer Heinze Isler
famously shocked the International Structural Spatial Shells conference by
presenting an unbelievably abbreviated 500 word essay about shell design that
included no math—he was essentially advocating for a form-finding process that
involved hang fabric models upside down in order to find their proper shape.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Adobe Caslon Pro';"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Adobe Caslon Pro';"></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Adobe Caslon Pro';">Obviously Isler’s methodology
is an extension of Robert Hooke’s observation that the funicular shape of a
hanging cable is the inverse of a proper arch, and a different application for
Gaudi’s experiments with inverted string and sand bags at Sagrada Familla. But
Hooke and Gaudi applied these theories to domes and vaults, where there were separate
systems for vertical load transfer and enclosure. </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZF4hUiN_ufI/Uxt5dohwDtI/AAAAAAAABbw/CfOPZf-wv3o/s1600/DSC01767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZF4hUiN_ufI/Uxt5dohwDtI/AAAAAAAABbw/CfOPZf-wv3o/s1600/DSC01767.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judd's only completed building</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
The reason this was
radical was that these structural systems were seen as risky structures to
design with little historical precedent or rules of thumb to learn from—in lieu
of these precedents, engineers typically relied exclusively on mathematics. <span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">In fact, there is a 60-year argument
that Candela, Pier Luigi Nervi, and Heinz Isler have made that the traditional
mathematical models for thin shell design aren’t enough. They all essentially
argue, in their own unique manner, that engaging in the process of “building”
the shell is the easiest way to understand the formal possibilities.</span> These
are larger question about practice methodologies for engineers (e.g., Must
designers be builders? How much math is necessary and when is it necessary?).
These questions are related to larger issues of innovation and experimentation
in engineering practice and design that I will continue exploring in a long term
research project—stay tuned. <span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_sNM6gCqp_s/Uxt5RFHoxaI/AAAAAAAABbg/tyHIOL20-XQ/s1600/FIGURE+11_final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_sNM6gCqp_s/Uxt5RFHoxaI/AAAAAAAABbg/tyHIOL20-XQ/s1600/FIGURE+11_final.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The adjacent unfinished building</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">Focusing on an intuitive and
illustrative form finding process seemed the right place to start for our
structural design course, especially with the haptic-learning opportunities for
building the system itself. I felt that it was important to establish the
importance of how this design process itself could solve an actual design
problem. I found the answer in Marfa, Texas.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">Years ago, I wrote a paper
analyzing the design and construction failures found in series of thin shell
buildings designed by Donald Judd on his Chinati compound in Marfa, Texas. The
paper (found here on ISU’s digital repository) described how Judd treated this
building type as aesthetic primarily—although three different building types
were proposed with radically different spans and thrusts, he insisted on a uniform
thickness of all shell surfaces (it didn’t work, btw—as evidenced by a deformed
saddle shaped vault). He didn’t understand the complications with the process
of construction either, resulting in a poorly crafted single building and a
half-finished second building.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">In the lab, students were asked
to solve Donald Judd’s Ten Concrete Building problem using Heinz Isler’s
inverted fabric model methodology. It's a good match for the students because
Judd proposed three different types of spatial enclosures and the student
groups were tasked with creating a new thin shell design for each different
condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PrZYBWV-KSQ/Uxt5_QCJByI/AAAAAAAABc8/33biyhVS7is/s1600/thin+shell+process.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PrZYBWV-KSQ/Uxt5_QCJByI/AAAAAAAABc8/33biyhVS7is/s1600/thin+shell+process.jpg" height="332" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The various means of shaping the shells employed by students of the lab</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">Students were shown different
methods for hanging and stiffening fabric: cheese cloth coated with drywall
compound, canvas soaked in glue/water combination, fabric coated with a skim
coat of plaster, or a water-soaked fabric hung outside in the freezing Iowa
winter weather). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">Some students drape fabric around a balloon to mimic the
pneumatic formwork options found in practice. They are encouraged to experiment
with different fabric templates (not just a rectangular piece of fabric) in
order to better understand the relationship between the orthographic plan
dimension and the developmental three-dimensional shape of a curved structure.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8K_vHhuRRAs/Uxt5_Z705EI/AAAAAAAABc0/z41vrgvjzPc/s1600/student+prototype.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8K_vHhuRRAs/Uxt5_Z705EI/AAAAAAAABc0/z41vrgvjzPc/s1600/student+prototype.jpg" height="306" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"><br /></span>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N3h_5t2uQ_8/Uxt5qDwxvTI/AAAAAAAABcQ/3gYxB6JBAUE/s1600/IMG_3970+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N3h_5t2uQ_8/Uxt5qDwxvTI/AAAAAAAABcQ/3gYxB6JBAUE/s1600/IMG_3970+(1).jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a><span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">The structures are required to
be built, stiffened, and tested with weights to demonstrate the incredible stoutness
of the structural type. Students often find that a small structure, weighing
only ounces, can easily hold a concentrated load a hundred times heavier. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"><br /></span>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1_LkHC3yX5U/Uxt5ekpzuxI/AAAAAAAABb4/Ke0xPpbc9eo/s1600/2012-09-07+09.16.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1_LkHC3yX5U/Uxt5ekpzuxI/AAAAAAAABb4/Ke0xPpbc9eo/s1600/2012-09-07+09.16.41.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">In
the corresponding lab report, students are asked to: describe the form finding
process, draw an analysis of the stress locations in the shell, and comment
upon the difficulties of translating these designs into construction documents
and a full scale construction (based on supplemental readings and research). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro";">Finally, they are asked to consider the aesthetic and atmospheric nature of
their designs and are required to document aspects of their design that they
find exemplary in this regard. The lab report is a key component to help
students engage in the larger issues of structural design and architecture. Fun
time and serious business…sounds like architecture to me.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D8ulZY8mOAE/Uxt5vR_uMVI/AAAAAAAABco/ODN7ufvdaEI/s1600/INTERIOR+IMAGE+JUDD+SHELLS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D8ulZY8mOAE/Uxt5vR_uMVI/AAAAAAAABco/ODN7ufvdaEI/s1600/INTERIOR+IMAGE+JUDD+SHELLS.png" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Adobe Caslon Pro"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">As a final note, thin shell design is evolving
as a central part of my ongoing research as well; particularly in ways that it
ties into my ongoing work with Eero Saarinen and building “failures”—next
week’s post will update you on where this is going.</span><!--EndFragment-->
Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-19604686738975203972014-02-06T23:53:00.002-06:002014-02-06T23:53:40.029-06:00Bigger Steps<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wwZxbLhxQw4/UvRzavVA8UI/AAAAAAAABXA/bsfZtqYvM4I/s1600/IMG_0695.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wwZxbLhxQw4/UvRzavVA8UI/AAAAAAAABXA/bsfZtqYvM4I/s1600/IMG_0695.jpg" height="320" width="245" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M-2M57oVtM4/UvRzsHP8XiI/AAAAAAAABX4/JVBP1rnNRu8/s1600/IMG_0772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M-2M57oVtM4/UvRzsHP8XiI/AAAAAAAABX4/JVBP1rnNRu8/s1600/IMG_0772.jpg" height="320" width="309" /></a><br />
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Had a great lab today with my second year undergraduate students. We have been working with form-active structural systems and basic structural configurations for the last couple weeks. So far our cable structures and tent/membrane structures have all been relatively small scale experiments--albeit still enlightening, but limited in their overall scope and capacity to illustrate their structural behavior and capacity to a clear extent.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--1IdIaOf9Qg/UvRznYWOQ_I/AAAAAAAABXk/7DOHwYMcl1k/s1600/IMG_0720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--1IdIaOf9Qg/UvRznYWOQ_I/AAAAAAAABXk/7DOHwYMcl1k/s1600/IMG_0720.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a>Therefore, I decided to repeat last year's lab for the larger scale cardboard bridge structure and I got some good results. The learning objective was to see what they would do if they need to build an "arch-like" compressive structure using only corrugated cardboard.<br />
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The first stage of the lab required them to work in smaller teams of four to develop a small prototype of the larger bridge--some were very inventive and experimental while others were very optimistic and conservative representations of a classic arched bridge. The bridges were all tested and discussed in studio groups and then they formed larger teams in an effort to combine their ideas and create a new, full-scale bridge. <br />
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In the smaller groups, we talked about the challenges of translating the design up to full-scale. Four main discussion points occurred the most frequently. First, they realized that unless they could find GIANT pieces of cardboard, they were going to have to find a way to make this arch structure out of a series of connected, smaller pieces--as many of my readers might guess, this creates an instant liability for a structure under compression (like when one group made the NEVER stable 6-hinged arch). Second, because the material itself is subject to isotropic failure when it rips along a corrugation, they find profound limits with the material and its orientation quickly (although there were plenty of examples of shear stress failures). Next, even though the span is relatively short, there is still a great deal of instability that results from the arched shape generating thrust, and even though they were encouraged to find ways of stabilizing both ends of the structure against thrust, this because the primarily initial mode of failure. Finally, in lecture when you discuss how the line of thrust changes in an arch depending upon the placement of the consolidated point load (in this case, me), you may get a few blank stares, but when you start to walk across the bridge and it collapses and heaves just like it was diagrammed, it gives a pretty good lesson.<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6QC8Pf3ixs8/UvRzqRdNPyI/AAAAAAAABXw/KwTMGcVGhfM/s1600/IMG_0739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6QC8Pf3ixs8/UvRzqRdNPyI/AAAAAAAABXw/KwTMGcVGhfM/s1600/IMG_0739.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a><br />
The most successful designs were the ones that had incredibly rigid connection points that overlapped and interlocked, whereas the least successful relied up the allowable stress levels for duct tape and hot glue too much.<br />
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More than previous semesters, I have spent time talking about larger structural design strategies related not only to finding the appropriated arched form, but also how to understand how and where the loads would be transferred throughout the system. In general terms, many of these schemes dealt with a certain level of structural hierarchy that seemed quite appropriate (frequently creating 3 parallel arch constructs as the primary support (and form) with a modified waffle slab system running in between.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uW26g330KMs/UvRzjP2dXQI/AAAAAAAABXY/4GMzlg4W2dU/s1600/IMG_0713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uW26g330KMs/UvRzjP2dXQI/AAAAAAAABXY/4GMzlg4W2dU/s1600/IMG_0713.jpg" height="282" width="320" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QBMapqoRkkg/UvRzs8L48pI/AAAAAAAABYA/0lApp8w3Wsk/s1600/IMG_0761.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QBMapqoRkkg/UvRzs8L48pI/AAAAAAAABYA/0lApp8w3Wsk/s1600/IMG_0761.jpg" height="320" width="318" /></a>As always, one of the challenges is to try and explain the overall structural performance of a system to a group of students that only briefly knows about section-active bending theory--most of these structures could be seen as arched beams acting in tension and compression (instead of only compression as desired with the arch systems). However, just getting them to ask the questions about the distinctions between the two systems was interesting and rewarding. I content that these questions may not have come up if they hadn't been asked to build the structure full scale.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ndy8eRT00Zg/UvRzdaQhQNI/AAAAAAAABXI/IINGnAnm2mE/s1600/IMG_0707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ndy8eRT00Zg/UvRzdaQhQNI/AAAAAAAABXI/IINGnAnm2mE/s1600/IMG_0707.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7zywVCHvo0w/UvRzfhQxukI/AAAAAAAABXQ/YIKryqMu2RY/s1600/IMG_0701.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7zywVCHvo0w/UvRzfhQxukI/AAAAAAAABXQ/YIKryqMu2RY/s1600/IMG_0701.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a>Testing is always fun....last year I took a few spills (nothing serious) so this year I was more cautious in selecting the bridges to actually walk across. Many of them had some pretty fatal flaws that were evident upon inspection (tabbed connections between single pieces of cardboard acting as bearing arches or simply asking the duct tape to do too much...).<br />
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Enjoy the photos.Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-14068598529621680972014-01-31T09:00:00.002-06:002014-01-31T21:12:45.016-06:00Simplicity with Complexity: The Unified Craft of Saarinen's Scott Chapel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the midst of difficult times, my mother always taught me to try and find something good--so with all I've got today, Jayme, here we go.<br />
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I'm lucky enough to have a job where my personal life, professional interests, and career obligations get to overlap in so many different ways--I get to find interesting things, study them, and hopefully present what I've found in an interesting and insightful way. Unfortunately, architectural research at the academic level at times demands so much specificity across a narrow band of the discipline that it unintentionally diminishes the value of the general interest topics and in doing so, obscures the relevance to larger architectural and cultural issues. Finding something unique and original to discuss in architectural research isn't difficult, the challenge is making sure what you have zoomed in on to study has a life and meaning beyond itself.<br />
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But sometimes, your life intersects with a unique building that rewards you with great memories, instructional material, and a significant research agenda. For me, that building is Eero Saarinen's <a href="http://buildingamoderncampus.com/chapel.html">Scott Chapel on Drake University</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4sIw1cAns64/Uuu4iv5s8QI/AAAAAAAABWk/orDuzP1UwXA/s1600/divinity+rendering.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4sIw1cAns64/Uuu4iv5s8QI/AAAAAAAABWk/orDuzP1UwXA/s1600/divinity+rendering.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a>The project has been on my mind a lot lately as childhood memories come flooding back, and as my Eero Saarinen research is kicking into gear again AND recent news that this iconic skylight for the building will be predominantly featured on the cover for the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Design-Tech-Building-Architects-Jason-Alread/dp/0415817854/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1390556307&sr=8-2&keywords=design-tech+alread">Second Edition of the Design-Tech</a> textbook. I huge nod of congratulations and thanks to my incredibly insightful, intelligent, and overall wonderful friends and co-authors, Tom Leslie and Jason Alread for letting me tag along for the second edition and for Routledge for making the process so professionally rewarding. Tom has summarized the process and history of the textbook project well <a href="http://architecturefarm.wordpress.com/2014/01/10/son-of-the-return-of/">here</a>, at his interesting blog, <a href="http://architecturefarm.wordpress.com/">Architecture Farm</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z3kmRboTqv0/Uuu3jofHjMI/AAAAAAAABWM/XEDOTp0PxR4/s1600/Scott-0036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z3kmRboTqv0/Uuu3jofHjMI/AAAAAAAABWM/XEDOTp0PxR4/s1600/Scott-0036.JPG" height="320" width="316" /></a>The selection for the Scott Chapel was an obvious choice for us. Through the years all three of us have taught graduate level studio courses in which the Scott Chapel was one of the projects studied and documented by students. Jason was the project architect for its perfectly executed restoration during his time at <a href="http://www.substancearchitecture.com/">Substance Architecture</a> and has helped preserve this icon for the next half-century.<br />
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For me, I feel that this project has been a part of my life on and off for decades. I first experienced this project as a young man growing up across the street from Drake University--with Saarinen's national award winning Women's Dormitory project right out my bedroom window. I used to wander around Drake's campus, especially in the summer, and would wander through this magical campus that featured dozens of buildings by both Eliel and Eero Saarinen, one building by Mies, and several buildings by Harry Weese--as Phillip Johnson told the Drake University board when interviewing for a project on campus, "It was at Drake University where a new age of modern architecture began."<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4UZRNfa2m3Q/Uuu3fnCDeII/AAAAAAAABV8/H8FX6VidRw8/s1600/IMG_0911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4UZRNfa2m3Q/Uuu3fnCDeII/AAAAAAAABV8/H8FX6VidRw8/s1600/IMG_0911.JPG" height="400" width="266" /></a>I used to see this small, round, windowless building on campus, but I never went in---until years later when my mother and step-dad got married there (they did it out of economy, not out of architectural adoration, but I think that perception changed quickly for them as well). I remember so clearly understanding, even at nine years old, that the building that was designed to invoke certain feelings. Perhaps some of my readers will remember the first time a piece of architecture really spoke to you, and when you first understood it...this was my moment. What a gift.<br />
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I remember the bright light from the skylight illuminating the glowing white stone altar and how the witnesses to the ceremony were surrounding the altar space in the shadows in their high-backed chairs. There was an isolation and focus to the room (a function of its shape, arrangement, and daylighting strategy) that intentionally excluded the rest of the campus "noise." It was a building made of only of brick, wood, and stone, all brilliantly brought to life through daylight. It was simple and powerful....I was nine years old and remember it like it was yesterday.<br />
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A definitive history of Drake University's architectural development has yet to be written, but Maura Lyons (Assoc. Prof. in Art/Design at Drake), but together this incredibly interesting display and <a href="http://buildingamoderncampus.com/index.html">website</a> several years ago. My own research about Drake's campus buildings, articles for the Construction History Society of America and Preservation Education Journals, looked at certain "failures" in the work of Saarinen and Mies on campus.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6S9GnXw8zOY/Uuu3trXeiwI/AAAAAAAABWU/5AKfqTkI6Jg/s1600/IMG_0766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6S9GnXw8zOY/Uuu3trXeiwI/AAAAAAAABWU/5AKfqTkI6Jg/s1600/IMG_0766.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a>As part of this research I got to talk to the former Dean of the Divinity School, John McCaw, who worked with directly with Eero on this project in the early 1950s. By this time, Eero was working on the GM Tech Center, the Jefferson Memorial Arch, Kresge Auditorium and Chapel at MIT, and several projects in Columbus, Indiana--a busy man. Dean McCaw describe Eero's early sketches for the project where he proposed burying the chapel in the hillside behind the Divinity School, Medburry Hall, but it seemed too problematic for many reasons. Dean McCaw suggested that the building stand on its own but still retain the same anticipated sense of mystery and internal focus.<br />
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He described Eero's agile mind and keen interest in the beliefs of the Disciples of Christ. The centralized organizational strategy was always the starting point with some sort of altar in the middle--a direct reference to the Disciples practice of gathering "at the table." Dean McCaw recounted how Eero suggested originally that the circular worship space and altar be recessed into the ground (too pagan, he was told) so he immediately determined that it should step up towards the light (and god). Good choice.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B4hskOjnxlI/Uuu2rkouzWI/AAAAAAAABVU/fLtnWRO94fQ/s1600/IMG_4882.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B4hskOjnxlI/Uuu2rkouzWI/AAAAAAAABVU/fLtnWRO94fQ/s1600/IMG_4882.jpg" height="417" width="640" /></a>There aren't that many ways to frame the roof of a circle, even fewer when a central skylight is desired, but suffice to say that a tension ring in the middle is required. The brilliant part about this scheme's framing design, and one of the reasons that it is featured on the cover of our book, is that this relatively simply structural framing challenge became simultaneously complex and simple. Saarinen exposed the wooden framing which radiated out from the exterior wall, then split apart in plan and section to form a more beautiful (and more structurally effective) form. By split the framing in this way, the connection points to the tension ring on the top and bottom of the ring are split apart, creating this iconic diagonal line. Brilliantly, framing members from one radius point align and intersect with other framing members at the tension ring---the harmony illuminated by light.<br />
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I think different people see different things in the building, literally and symbolically which is a testament to its compositional, formal, and material proficiencies. It took me a long time for to really see it for what it means to <b>me</b> and here it goes:<br />
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<i>No matter how busy your life gets, take the time to really listen to people. </i><br />
<i>Find a simple idea that is powerful, and apply the full extent of your knowledge, craft, and care to make it more than anyone expected--in other words, do your job well. </i><br />
<i>Work hard to leave behind a legacy that positively affects others--but don't worry about personal recognition for your work. </i><br />
<i>In all things, be smart and caring and appreciate the beauty of life. </i><br />
<i>Love the daylight. </i><br />
<i>Live your life--do something with this gift you've been given.</i><br />
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I will miss you Jayme Sue Alter Whitehead-Jacobi. All my love. Thank you for the gifts you gave me.<br />
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<br />Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-61617423391408458292014-01-22T11:12:00.001-06:002014-01-22T11:24:58.230-06:00Experiencing Architecture: Access or ExclusionSome terrible news recently about two of my favorite buildings, The Folk Art Museum and Ronchamp, that have got me thinking about the educational value of experiencing architecture and the potential negative impact that may result from their demolition and/or restricted access.<br />
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First, heartbreaking news that one of the 20th century's great modernist structures, Notre Dame du Haut, Chapel of Ronchamp by Le Corbusier was vandalized over the weekend. Vandals damaged the door by trying to pry it open, broke one of Corbu's original stained glass windows to gain entry, and took the concrete donation box (which was reportedly empty). Kids will be kids and idiots are everywhere so I'm not surprised that this sort of thing can, or did, happen. I can't help but worry about what effect this event may have on the future access to this building. <br />
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According to the article from ArchDaily, Antoine Picon, President of the Fondation, called on the Association
Oeuvre Notre-Dame-du-Haut to “better protect the heritage of the
twentieth century and that of Le Corbusier in particular,” including the use of emergency measures for security. More security will most certainly mean more restricted access to the building which will require a secured perimeter around the site....this perhaps will be a worse problem long term than the vandalism itself.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-osu8pl70w4c/Ut_-Z4KQwaI/AAAAAAAABUk/enPTwIAzy2A/s1600/ronchamp+overview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-osu8pl70w4c/Ut_-Z4KQwaI/AAAAAAAABUk/enPTwIAzy2A/s1600/ronchamp+overview.jpg" height="276" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sketch and Watercolor: R. Whitehead 1997</td></tr>
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Like the 80,000 people per year that attend the church may tell you, this pilgrimage church isn't very easy to find....a 40 minute cab ride from nearby small town of Belfort, France did the trick for me 15 years ago (time well spent in a Mercedes E Class cab discussing the trajectory of Corbu's career with a fascinating cab driver....but I digress). Once you arrive at the site, there is a wonderful sense of openness that invites exploration. You climb a winding path ascending to the church. The pathway that cuts through the remarkably green grass takes you all the way around the church to the doors that are hidden on the back side (opposite of the iconic wall with articulated stained glass openings and the custom ceramic door). Throughout the walk you see the remarkably interesting material and formal qualities of the building from all sides---the building defies you to retain one clear simplistic formal memory.<br />
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Alternatively you can continue on to the exterior chapel and imagine the services on Easter....impressively spiritual even for an atheist like myself. I think the small statue of the Virgin Mary set into the glass box, simultaneously visible from both the interior and exte<br />
rior, is perhaps the most impressive formal and experiential compositional piece of the building (and that's saying something).<br />
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The chapel was cold and silent and we had this magnificent experience in the building that I will never forget. One of my finest, pure moment of architectural ecstasy and solemnity (the next day's trip to LaTourette came close, but that's another story).<br />
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Now imagine this experience behind a fenced in site, on a timed guided tour, with strict security measures, and restrictions on photography (like Fallingwater). Nothing is to indicate that this will occur to this extent, but its worth considering the value to be gained from unrestricted access. I understand that for certain buildings these sorts of measures must be taken to preserve the building's themselves but I remain nervous about how this will affect the experiential qualities of this particular building, and therefore its value and continued cultural influence for generations to follow.<br />
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Speaking of the negative consequences of restricting access to great buildings, news that the Folk Art Museum in New York City will be demolished to make way for (another) MoMA expansion hit most fans of the amazing Williams and Tsien building like a punch in the gut. I won't debate the merits of how the building could or couldn't fit in the context of MoMA's expansion plans, I believe Elizabeth Diller that they tried everything they could to incorporate it, but couldn't find a way to make it work with the floor levels and overall anticipated need for larger gallery sizes and circulation space. But honestly, that's not the point. The world will be losing a great piece of experiential architecture.<br />
<br />
The Folk Art Museum wasn't intended to be an addition to another structure, it was obviously designed to inhabit the impossibly small 40' x 100' long site in a very particular way that was COMPLETELY related to the act of movement and experience. For those who had never walked through the building, it is difficult to describe, and the photos and/or rare building sections simply don't do it justice. The images focus more on the idiosyncratic formal and material features of the building (which are impressive in and of themselves), but these moments are only revealed through the various means of movement up and through the eight-story building. Three different stairs and various multi-leveled spaces filled with different light levels revealed some of the finest Folk Art from around the world (I collect folk art from celebrated artists like Mose T and Jimmy Sudduth so I was a fan of the building in many ways).<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J4luuB-wMNM/Ut_-sPHhFbI/AAAAAAAABUs/zK7i5es_B4U/s1600/jimmy_lee_sudduth_nyc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J4luuB-wMNM/Ut_-sPHhFbI/AAAAAAAABUs/zK7i5es_B4U/s1600/jimmy_lee_sudduth_nyc.jpg" height="318" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New York City by Jimmy Lee Sudduth</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Simply put, on our yearly field trips to NYC, this building was one of the few required tours because it taught students so much about designing in section as an experiential and formal exercise. My colleague once pointed out that the building occupied the exact same site area as nearby Palley Park which blew my mind.<br />
<br />
When we make our trip to NYC again this week, we will stop by, of course. I hate when the building is discussed simply in terms of the facade (although the white bronze panels are quite beautiful and teach a wonderful lesson about the value of understanding how manufacturing methods may lead to unique design ). I find it interesting that, according to Williams and Tsiens website to "make a quiet statement of independence" from MoMA. Indeed you did.<br />
<br />
Two lessons I take from this all, which I will share with my students is this: Seek out great architecture in person and do whatever you can to walk THROUGH the building instead of around it. and second, be mindful of your experience while you are in the building. Take your time--sketch, think, and move around....pictures are nice reminders but they are poor substitutes for the depth of memories to be created through mindful engagement with space. The discipline is meant to be experienced---so get out there and see some cool stuff before its too late.<span id="goog_1192284471"></span><br />
<span id="goog_1192284470"></span>Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-50273880622833530132014-01-15T12:00:00.000-06:002014-01-16T08:28:42.549-06:00Thoughtful Building <br />
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<br />
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">"I am the space where I am."
Gaston Bachelard, Poetics of Space</span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Bachelard's quote struck me like a
thunderbolt so many years ago and it has stayed with me for decades, perhaps
for a relatively simple reason--architecture gives me comfort. Bachelard’s
quote implies a sense of control that can be found in defining who you are by
the spaces you occupy or create (both literally and figuratively). </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Personally,
when faced with various levels of adversity and uncertainty, I've always found
solace in the discipline of trying to make beautiful things. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">This may seem a bit paradoxical to many of my
students or other professionals out there--I understand that work and/or school
are filled with profound challenges that become the very source for much of the
adversity we face. But a life spent in pursuit of design teaches one primary wonderful
lesson—when you help others, you learn to help yourself. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Through the years I’ve realized that practicing architecture isn't just about “buildings.” Architecture is primarily a process of finding order through chaos. Architects
develop an ability to critically identify problems by observing, listening,
and empathizing in order to translate these observations into a series of
interrelated beautiful and productive choices. I believe that through this problem-solving process we learn how to think of others. In other words, I believe that how we solve our own problems is also a
reflection of how we see the role others in our lives, and by extension, how we
view and value our obligations to the world we are creating. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">For this, I turn to<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Thoreau (as I should more frequently),
"There is an incessant influx of novelty into the world and yet we
tolerate incredible dullness." </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">This quote reminds me that architecture cannot be reduced to only
solving certain problems or simply "working hard" (so do washing
machines as my wife likes to say)—it must be purposefully cognizant of the
legacy it leaves behind and the example it sets for others. The very lesson we must consider in how we live our own lives.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">To be clear, I think that it’s important to
create beautiful things whether or not they are intended to be shared with
others. Actively pursuing life’s beautiful things proactively is a communal
activity even indirectly. In fact, that's the true gift of life--to pursue beauty and meaning and order and to support others in their efforts to do the same.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">It is truly a gift to be granted the ability to think
and practice in this way, as perhaps when the time comes to solve our own
problems, we may be ready to solve them with consideration and grace. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Sam Mockbee once told me, “Son, your design
makes me think that you are either ready to mourn or ready to love…I can’t tell
which one.” Always a bit of both, my friend.</span><br />
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Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-70015526834027967162013-05-09T14:33:00.001-05:002013-05-09T14:33:42.232-05:00Finding Form through Fabrication: Experiments in Plastic Thin Shell SheltersRegular readers know I love my job--this is a good example of why.<br />
<br />
For the last year I have been working with two graduate students, Nathan Scott and Bart Phillips, on a fascinating research and design project centered around the design and construction of a thin shell structural prototype that challenges many of the traditional limitations found in these structural forms. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j5J6uurirLk/UYvRf8qkG0I/AAAAAAAABEY/jpXUQ9KfdWk/s1600/isler+form+finding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="115" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j5J6uurirLk/UYvRf8qkG0I/AAAAAAAABEY/jpXUQ9KfdWk/s200/isler+form+finding.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isler plaster shell form method</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eCxSXDAWsv4/UYvLnk73tqI/AAAAAAAABB4/879nB9cFPdI/s1600/fuller_black_mountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eCxSXDAWsv4/UYvLnk73tqI/AAAAAAAABB4/879nB9cFPdI/s200/fuller_black_mountain.jpg" width="172" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fuller at Black Mountain College</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have always been fascinated by many of Buckminster Fuller's early teaching
experiments with structure, form, and fabrication (particular during his stint at Black Mountain College in 1948 where the first geodesic prototype was constructed). Additionally, Heinz Isler's low-tech methods for form-finding in shells has served as an inspirational example for how non-engineers (like myself) can still experiment with these forms.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yg_qlTTavds/UYvN62mj7JI/AAAAAAAABEI/kr-CkxtBqDI/s1600/Scan+13.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="121" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yg_qlTTavds/UYvN62mj7JI/AAAAAAAABEI/kr-CkxtBqDI/s200/Scan+13.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eladio Dieste Storage Center</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And finally, the more I research these structural forms, the more I realize that the true genius of Felix Candela and Eladio Dieste's work is how closely they have considered innovations in construction as an integral part of their shell designs. Happily these two students are equally interested in the creation of expressive structural forms with a focus on material and construction limitations as part of their education.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UpmbEGY2pzU/UYvLvzLtfMI/AAAAAAAABCE/-sZajLcgEG4/s1600/2Ribs2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UpmbEGY2pzU/UYvLvzLtfMI/AAAAAAAABCE/-sZajLcgEG4/s320/2Ribs2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original computer model of shell structure form</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6rYMYWosXDc/UYvRgMtAXVI/AAAAAAAABEg/0ebsqI4__gE/s1600/pneumatic+process.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6rYMYWosXDc/UYvRgMtAXVI/AAAAAAAABEg/0ebsqI4__gE/s320/pneumatic+process.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creation of a framework, bladder and pneumatic system</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Originally they were trying to determine
different ways to design and build highly efficient and expressive thin
shell structural forms--traditionally these are structural forms that
only select and highly specialized engineers could determine, but they
wanted to see if they could find and eventually build a shell structure
by combined both high-tech computer imaging software with low-tech
modeling techniques. They approached the form-finding portion of their explorations with a quite intentional and useful high-tech / low-tech approach. Using the open source software program, Cadenary, they were able to create a digital representation of hanging funicular shell structure (imagine if Gaudi had this!) which could then be imported into Grasshopper. Concurrently they used Isler's methods of inverting plaster-coated membranes and pneumatics to understand others methods for finding forms and the essential complications with constructing shells.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FBbmAHHnBm8/UYvRfyQO9EI/AAAAAAAABEc/x-VqXoNmfrY/s1600/pneumatic+process2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FBbmAHHnBm8/UYvRfyQO9EI/AAAAAAAABEc/x-VqXoNmfrY/s200/pneumatic+process2.jpg" width="197" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plaster cast over inflated bladder</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FQ8e73eeLr8/UYvL_kUcd5I/AAAAAAAABCg/TO7dN37iEVs/s1600/DSC06540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FQ8e73eeLr8/UYvL_kUcd5I/AAAAAAAABCg/TO7dN37iEVs/s200/DSC06540.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />Traditionally these forms have been very
difficult and expensive to build (thus their declining use in
construction) so this semester has been focused on trying to also find
ways that these structures could be fabricated and constructed in an
efficient manner by using the latest design and fabrication technology
(at least the latest available technology for ISU's Dept. of Architecture).<br />
<br />
The next stages consisted of the production of several prototypes of escalating scales: cardboard models, 3d printed components, large scale corrugated cardboard enclosure, etc. As expected, at each stage of development new considerations and design alterations needed to be made in order to actually build the form.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YuMQ7wS9E24/UYvMEpXlfMI/AAAAAAAABCo/gLjtM-z4LLM/s1600/IsometricView_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YuMQ7wS9E24/UYvMEpXlfMI/AAAAAAAABCo/gLjtM-z4LLM/s200/IsometricView_1.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oOGj3r16nHY/UYvL1DdgrZI/AAAAAAAABCI/FEyuegKMDvQ/s1600/Corners+Middle_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oOGj3r16nHY/UYvL1DdgrZI/AAAAAAAABCI/FEyuegKMDvQ/s200/Corners+Middle_1.jpg" width="194" /></a>Interestingly, one of the most basic and important conclusions they discovered was the fact that the shell form itself was not going to be a true anticlastic double-curved surface if it was going to be made out of flat paneled materials. In order to get a curved surface, they had to define certain parameters for the geometry of the shell that would allow it to fold and curve. How each flat panel would be adjoined to others to create such a specific curved geometry also became a key point of focus. One of the goals of the design was that it would be easier to build than a traditional shell--therefore, the connections needed to be simple, but effective. The 3D printed panels had small interlocking tabs/teeth which were fragile and left little room for in-field adjustment--essentially they were very cool but didn't have the right practical application.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MTJDaOucev4/UYvncAX8WGI/AAAAAAAABFA/RnsV5UTj0Cw/s1600/IMG_2594.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MTJDaOucev4/UYvncAX8WGI/AAAAAAAABFA/RnsV5UTj0Cw/s200/IMG_2594.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KSPZECQse_c/UYvm__SxReI/AAAAAAAABE4/P7RiZV-26Wg/s1600/IMG_2591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KSPZECQse_c/UYvm__SxReI/AAAAAAAABE4/P7RiZV-26Wg/s200/IMG_2591.JPG" width="200" /></a>The first larger scale panel prototype was actually a series of thin cardboard boxes with a defined geometry for each panel that was adjoined from below with a series of very low-tech cardboard tabs. Two major advancements came from this prototype: 1. Understanding that the panels couldn't be "flat"--they needed to have depth around the perimeter (like a "box") in order to better connect the panels to each other from below and 2. That there needed to be a specifically considered sequence to the construction that would allow all four "feet" to be connected by a series of four major arches in order to stabilize the system and define the geometry without using formwork centering (obviously Guastivino had this figured out 150 years ago, as did the Catalonians, but who's keeping track). As a result, this method of connecting the panels together connected them from below was a major step forward in the prototyping.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WkJSVo4lSYc/UYvN2ygPl3I/AAAAAAAABEA/oioOiNm2Gc8/s1600/IMG_2597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WkJSVo4lSYc/UYvN2ygPl3I/AAAAAAAABEA/oioOiNm2Gc8/s200/IMG_2597.jpg" width="149" /></a>But the square-like nature of the panels meant that the shell had very little double curvature and the panels themselves weren't inherently rigid. By using a folded paper prototype (back to the low-tech methodology!) the group decided to redefine the panels as a series of inter-locked triangular boxes. With the end of the semester rapidly approaching, the decision was made to try out the idea on a full-scale constructed prototype--the results of which you can see below.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sBAZNyNrqTE/UYvsheIdseI/AAAAAAAABFQ/JR8cftFQyNQ/s1600/panel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sBAZNyNrqTE/UYvsheIdseI/AAAAAAAABFQ/JR8cftFQyNQ/s200/panel.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panel prototype</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To produce the panels, the parametric modeling software defined the relatively exact profile for each panel and this information was transferred to a series of plan layout drawings so the CNC router could accurately cut out all the triangular panels. Each panel (with flaps) was cut of the original 40 sheets of 4' x 8' transluscent polypropylene (Polygal brand). Obviously thanks to the CNC machine, the work was cut quickly and accurately (a good first stage in the proof-testing). Learning from previous experiments, the group decided to use a decidedly low-tech, but effective system for adjoining the panels--zip ties. The zip ties allowed for panels to be quickly and effectively joined together using a highly affordable system that could be removed and readjusted as needed.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N7aPdAEeTxs/UYvMlphWoRI/AAAAAAAABDI/PMBl8ZJoAr0/s1600/IMG_3046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N7aPdAEeTxs/UYvMlphWoRI/AAAAAAAABDI/PMBl8ZJoAr0/s200/IMG_3046.jpg" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early stage construction</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With the excitement of 9 months worth of work fueling them, they started construction of the structure at night in the courtyard behind the College of Design. I would like to say that everything literally snapped together as the computer model anticipated, but obviously it didn't. Even when you know that certain adjustment will need to be made in the field, it is still frustrating. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R4EUCjGcX30/UYvM-8G3gKI/AAAAAAAABDQ/mjufI2Ih9wY/s1600/IMG_3061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R4EUCjGcX30/UYvM-8G3gKI/AAAAAAAABDQ/mjufI2Ih9wY/s320/IMG_3061.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attaching panels and adjusting geometry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The flexibility of the triangles and the zip-ties were both a blessing and a curse seemingly. The flexibility allowed for them to push and pull the panels together as needed to create the proper structural shape, but the shape was inherently unstable at times until it could be appropriately secured to the adjacent panels.<br />
<br />
The feet were each built separately and temporarily braced with a nearby
wood palette. After placing them in their correct locations on the
ground, a series of arches were built that tied the feet together (like
the prototype suggested) that provided the necessary stability to
continue.Eventually all four feet were tied together with the arches and the enclosure panels could be lifted into place. <br />
<br />
Within one day, less than 5 people were able to complete the construction of the full scale prototype. Ultimately, this structure cost under $500, took 1 day to fabricate and 1 day to build. It weighs
less than 150 pounds and encloses a relatively large space 470 cubic feet (about 12' x 12' x 8' high in the middle) with fairly
little structural depth. The structure can be disassembled and
reassembled multiple times in different locations without losing its
structural integrity.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lhXY49eSbbw/UYvNVIeGsTI/AAAAAAAABD4/RD4Wqf72SmI/s1600/IMG_3112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lhXY49eSbbw/UYvNVIeGsTI/AAAAAAAABD4/RD4Wqf72SmI/s400/IMG_3112.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Final Polymer Shell Structure in Context</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7PCar5SBTGw/UYvNBSeFelI/AAAAAAAABDY/g4yjWFJ_bfA/s1600/IMG_3069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7PCar5SBTGw/UYvNBSeFelI/AAAAAAAABDY/g4yjWFJ_bfA/s400/IMG_3069.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The transluscent triangular panels and zip ties create a unique interior space.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Defining what the project is now is a simple question compared to the question of what the project might eventually become. <br />
<br />
The structure is a prototype
that can lead to many diverse, but important evolutions going
forward--basically any application where a large amount of space needs
to be enclosed quickly and efficiently with the option for demountability and reuse is possible.<br />
<br />
The
range of these applications could include the humanitarian (e.g., disaster relief shelters), the productive (e.g., vernacular farm structures for hay drying, greenhouses, etc.), or even the whimsical (e.g., children's playhouses). <br />
<br />
Imagine getting a 4 x 8 x 1 box shipped to your location which includes all the panels and connections you'd need with IKEA-like instructions for the simple installation of a beautifully expressive but highly efficient panel structure. The system itself invites speculation and variation. Aesthetically
certain panels could be removed, or filled with insulation, or made of
different materials to adjust the thermal comfort levels or experiential
qualities.<br />
<br />
In fact, because these process has ranged from form finding to
fabrication, the team feels confident that with a certain amount of time
and money that a wider variety of different shell geometries types
could be prototyped. I personally believe that a legitimately longer
clear span space (30'+) could be created using the same sized components
(assuming a continued refinement of the connection system and panel
geometries). <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gDpxD6mMLfo/UYvNPxzXHyI/AAAAAAAABDw/cbhdT65-3W0/s1600/IMG_3107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gDpxD6mMLfo/UYvNPxzXHyI/AAAAAAAABDw/cbhdT65-3W0/s320/IMG_3107.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Geometry of the Panels</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WWHR46fPfNE/UYvNGX-V7EI/AAAAAAAABDg/YReKb0jp8SQ/s1600/IMG_3094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WWHR46fPfNE/UYvNGX-V7EI/AAAAAAAABDg/YReKb0jp8SQ/s200/IMG_3094.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awkward Connection Detail</td></tr>
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Looking back on the process, finding the structural appropriate forms was in
fact, quite readily achievable using these methods, but we realized that
wasn't the main challenge. During the process it seemed like just getting a structure of this geometry built was the ultimate goal, but I don't think the refining the relationship between panel geometry, connections and erection sequencing are going far enough.<br />
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There is a larger architectural and economic question here about the role that efficient, effective, and affordable shelters could play in our built environment--again, the exact questions that Fuller, Isler, Candela and Dieste found would define their careers.<br />
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A question I assume all of us will continue to study. Nice work, fellas.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bart Phillips (left) and Nathan Scott (right) in front of the nearly finished structure (braced sticks were removed).</td></tr>
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Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-2813966005937964692013-04-30T15:17:00.000-05:002013-04-30T15:17:06.088-05:00Designing ConstructionLeading up to the fourth semester of structural design education, my ISU students have been exposed to a great deal of traditional structural design educational content: forces/loads, form-active arch & cable systems, section-active components (beams, columns, slabs, etc.), albeit they have learned this information in a relatively non-traditional manner. Not only have they completed a series of interesting hands-on modeling and testing exercises but they have also learned basic calculation and sizing methods for most of these systems.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CH5mkNRQK90/UYAhfJyKNQI/AAAAAAAABBM/EULfOpH1Hko/s1600/DYMAXION+ASSEMBLY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CH5mkNRQK90/UYAhfJyKNQI/AAAAAAAABBM/EULfOpH1Hko/s320/DYMAXION+ASSEMBLY.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fuller's Model of the construction sequence of the Dymaxion House.</td></tr>
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I certainly appreciate the value of this information in the curriculum, but completing calculations alone isn't contextualized enough within the realm of architectural design to really create deeper learning. For instance, I would guess that some readers who are also educators of structural design (or for that matter, students) would agree that the ability to size a beam doesn't necessarily translate into any amount of confidence to envision and create a larger design layout for a structural system that is integrated into a design project. A bit of a chicken and egg issue, of course, that depends upon the larger context within which the information is presented.<br />
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In my opinion, the learning objectives should include specific knowledge about how different structural materials may allow for considerably different arrangements AND how their selection of different types of structural systems (e.g., pre-cast vs. structural steel) have additional considerations beyond simply their structural performance and component sizing. I've found that if you discuss these different systems across a broader range of considerations (e.g., the ecological profile of different structural materials, implications related to material cost, fabrication, and erection), AS WELL AS showing how these systems can also create experientially rich spaces, that students are better able to process this learning and adopt certain aspects of it into their larger developing framework for architectural design priorities. These are the qualities of architectural design that I admire so much that I want to show students the potential richness of this simultaneous engagement in broader design and construction (running joke from my students is that I need to have at least one slide of Saarinen, Kahn, and Piano in each lecture).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UuVG76FQ4BU/UYAfkOFdedI/AAAAAAAABAg/O_NeyR1UZy4/s1600/LAB5_Final_KELSI_MIKE_Page_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UuVG76FQ4BU/UYAfkOFdedI/AAAAAAAABAg/O_NeyR1UZy4/s320/LAB5_Final_KELSI_MIKE_Page_2.jpg" width="138" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Student Greenhouse Assembly Proposal</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z69MxOE9sfo/UYAftYUbRHI/AAAAAAAABAo/jax8p5wTyQM/s1600/LAB5_Final_KELSI_MIKE_Page_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z69MxOE9sfo/UYAftYUbRHI/AAAAAAAABAo/jax8p5wTyQM/s320/LAB5_Final_KELSI_MIKE_Page_3.jpg" width="185" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Student Greenhouse Assembly Proposal</td></tr>
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This semester I decided to try and contextualize the learning objectives in a slightly different way--I created a theme for all the work and labs that I called, <i>Designing Construction</i>. Simply put, in order to have the students learn more about the confluence between structural design and system layout, I gave them a series of exercises that got them thinking, designing, and researching how various systems would also be fabricated and constructed. This learning is a direct extension from my last post in which I discussed the importance of studying existing building systems too.<br />
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Those who have practiced and done extensive construction administration work will probably all agree that the one person on the job site that knows nearly as much as the foreman (or foreperson) about the construction of structures is the structural engineer--they have to know about how it is built in order to know how it should be designed. Yet rarely do we ask architectural students in the structures class to engage in this work--there may be opportunities in studio or design build class that come up, but it really also needs to be a part of a structural design education for architects.*<br />
*An obvious caveat is that this learning will not be equivalent to the amount of information that civil engineers and construction engineers will know, but with direct engagement in these issues, students could remain oblivious to this critical range of design considerations. <br />
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The first few labs involved a series of related design problems that compared cast-in place concrete to pre-cast. Essentially they were asked to craft a design using a particular system and compare pros and cons of the systems to each-other INCLUDING construction issues of fabrication and erection. All drawings related to this work were required to be three-dimensional in nature so that they had to think of the components as spatial objects to conjoin. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A8UHhdmDTM4/UYAgF2lLQII/AAAAAAAABA4/N9OVBol4VRU/s1600/Lab+5_SPACE+FRAME_Page_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="404" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A8UHhdmDTM4/UYAgF2lLQII/AAAAAAAABA4/N9OVBol4VRU/s640/Lab+5_SPACE+FRAME_Page_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another student team proposal for the ISU Arboretum Greenhouse Proposal: A system of assembly is shown</td></tr>
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The next labs had more specific requirements for design and research which I found quite illustrative for the students and hopefully engaging. For example, one lab assignment involved the design of a small "demountable" greenhouse structure in a remote location of ISU's Arborteum space--the location being so remote that all pieces needed to be carried in by hand. They greenhouse was scaled to be quite small (15 x 20 in plan) so that basic rules of thumb for sizing and layout would suffice. Students were asked to draw the design of their greenhouses as an instruction manual (e.g. first these pieces, then those, etc.) in order to really get them thinking about the relationship between structural components and their assembly (totally stole this idea from the SHoP Architects presentation at ACSA which I discussed in an earlier post).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-twqVAG-tsCA/UYAgItmL_YI/AAAAAAAABBA/1KECFwp0D0o/s1600/Lab+5_SPACE+FRAME_Page_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-twqVAG-tsCA/UYAgItmL_YI/AAAAAAAABBA/1KECFwp0D0o/s400/Lab+5_SPACE+FRAME_Page_3.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detailed thinking about the module construction & a Crystal Palace analysis drawing.</td></tr>
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During this same lab they were asked to research the Crystal Palace--specifically they were asked to study and draw one of the many structural and construction innovations incorporated into the building (based on a brief shortlist of possible topics I compiled). Again, the drawing needed to be three dimensional and sequential.<br />
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In my next post I will discuss the next lab in this series which may be perhaps my favorite STP lab so far...disaster relief shelter design and analysis. Stay tuned.<br />
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As always, thanks for reading.<br />
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<br />Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-65594209263459240282013-04-02T12:09:00.000-05:002013-04-02T12:09:08.884-05:00Observing Scale and System<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vuML4IU2HtA/UVsOOAuhCqI/AAAAAAAAA_4/uPI63eHtraM/s1600/vaulted+brick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vuML4IU2HtA/UVsOOAuhCqI/AAAAAAAAA_4/uPI63eHtraM/s320/vaulted+brick.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mapungubwe Interpretive Center by Peter Rich (& John Ochsendorf)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Today, I'm starting the five-week module for the fourth course in the sequence--thematically they module is about putting it all together (technically and aesthetically). By now the students have hopefully developed quite a bit of structural design "vocabulary and grammar"--we have covered forces/loads, equilibrium, stability in systems, force-active systems (cables, arches), surface-active systems (shells, tents, pneumatics), and section-active systems (beams, slabs, etc.). They have sized columns, beams, foundations in a typical structural system BUT there is still a gap missing (and I intend to try and fix it).<br />
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Other educators may share my frustration when students ask, "can you help me design my structural system...i want to make sure it works." As if working or not working is the only concern and, as if someone can help them simply select a system that fits into their overall design. Structural design is design and needs to be treated primarily as a design consideration (one with more stringent technical considerations of course, but that's the point). But instead of simply being frustrated at the question, I thought about why many students might feel this way.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-imtXa1J87p8/UVsOOEbycAI/AAAAAAAAA_8/Gy1Jn_xREvk/s1600/saarinen+drake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-imtXa1J87p8/UVsOOEbycAI/AAAAAAAAA_8/Gy1Jn_xREvk/s1600/saarinen+drake.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eero Saarinen's Skylight/Tension Ring at Drake Univeristy</td></tr>
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They know words, but they don't yet feel comfortable knowing how to write. Being a good writer (according to Stephen King) requires one to WRITE ALL THE TIME and READ ALL THE TIME. The writing is obviously an exercise in applied skills (regular readers know that design-based exercises are a constant and common lab activity) but the key is that we rarely ever ask them to "read" other structures and report back what they've read. Again, we do this in design studio regularly in the form of precedent studies, but rarely does this find its way into the structural design course work.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2RKf71oxeEM/UVsO7a2LabI/AAAAAAAABAI/eUdM0JFSTsA/s1600/FULLER32.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2RKf71oxeEM/UVsO7a2LabI/AAAAAAAABAI/eUdM0JFSTsA/s320/FULLER32.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fuller's studio at Black Mountain College in '48-'49</td></tr>
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One of the skills I admire so much about great structural designers, architects, and contractors is their ability to closely observe a system and quickly understand how it works. I personally always try to make an assessment of scale in new spaces (how large of bay size, how tall, etc.) to try and develop the ability to more quickly develop certain rules of thumb about structural sizes, systems, and architectural space. Today, the students are going to do just that.<br />
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I'm sending them to several buildings around campus, some with exposed structural systems, some with hidden areas to see if they can "read" the buildings and determine what is going on structurally. They will be asked to comment upon several things: identify structural strategy, identify major structural components used (material, type of horizontal and vertical support components, etc.), and comment upon the relationship between the structural system and the architectural function of the space. They will be asked to do a drawing of one bay in plan and section to illustrate their observations. This translation from what they've seen into the conventions of structural representation is an important step as often they will have to make the reverse translation of trying to visualize in three-dimensions what is represented in only two-dimensional drawings. Visualizing space is the key fundamental skill for young designers to develop, I believe. Understanding that these spaces are made of certain materials and particular components which are arranged intentionally both aesthetically and technically is the main idea to convey today.<br />
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Throughout the rest of the module we will be developing these skills in cast-in-place, pre-cast, steel, and pre-fab construction system design and analysis. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-33830037888918406072013-03-27T11:53:00.002-05:002013-03-27T11:53:26.980-05:00Post ACSA ConferenceSometimes at academic conferences you suffer through certain presentations that you are sure is a well orchestrated performance art piece (just to see if you will put up with the ridiculousness of what is being said for the sake of "critical dialogue"), and there were a certainly a few which I'd like to rebut briefly: Scarcity IS a real thing, not a heuristic device, and optimization of resources matters just as much as conversations about excess.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cm7lNUz1DVw/UVMfK6UvBlI/AAAAAAAAA_k/vX1dYpb2LSs/s1600/IMG_2905.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cm7lNUz1DVw/UVMfK6UvBlI/AAAAAAAAA_k/vX1dYpb2LSs/s320/IMG_2905.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">H & deM's DeYoung Museum copper skin</td></tr>
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Most of the highlights were related to great discussions about the relationship between making things and design/production: some incredible file to fabrication examples which asked tremendous questions about the role of mass customization and architectural design and production (beyond the "making my own building" indulgence and instead more about being environmentally or economically responsive to particular conditions--again, this is about scarcity).<br />
One of the keynotes was given by Greg Pasquarelli from SHoP Architects, and it was simply bad assed. He talked about the work they've done over the last decade and how they have challenged the typical conventions of development (self-financed if necessary), documentation (making 3d instruction manuals for making buildings), and the construction process in their work--all in pursuit of good design (in its purest form of enriching our world culturally). Was really great getting a chance to talk to him and Kimberly Holden after the speech. Many people talk about a critical practice (mostly by being critical of practicing), but they are really exemplary (and quite lovely to talk to). <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Io9TxSjDCfc/UVMfauHnBvI/AAAAAAAAA_s/16tOkGQ6r-s/s1600/IMG_2887.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Io9TxSjDCfc/UVMfauHnBvI/AAAAAAAAA_s/16tOkGQ6r-s/s320/IMG_2887.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Renzo Piano's California Academy of Science</td></tr>
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I presented at the BTES session and focused on failures in haptic learning. I was able to show many videos of the students working and testing their designs. I got to see some other great work at the session from UT (hook 'em), Virginia, and Utah.<br />
I must admit that when Steve Badanes (Jersey Devil fame and Distinguished ACSA Professor at UW) came up to me to tell me that he really liked my presentation and the work I was doing at ISU that I was thrilled. Brief story as to why it meant a bit more....I learned about "building" by doing construction as a teenager and have continued some level of construction for the last 25+ years, but back when I was still an impressionable young professional, I fell in love with Jersey Devil's work and attitude. I was thrilled when AIA Iowa brought Steve in to speak in October of 1993---I remember this because I was on the first date ever with a lovely lady (that I would marry two years later) and she encouraged me to talk with him. <br />
Last thing, but no small thing, ISU developed a press release about the award I received which I thought was really well written. Enjoy.<br />
<a href="http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2013/03/26/whitehead-award">http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2013/03/26/whitehead-award</a>Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-24538393662592849072013-03-20T17:16:00.001-05:002013-03-20T17:33:21.098-05:00ACSA 101: Creative Achievement Award & BTES PaperIn San Francisco for the 101st Annual ACSA Conference. Here to receive an ACSA Creative Achievement Award for my work teaching the undergraduate structures sequence (basically the topic of this blog) and deliver a paper at the special Building Technology Educators Society (BTES) special session (moderated by my colleague Tom Leslie, <a href="http://architecturefarm.wordpress.com/">http://architecturefarm.wordpress.com</a>) in which nearly ALL the papers will be discussing the importance of integrating haptic learning methodologies into the building technology classroom. Very excited to hear what my peers from around the country are thinking and doing to better student learning experiences. Hoping Ed Allen's great hope (or as he called it, his last, greatest, crusade) to revise technologies education for the better is finally gaining unstoppable momentum. Happy to help push.<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y9witepj2cQ/UUo3reuq9VI/AAAAAAAAA-4/9zLvkKRQoQY/s1600/images_feb11+181-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y9witepj2cQ/UUo3reuq9VI/AAAAAAAAA-4/9zLvkKRQoQY/s320/images_feb11+181-1a.jpg" width="180" /></a>An excerpt from the paper I'm presenting:<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">BREAKING (A)WAY:</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>The Role of Productive Failures in a New Structural Design Pedagogy</span></i></span></div>
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-</style></span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">At
its most basic level, structural design is about creating strategies for
elegantly and efficiently combining a range of materials and shapes to graceful
resist the different stresses created by “spanning and stacking” elements.
Unfortunately, instead of focusing on the potential richness of design that can
emerge from this complex array of qualitative and quantitative choices, many
structural design courses rely on the traditional engineering-based teaching
methods that favor abstract representations of physical behavior,
calculation-based analysis, and assessments of student performance based on the
accuracy of those calculations. In these courses, because learning assessment
is based on a student’s understanding of quantitative information, it follows
that the course content itself must be filled primarily with mathematical
analysis and sizing exercises. Instead of teaching a diversity of
problem-solving methods aimed at developing the ability to assess and improve a
structure’s design and performance, right and wrong answers become the ultimate
measure of understanding and “failures” are to be avoided. </span>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5TKsEeQomNM/UUo3xGv5NNI/AAAAAAAAA_I/qxj4TpjInwo/s1600/IMG_3182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5TKsEeQomNM/UUo3xGv5NNI/AAAAAAAAA_I/qxj4TpjInwo/s200/IMG_3182.jpg" width="148" /></a><i><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">This is understandable to a certain extent, of
course, because meeting the fundamental responsibilities of protecting the
health, safety, and welfare of building occupants depends heavily on an assured
and stable structure. If structural design is presented as a search answers
that are either right or wrong, then students may mistakenly develop an
adversity to risk and experimentation. I<span class="blogcontent"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">f young architects
are taught to be afraid of exploring options in structural design, lest they
inadvertently “fail”, they may cease to see this topic as a realm for
innovation and experimentation—a habit that will leave them unprepared to deal
with the inter-active and synergetic nature of critical design practice. </span></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">This
paper will argue that structural design is, at its essence, a design course—it
should promote the search for several right answers instead of one. In order to
promote the integration of progressive and innovative structural solutions into
the architectural profession, the methods of presenting, processing, and
integrating this information to architectural students must be done using a
more effective pedagogical model, one that actively promotes the productive
value of learning by through failure and reiteration. </span></i></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-phk5hOF-hsc/UUo32pUdAWI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/_iz6dXhALDg/s1600/DSC05755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-phk5hOF-hsc/UUo32pUdAWI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/_iz6dXhALDg/s320/DSC05755.jpg" width="213" /></a><br />
This topic and thematic content won't be a surprise for regular readers (thanks, btw for checking in and welcome if you are new), but it was really nice to try and flush out some of the actual verifiable studies about effective learning methods and the role of encouraging productive "failures" in the classroom.<br />
<br />
Now I've got to select the right sorts of images to show....where do I begin? Perhaps with me falling off a bridge some students built? (NOTE: BEING TRYING TO UPLOAD IT BUT IT ISN'T WORKING...STAY TUNED).<br />
I actually am pretty good about knowing whether or not stuff will hold weight, so I was a bit caught off guard when it collapsed. Nearly crushed my head on the handrail, but I had to laugh anyway. Check out the face of the kid leaning against the wall as I start to fall....priceless.<br />
<br />
I'm having trouble linking the other videos here, but in the presentation I'm also going to include videos where students test and break their own work and discuss the results with their peers. Usually its better when they don't know I'm taking a video.<br />
Thanks again for reading, hope to update again soon.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-weight: normal;"></span></i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></div>
Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-52448101430356306182013-02-21T12:14:00.002-06:002013-02-21T12:14:35.642-06:00Supporting Student StructuresThe first introductory class in the structures sequence for undergrads at Iowa State focuses on simple basic concepts: What are forces/load typically found in buildings? How do we understand what affect they have upon structural systems (based on their direction, magnitude, etc)? Sounds simple, and it is...but it is also so profoundly important to better develop their skills going forward.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BZjhNdwD4qc/USZeTlwzzHI/AAAAAAAAA9o/TeQVFxK29U4/s1600/double+cantilever.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BZjhNdwD4qc/USZeTlwzzHI/AAAAAAAAA9o/TeQVFxK29U4/s320/double+cantilever.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great illustration of equilibrium</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One of my fundamental teaching beliefs is: concept before calculation. What is the calculation meant to tell you (besides a number)? What can the specific components of the calculation/formulae tell you about structural behavior so you can then modify the conditions as a designer? If you can understand the basic relationships between forms, materials and physics, then calculations can help you better refine your understanding of their relationship (proportionately related, inversely, etc.)<br />
<br />
Typically, forces/loads are presented simply as a graphic abstraction which is not necessarily effective. If conceptual understanding of behavior is important, then I believe one needs to develop ways to experience this behavior. This is an essential process to begin early, and frankly, not very difficult to implement or understand.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VkQMkWA3daM/USZeUpa15dI/AAAAAAAAA9w/RDYO-lLcGl4/s1600/dulles+airport+anthro.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VkQMkWA3daM/USZeUpa15dI/AAAAAAAAA9w/RDYO-lLcGl4/s200/dulles+airport+anthro.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Demonstrating Dulles Airport</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8cV6Ol3eL0o/USZe2reLnxI/AAAAAAAAA94/ZC7uU7c51Ak/s1600/IMG_1800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8cV6Ol3eL0o/USZe2reLnxI/AAAAAAAAA94/ZC7uU7c51Ak/s200/IMG_1800.JPG" width="163" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moment Force</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As I wrote in my paper for the upcoming Architectural Engineering Institute conference at Penn State, I think we simply need to engage students in structurally-oriented, haptic learning exercises. We have all lived our lives in a constant state of physical interaction with structures--albeit mostly with our best-known structure--our body. We learn to walk, lift, and balance incredibly complex structural arrangements ENTIRELY by experiential and intuitive means. We know how to assess of something is strong enough to hold us, or stiff enough, or stable enough--we can visualize structural shapes that we know are more likely to be successful than others. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bzKHbh_nIls/USZe4bIT_EI/AAAAAAAAA-I/B1RsNT1UBjM/s1600/IMG_3202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bzKHbh_nIls/USZe4bIT_EI/AAAAAAAAA-I/B1RsNT1UBjM/s200/IMG_3202.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note the triangle for stability</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gWDayNahewo/USZfNvp3uBI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/OAOH4LQCZfY/s1600/IMG_3206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gWDayNahewo/USZfNvp3uBI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/OAOH4LQCZfY/s200/IMG_3206.jpg" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Using the wall is cheating, btw</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I believe that one of the ways to effectively instill these lessons in students is to have them create structures with their bodies. The first lab asks them to solve to two simple structural challenges. How far can you span and How high can you reach? How do these scenarios change if you add more people (how far can two people span or how high can 5 people reach?). What changes when you add weights (loads) at different locations? The paper explains in much more detail about how this is based on a long-line of research documenting the relative effectiveness of haptic-learning methods for abstract concepts and that is very helpful. But to be clear, it is also VERY fun and a VERY accessible introduction to structures. Instantly you show them that they already know a lot about the relationship between structural forces and shapes (which they do) but you are able to then add more complex learning objectives onto these scenarios (e.g., what is a moment force? what factors most effectively enhance the stability of a high structure?). My favorite is when we can talk about internal forces and the effect it has on their "structure". For example, when their knees want to buckle, you can discuss how compressive elements are always subjected to the threat of buckling (instant essential concept for column design and truss behavior on the first day of class!). <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3wMNd9US5Xs/USZe5E9XudI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/FtKfsdan_hQ/s1600/IMG_3208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3wMNd9US5Xs/USZe5E9XudI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/FtKfsdan_hQ/s320/IMG_3208.jpg" width="188" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A great demonstration of bending forces</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKFPLWcTrGw/USZfZGLTc6I/AAAAAAAAA-g/eJrAvPwQcv8/s1600/IMG_1786.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKFPLWcTrGw/USZfZGLTc6I/AAAAAAAAA-g/eJrAvPwQcv8/s320/IMG_1786.jpg" width="187" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Instinct dictates these forms often</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It isn't enough to simply to have fun, however. So they are all required to have a lab report that incorporates key structural concepts and terminologies (forces, loads, magnitudes, stresses, moment force, etc.) and explain their structures specifically in terms of the 5 S words we commonly use (strength, stiffness, stability, serviceability, and shape). They are also required to overlay their photos with a series of arrows that represent the forces acting upon the system and their means of support and resistance. The body structure establishes a key link between an experienced behavior that helps them to better visualize the abstract concept of forces. The lab report is their way of demonstrating what they have learned and it helps them retain certain key pieces of information (i.e., when they have to describe what they have learned based on their experiences, student retention is demonstrated to be much higher than simply answering questions about a topic). <br />
<br />
But once we start talking about forces in buildings, it becomes abstract
again--how forces move through a structure is primarily something that
is unknown experientially in buildings (i.e., either a structure holds
up under loading or it doesn't, right?) How do you visualize intensities
of stress in certain locations? How would you know if there is a good
match between the structural material, form, orientation, etc. and the
applied forces? <br />
I'll explain more about how these concepts learned by making "body structures" are translated into more traditional structural arrangements in the next post. I'm happy to share more details about the lab and the lab reports if requested as well.Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-21209325228054559152013-02-18T17:43:00.001-06:002013-02-18T17:43:44.629-06:00Catching upSorry for the long absence between posts, certainly not for a lack of activity, or interesting classwork, or good news (more on that soon). I've been to several conferences discussing the program and writing papers about it (for 2012 Constructed Environment program, at 2012 ACSA regional "off-site" conference, the Architecture Engineering Institute 2013 conference, and for the 2013 BTES/ACSA national conference). I'll be returning to a more regular posting schedule now, and I'll retroactively catch up with the course activities and creations that have happened in the last few months.<br />
<br />
First big news to report since the last posting is that the structural module program I teach at Iowa State's Dept. of Architecture, <i>stp (structural technology in practice)</i> was awarded an ACSA Creative Achievement Award for 2013 (Association for Collegiate Schools of Architecture). I submitted a 10-page portfolio that showed all the major labs (nearly all 50 of them) and described the learning objectives (nothing quite like condensing three years of work done by 200+ students into a handful of images to really challenge one's editing skills). I will receive the award at the ACSA National Convention in San Francisco in March and I'm very much looking forward to not only sharing this work with many other peers at the convention, but meeting and learning from all of the other highly talented other winners and panelists at the convention.<br />
This five-semester program has been a great experiment of sorts, and while I've always remained confident that it has been the right approach to teaching structural design to architecture students, and I've received very helpful feedback from highly admired colleagues and friends to improve the structural content of the program (Tom Leslie, Kevin Dong, and of course, Ed Allen), it was truly a very gratifying award to receive the award. I still content that a great deal of credit for the class success can be directly attributed to the support of administration and my co-teachers (Bruce Bassler and Ulrike Passe) that helped implement the three-module (structures, materials, & environmental) lecture and lab format. Without this format, this simply wouldn't have happened.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Im5puWoAxZI/USK7iAxLhkI/AAAAAAAAA9M/oPx7oOHKTs8/s1600/IMG_5103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Im5puWoAxZI/USK7iAxLhkI/AAAAAAAAA9M/oPx7oOHKTs8/s320/IMG_5103.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I trust their design skills...right?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Second big news is the second edition of the Design Tech textbook is done and off to the publisher (Routledge Books). My colleagues, collaborators, and brilliant friends Tom Leslie and Jason Alread invited me to edit and rewrite the entire Chapter 4 Structural Design portion of the book. Nine chapters and 100 new illustrations later (thanks to Isabelle Leyens' great efforts in drawing and teaching me Illustrator) the book was finished a month ago. Some key edits will need to follow, but it was really a scary proposition to have to teach through writing and diagrams exclusively.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Eky7227eWqQ/USK7iHWU0JI/AAAAAAAAA9I/COXDh5HDSCw/s1600/IMG_5092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Eky7227eWqQ/USK7iHWU0JI/AAAAAAAAA9I/COXDh5HDSCw/s320/IMG_5092.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I know its just cardboard, but it was still sturdy (kinda).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My lovely wife, Kelly, is a great writer and editor with a keen eye and unparalleled work ethic and through the process was so helpful. Basically the best advice was simply to "write everything you know, as concisely as you can say it." Easier said than done, but wise counsel.<br />
More great lab images soon, including the video where a bridge built by my students sends me unceremoniously crashing to the ground. Looks sketchy, right?<br />
<br />
Happy to be back, thanks for reading. RobRob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-11841880736272169472012-09-21T13:09:00.000-05:002012-09-21T13:09:14.494-05:00A Long Educational Span<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fl6NxKNsZzQ/UFyoIQUB85I/AAAAAAAAA2U/jqeC4uhXeRQ/s1600/IMG_1639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fl6NxKNsZzQ/UFyoIQUB85I/AAAAAAAAA2U/jqeC4uhXeRQ/s200/IMG_1639.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ckEvg7HmXaQ/UFyoMU-pb4I/AAAAAAAAA28/3Yfwl27D0f8/s1600/IMG_1667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ckEvg7HmXaQ/UFyoMU-pb4I/AAAAAAAAA28/3Yfwl27D0f8/s200/IMG_1667.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Five semesters ago, we started a big experiment with our undergraduate technology courses. Today, the first group of students completed their undergrad structures sequence--that's a big deal. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mo75EER9ElU/UFyoKAp2AhI/AAAAAAAAA2k/h2utPBb5E1E/s1600/IMG_1648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mo75EER9ElU/UFyoKAp2AhI/AAAAAAAAA2k/h2utPBb5E1E/s200/IMG_1648.jpg" width="149" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DRRO-ThS6p8/UFyoNb4ZfHI/AAAAAAAAA3E/HfUBuwc2Plw/s1600/IMG_1673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DRRO-ThS6p8/UFyoNb4ZfHI/AAAAAAAAA3E/HfUBuwc2Plw/s200/IMG_1673.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Over five semesters (25 weeks, 150 contact hours, and 45 different labs), this crew of seventy five students have been willing participants in a an important educational transformation for our profession. After receiving an NCARB grant to help us, Tom Leslie, Kevin Dong and I created a general outline of topics, but we had very few lectures or labs in place and no real idea for exactly how this program would evolve. BUT it was a very clear idea that the traditional teaching methodology and curricular content for teaching structures to architects needed to change. This was the basis of STP (Structural Technology in Practice or its <i>nom de guerre</i>, Synergistic Teaching Pedagogy). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As the primary professor for this course over the last few years, sometimes the difficulty of creating the coursework threatened to cloud a clear vision for what it could become. In these times I would remind myself that the course itself is an answer to a simple question, "how should architects be taught about structures?" The answer always seemed to revolve around the methodology of <b>Thinking, Making, Breaking, and Evaluating. </b>This process, I would remind myself, is design and structures, inherently is about design! But structures, quite incorrectly is assumed to be fixed or somehow standardized (it's a science right?) so the assumption is that there is a right answer to certain sets of other architectural criteria. Totally reasonable assumption (as most built work may seem that way) but it is an assumption that is not only totally wrong, it misses the greatest part about learning about structural design--if designing is fun and rewarding, then structures can be too. Structural design deserves inquisitive thinking and demands experimentation. For this final lab, we wanted to reiterate this last, perhaps most important lesson for one last time. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I-_ZEQS9d98/UFyn0N5IWjI/AAAAAAAAA2M/7yadH5gda5c/s1600/IMG_1637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I-_ZEQS9d98/UFyn0N5IWjI/AAAAAAAAA2M/7yadH5gda5c/s200/IMG_1637.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RipYrI6nvq4/UFyoNw7ckLI/AAAAAAAAA3M/S_8-oGmmR4g/s1600/IMG_1684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RipYrI6nvq4/UFyoNw7ckLI/AAAAAAAAA3M/S_8-oGmmR4g/s200/IMG_1684.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ux-Nlx2qn8A/UFyoOjz-4KI/AAAAAAAAA3U/NefHawZAIEc/s1600/IMG_1687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ux-Nlx2qn8A/UFyoOjz-4KI/AAAAAAAAA3U/NefHawZAIEc/s200/IMG_1687.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tFJgMTf6gP4/UFyobQ1C53I/AAAAAAAAA3g/MYGcYK9rOGo/s1600/IMG_1655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tFJgMTf6gP4/UFyobQ1C53I/AAAAAAAAA3g/MYGcYK9rOGo/s200/IMG_1655.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Students were given a list of 75 long span structures from all around the world, all projects built in the last 100 years, designed by an impressive range of leaders in the design field, and they were asked as a team to study the project and analyze its structure in words, drawings, and model. The main idea was to show such an enormous diversity of designs which were essentially all solving the same problem of "spanning a long ways"...obviously there were other factors involved in their design evolution and construction and having them find out what these factors were was the point.<br />The presentation were meant to convey a few big picture thoughts: </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NoWk8v15tIs/UFyoL5YCpsI/AAAAAAAAA20/WzC0T5UBU2o/s1600/IMG_1654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NoWk8v15tIs/UFyoL5YCpsI/AAAAAAAAA20/WzC0T5UBU2o/s200/IMG_1654.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. When designing a
project, how is the form related to the forces acting upon it?</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zeueID7aoSw/UFyocwHWVsI/AAAAAAAAA3w/HKh8HNrAc9E/s1600/IMG_1678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zeueID7aoSw/UFyocwHWVsI/AAAAAAAAA3w/HKh8HNrAc9E/s200/IMG_1678.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Do structural considerations of materials /construction IMPROVE a
level of detailing, elegance and refinement?</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. How are architectural ideas (space, light, materiality, etc.) supported and enhanced
by the structural design?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What do you think was the hardest part of the building to figure out for the designers and how did they
do it? </span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. W</span></span>hat do we need to know about
structural behavior of systems and components to help answer those
previous questions? </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wVpmYTbsmqY/UFyocKAwbOI/AAAAAAAAA3o/W1llUkeyV2Q/s1600/IMG_1659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wVpmYTbsmqY/UFyocKAwbOI/AAAAAAAAA3o/W1llUkeyV2Q/s200/IMG_1659.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We were honored to have Brad Stork from Charles Saul Engineering and Erik Raker from Raker Rhodes Engineering (both principals for two of the biggest and best structural engineering firms in the entire state) joining myself and Chuck Saul in a series of rapid-fire review question/answer review sessions. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-75JzfZ3gyAg/UFyodugn_3I/AAAAAAAAA34/yOjWi-KM9-A/s1600/IMG_1680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-75JzfZ3gyAg/UFyodugn_3I/AAAAAAAAA34/yOjWi-KM9-A/s200/IMG_1680.jpg" width="149" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zSVoroxMMgY/UFyoeR-x0mI/AAAAAAAAA4A/l7uMCZHEduc/s1600/IMG_1682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zSVoroxMMgY/UFyoeR-x0mI/AAAAAAAAA4A/l7uMCZHEduc/s200/IMG_1682.jpg" width="149" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Erik, Chuck, and Brad were all thrilled with the level of effort and understanding put forth by the students. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There was a palatable sense of accomplishment in that room exuded by the students and I couldn't help but smile with pride. </span></span>Honestly, it was really something to behold. Not that long ago, it was our first class together and I had them using their bodies as structures to try establish basic concepts and vocabulary but today I found myself asking very hard questions about advanced topics--often times, questions I didn't know how to answer.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GeMAiumBr6c/UFyoLJlIsyI/AAAAAAAAA2s/jFKM0-vo69g/s1600/IMG_1651.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GeMAiumBr6c/UFyoLJlIsyI/AAAAAAAAA2s/jFKM0-vo69g/s200/IMG_1651.jpg" width="149" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It hardly seems like teaching when you love what you do and you have students who love it as well.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My sincerest thanks to these young adults for their effort and enthusiasm. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-80951962326600113222012-09-09T13:25:00.000-05:002012-09-09T13:25:45.629-05:00Successful Span(s)<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M7FHN5fyhTU/UEzbQTd_rjI/AAAAAAAAA0A/35Ov1qr7AJ0/s1600/IMG_1443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M7FHN5fyhTU/UEzbQTd_rjI/AAAAAAAAA0A/35Ov1qr7AJ0/s200/IMG_1443.jpg" width="149" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NxaDRU3lJZ8/UEzaw6rZlGI/AAAAAAAAAz0/EyciGrUz0Bg/s1600/IMG_1440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NxaDRU3lJZ8/UEzaw6rZlGI/AAAAAAAAAz0/EyciGrUz0Bg/s200/IMG_1440.JPG" width="200" /></a>For the last three years, this intrepid crew of 75 fourth year architecture students have participated in more than 40 different labs--nearly all of these labs were made up just for them. These labs required them to apply structural concepts to a wide variety of constructions, with a set of learning objectives and criteria that were quite unique in an architectural curriculum. During this time they have made structures with their bodies, studied frame behavior with sticks and Skittles, and built bridges, trusses, beams, towers, slabs, and columns with all manner of materials. They have selected, documented, analyzed, & calculated full structural systems, even attempting to incorporate this work into their studio projects.<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BzTnl2mpCrI/UEzbXmhIcBI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/-Clo9vTp5Ds/s1600/IMG_1452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BzTnl2mpCrI/UEzbXmhIcBI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/-Clo9vTp5Ds/s200/IMG_1452.jpg" width="149" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zDBcIW6M37I/UEzbUTq59aI/AAAAAAAAA0I/OPb0hxwCByA/s1600/IMG_1445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zDBcIW6M37I/UEzbUTq59aI/AAAAAAAAA0I/OPb0hxwCByA/s200/IMG_1445.jpg" width="149" /></a>It hasn't always been easy, or as effective as it could have been, but frankly that's the meta-lesson here anyway--<u>commit yourself to a process, ideally something you truly believe is the right thing to do, and see where it takes you. Take any failures along the way as clear lessons for future experiments.</u> <u>Repeat and evolve again and again. </u><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NzAKi_Qq4ZE/UEzbcoBmJiI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/oGMzwnsQ-ws/s1600/IMG_1457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NzAKi_Qq4ZE/UEzbcoBmJiI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/oGMzwnsQ-ws/s200/IMG_1457.jpg" width="149" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OLFNOeVyjos/UEzbgPu3YLI/AAAAAAAAA0g/tf08cSjfur4/s1600/IMG_1459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OLFNOeVyjos/UEzbgPu3YLI/AAAAAAAAA0g/tf08cSjfur4/s200/IMG_1459.jpg" width="149" /></a>That frame of reference brings us to last Friday's work: Due to scheduling issues with field trips and room availability, Friday was their LAST lab set-up in the "Thinking, Making, & Breaking" format. Some pretty great results. 8am on a Friday is a difficult starting time for any class, but when you fill up a space with 20 different models, a certain level of energy quickly emerges. <br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AheG4KgYgzM/UEzbjlMJWnI/AAAAAAAAA0o/Uu4cDvlFfC8/s1600/IMG_1463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AheG4KgYgzM/UEzbjlMJWnI/AAAAAAAAA0o/Uu4cDvlFfC8/s200/IMG_1463.jpg" width="149" /></a><br />
There were nearly equal number of pneumatic structures, folded
plates, geodesics, thin shells, and lamella arches presented with an
enormous variety of scale, size, and effort. This was really a difficult
lab because the long span systems required some pretty advanced
thinking to understand how they work, but many of these constructions
are inherently difficult to conceive and construction (as my daughter
would say, "That's the point!!"). Because we had each group focus on
constructing a single structural system type, there was a concern that
they may not get a chance to understand the pros/cons of their system
compared to others.<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zOi6JomfoKQ/UEzbuTcaO2I/AAAAAAAAA1E/EMQXftvP-yo/s1600/IMG_1473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zOi6JomfoKQ/UEzbuTcaO2I/AAAAAAAAA1E/EMQXftvP-yo/s200/IMG_1473.JPG" width="200" /></a>For that reason, we set up a system of evaluation
where the students were asked to go around and talk with five other
groups and essentially "interview them" about their structures (based on
the Edgar Dale's Cone of Learning suggestion that two-way interactions
effectively increase retention). Many thanks to my esteemed co-teacher, Chuck Saul for his insight into how architects should think about structures and for his ability to communicate these thoughts so effectively to designers.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nO-GR4_xgFE/UEzbqnqCx3I/AAAAAAAAA04/6Hssy-bhtHk/s1600/IMG_1470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nO-GR4_xgFE/UEzbqnqCx3I/AAAAAAAAA04/6Hssy-bhtHk/s200/IMG_1470.JPG" width="200" /></a>I hope the objects they have made and broken throughout the years have
given them insight well beyond a textbook and set of calculations. I
know they have reinforced for me how important this level of engagement
in learning is for young architects and how lucky I am to be a part of this process.<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yFWQbB85QUE/UEzbvPUBmGI/AAAAAAAAA1M/aFNWZxB0kR4/s1600/IMG_1478.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yFWQbB85QUE/UEzbvPUBmGI/AAAAAAAAA1M/aFNWZxB0kR4/s200/IMG_1478.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-45286879885968839032012-09-04T11:39:00.003-05:002012-09-04T11:39:33.357-05:00Beyond Just the "Span" of Long-Span Systems<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finding Form</td></tr>
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For this Friday's lab, students were asked to create an enclosure for the ISU Student Innovation Center (real project, but I took liberties with the location and spans) by creating and testing five different types of long-span enclosure systems (folded plates, pneumatics, geodesics, lamella, & anticlastic thin shells). The proposed footprint is up to 200' wide x approx. 350' long on an open site north of Town Engineering with 30' minimum height for 25% of building.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7cYWgBcsAuY/UEYsqzEJs5I/AAAAAAAAAy4/nxR8rkdKbnM/s1600/DSC05755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7cYWgBcsAuY/UEYsqzEJs5I/AAAAAAAAAy4/nxR8rkdKbnM/s200/DSC05755.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dAbrOymE_Yk/UEYszLHKVZI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/853Ot8ueyVo/s1600/IMG_3989.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dAbrOymE_Yk/UEYszLHKVZI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/853Ot8ueyVo/s200/IMG_3989.jpg" width="200" /></a>One might assume that this exercise is all about testing different formal solutions, but the lab write-up is looking for much more specific critical thought that professional designers would need to understand at the earliest stages of their design process. There are four <b>Points of Emphasis</b> they are asked to discuss: 1. <i>Structural Performance</i> of their system (pros/cons, allowable spans, deflection, shape/strength relationship specific to their system), 2. <i>Generation of the Structural Form</i> (how it gets it shape, micro v. macro considerations, what tools help one find/test the shape), 3. <i>Construct-ability</i> (its one thing to make a 3' long model, quite another to make a 200' wide building--how do their models help them to envision the difficulties or opportunities involved in actually constructing it--and how do these considerations affect if their project is actually "efficient"--they were encouraged to think about CAD/CAM possibilities & off-site construction opportunities), and 4.<i> Sustainability & Efficiency</i> (Are these building types relatively efficient because they can enclose a great deal of space with less material? What are the consequences/ecological profiles of the materials used AND the Construct-ability of the system?)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pneumatic Classroom, Spr. '12</td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uC98JHVZ6PI/UEYstH4xVUI/AAAAAAAAAzA/3R-PMb8Sq08/s1600/IMG_0096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uC98JHVZ6PI/UEYstH4xVUI/AAAAAAAAAzA/3R-PMb8Sq08/s200/IMG_0096.JPG" width="200" /></a>Not all systems will be a good fit for the proposal: folded plates can only span approx. 100', geodesics may suggest too much volume if they only do "domes", pneumatics have environmental concerns, anticlastic shells may be labor intensive to build (w/ limited spans and environmental concerns), and lamella arch/vault may be too formally limiting (again w/ limited span).<br />
Each group was asked to build a mock-up that was able to best represent their explorations so I expect pneumatic groups to have enclosure we can sit in, geodesic groups (or lamella groups) to have full-scale mock-ups of details, etc.<br />
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Stay tuned for results.<br />
All photos are from previous labs/lectures.Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-54979689834659657232012-08-24T12:57:00.001-05:002012-08-24T12:57:22.474-05:00Post-Lab: Productive Progressive Failures<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AucS7fZ21ZA/UDexfU0x73I/AAAAAAAAAwc/-1A0-PZ6CC4/s1600/IMG_1268.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AucS7fZ21ZA/UDexfU0x73I/AAAAAAAAAwc/-1A0-PZ6CC4/s200/IMG_1268.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YmO5Uyj5WO8/UDexPb3sDDI/AAAAAAAAAwE/iexdp_5WJSk/s1600/IMG_1248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YmO5Uyj5WO8/UDexPb3sDDI/AAAAAAAAAwE/iexdp_5WJSk/s200/IMG_1248.jpg" width="149" /></a><i>STP (Structural Technology in Practice), Arch 445 Lab 01 01, Iowa State University:</i><br />
After a week of studying long span truss systems (both one-way and two-way), Arch 445 students were asked to build a lightweight truss system using 1/8" diameter sticks, hot glue, and corrugated cardboard. Their trusses needed to clear span 4', remain 10" off the floor (after deflecting from load), and hold 50 pounds of uniform load (bags of ice). The average weight of the structures was around 2.5 pounds (very impressive) total with the lightest weighing in at 1.2 pounds total.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yfc_Y8jhdO0/UDexxgmkLPI/AAAAAAAAAw8/VLFtl7Yzisg/s1600/IMG_1295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yfc_Y8jhdO0/UDexxgmkLPI/AAAAAAAAAw8/VLFtl7Yzisg/s200/IMG_1295.JPG" width="175" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p8K_B8g-Em0/UDexW6-g1EI/AAAAAAAAAwM/epOm9_WPWBk/s1600/IMG_1256.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p8K_B8g-Em0/UDexW6-g1EI/AAAAAAAAAwM/epOm9_WPWBk/s200/IMG_1256.jpg" width="167" /></a>Any cross sectional and/or longitundinal shape was allowed and some groups really tried to shape the structure in response to the anticipated moment diagram (a few curved truss arches, an arch cable system, etc.) which was really gratifying to see (understanding and the relationship between Form and Forces helps one to design Efficient Expressive Structures, right Ed Allen?). <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VQXEXRGpaXA/UDexbNBzeaI/AAAAAAAAAwU/Z-FqPpuR0rs/s1600/IMG_1261.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VQXEXRGpaXA/UDexbNBzeaI/AAAAAAAAAwU/Z-FqPpuR0rs/s200/IMG_1261.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lKm3ONqC1NE/UDeyU3btyBI/AAAAAAAAAyY/78wIJc9dDHg/s1600/IMG_1401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lKm3ONqC1NE/UDeyU3btyBI/AAAAAAAAAyY/78wIJc9dDHg/s200/IMG_1401.JPG" width="198" /></a>The hypotheses of the teachers (myself and Charles Saul) was that most systems would fail at the weakest joint in the system (how much stress can hot glue really take?) or at the connection between the truss and the columns and that these failures would be immediately catastrophic (not much redundancy). <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iZUr3ny_VYA/UDexpsp7RDI/AAAAAAAAAws/rASDewZ3lWE/s1600/IMG_1286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iZUr3ny_VYA/UDexpsp7RDI/AAAAAAAAAws/rASDewZ3lWE/s200/IMG_1286.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cRd--MYroII/UDex3_er0yI/AAAAAAAAAxI/IPzxaY9WgO8/s1600/IMG_1306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cRd--MYroII/UDex3_er0yI/AAAAAAAAAxI/IPzxaY9WgO8/s200/IMG_1306.JPG" width="200" /></a>Results were incredibly interesting, as creative objects of design, and edifying, as structural experiments. In a few cases we were really able to observe "truss behavior" of load transferring (members bowed out from the stress), redundancy (or lack of) in the systems when failures began, and how compressive stresses (which turned to bending stress quickly) in the diagonal members often snapped from the stress. Of course a few failed at the columns (sticks were way too small for that much compression) and a few joints did ultimately pull away from each other--perhaps if these systems weren't made of sticks and glue, this wouldn't have been as pervasive of a cause of failure.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0LBkM1nCGV8/UDeyR4g6zMI/AAAAAAAAAyA/timloEyANqg/s1600/IMG_1346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0LBkM1nCGV8/UDeyR4g6zMI/AAAAAAAAAyA/timloEyANqg/s200/IMG_1346.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jVLr8e5HDMo/UDexuHIor4I/AAAAAAAAAw0/i0abwkZpTAk/s1600/IMG_1287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Best results: 1.2 pound structure held 20+ pounds (curved truss arch) and a 5 pound structure held nearly 70 pounds.<br />
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Hardly feels like teaching. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vlGLBnJHj-0/UDeyTLEakbI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/-ivb3gjbDgc/s1600/IMG_1382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-39128175119880781102012-08-21T10:46:00.002-05:002012-08-21T13:14:41.391-05:00Make and Break: Long Span Systems, Part I<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lw4feAXICWs/UDOsV2okXLI/AAAAAAAAAvw/nWXluQvy75A/s1600/FALLEN+FAIRY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lw4feAXICWs/UDOsV2okXLI/AAAAAAAAAvw/nWXluQvy75A/s200/FALLEN+FAIRY.jpg" width="111" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QwQSdt2nOfI/UDOsIxgs14I/AAAAAAAAAvY/KSRYbDbvB0I/s1600/images_feb11+181-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><b>Will It Work?</b><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QwQSdt2nOfI/UDOsIxgs14I/AAAAAAAAAvY/KSRYbDbvB0I/s1600/images_feb11+181-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QwQSdt2nOfI/UDOsIxgs14I/AAAAAAAAAvY/KSRYbDbvB0I/s200/images_feb11+181-1a.jpg" width="110" /></a>The fourth year students (Iowa State's Arch 445 undergrad tech course) will be taking on advanced long-span structural system issues this semester (starting yesterday!) including trusses, shells, folded plates, tents, and pneumatics.<br />
This week's lab, they will be building space frame trusses (out of sticks and skittles of course) that will have to hold up one of their team members at least 18" off the floor.<br />
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We will weigh the structures first as we are looking for the lightest, strongest, most stable solution to the problem. <br />
Pictures will follow Friday, of course. Until then, here is the same group building a bridge/bench out of cardboard in the Spring of 2011 (hope they have learned more since then).Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-63970395108026652072012-05-23T17:37:00.002-05:002012-05-23T17:37:37.733-05:00ACSA "Pre-Fab" Fall ConferenceMy abstract, <i>the Dismissal of Dymaxion
House and Demountable Space</i>, has been accepted for presentation at the
2012 ACSA Fall Conference in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Nice to get another national conference acceptance in my first year of being on tenure-track (especially with an acceptance rate of only 52%). Extra pleased to revisit Eero Saarinen's work again as a researcher...should help me get more original information for my dream book, "Eero's Engineers." Abstract text to follow.<br />
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<b><i>The Dismissal of the Dymaxion House and Demountable Space:
Examining Failures in Structures, Expression, and Space. </i></b></div>
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This paper will compare and contrast two of the earliest, technically
innovative, and structurally expressive prefabricated structures, Buckminster Fuller’s
Dymaxion House<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1927-45) and Eero Saarinen’s
Demountable Space building (1942, with Ralph Rapson), by examining their
relative commercial and technical failures.</div>
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As evidenced by their design proposals, both designers
wanted an affordable, easy-to-assemble building comprised of prefabricated
building elements, made from contemporary materials, which would be packaged
and shipped to the site using the latest manufacturing efficiencies available.
To make the buildings easy-to-assemble, both designs seemingly incorporated the
same expressive and efficient structural system—a centralized mast protruding
from the middle of the structure with a series of tension cables fanning out to
support the roof and floors. By centralizing the structure, the on-site work of
pouring foundations and connecting to utilities could be minimized, and the
structural mast itself became the means by which other elements would be assembled
and erected. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d3BpEyjgcrU/T71lkmxgnHI/AAAAAAAAAvA/K3WyFpDOXns/s1600/MODEL+DEMOUNTABLE" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d3BpEyjgcrU/T71lkmxgnHI/AAAAAAAAAvA/K3WyFpDOXns/s320/MODEL+DEMOUNTABLE" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Demountable Space Model</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In spite of their similarities in structural expression,
both projects had incredibly divergent ideas about spatial volume, functional flexibility,
architectural expression, and the corresponding level of technological
expression and resolution that was required to achieve these goals. In all
cases, Fuller produced the more prescriptive spaces with architectural expressions
that resulted from the thoroughly developed myriad of complex inter-related
technical solutions for building (e.g., the mast was a means of supporting,
shipping and venting the structure and the round floor plan was done to reduce
materials, minimize heat loss and to provide adequate lateral stability).
Saarinen, however, favored flexibility and expression primarily and often
postponed the thorough examination of technical restrictions until late in the
project’s development (e.g., the mast supported the roof but not the floors,
the walls were flat-packed and modular for purposes of expression but they
provided no lateral stability, and the means for constructing the building was
more optimistic than realistic). These early tendencies for how these designers
looked at the relationship between technology, structure, and space would come
to define much of their later careers and become a common refrain in critiquing
their work.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BkTlgAr2UzU/T71mad90GWI/AAAAAAAAAvI/OC18_praVj4/s1600/Wichita+House,+1946,+Fuller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BkTlgAr2UzU/T71mad90GWI/AAAAAAAAAvI/OC18_praVj4/s320/Wichita+House,+1946,+Fuller.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wichita House Construction Process</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Fuller’s eventually constructed a version of this design,
called the Wichita house, which become a well-known commercial failure and
serves as an example of the dangers of allowing ideological expressionism to
trump spatial and aesthetic concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Saarinen’s Demountable Space project was never built and even though he
spent much of the next several years participating in many of the first
prefabricated house designs (including Case Study houses #8 & #9), he never
revisited the bold structural expressionism that he explored in this project. </div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The paper will explore how the ideals expressed
in these projects defined their later work in prefabricated buildings and
expressive structures. Further, the paper will argue that these initial
failures to successfully incorporate a bold, expressive, and efficient
structural system as a central conceptual component for prefabricated buildings
unnecessarily created a lack of similar explorations for generations, giving
way instead to prefabricated structures defined by their box-like small volumes
and flat pack facades. </span>Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-64519697963984032582012-05-22T08:23:00.000-05:002012-05-22T08:23:11.613-05:00Big Ideas in Few Words<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5nKKXPX5Mf0/T7uSyHSH_VI/AAAAAAAAAu0/64dWbZd3zKw/s1600/IMG_3106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5nKKXPX5Mf0/T7uSyHSH_VI/AAAAAAAAAu0/64dWbZd3zKw/s200/IMG_3106.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
To ensure the best learning outcome, choosing what to make, and how to break, is where the real work resides.Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-75045497256196699112012-05-16T17:21:00.002-05:002012-05-16T17:21:56.072-05:00Older News but Still Good News<span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span class="TitleText">ISU architecture lecturer Rob Whitehead honored by international educators’ association</span>: </i></b></span><br />
Rob
Whitehead, a lecturer in architecture at Iowa State University, will
receive the Building Technology Teaching Award for Emerging Faculty from
the Building Technology Educators’ Society (BTES) Aug. 6 at its annual
conference in Toronto. The biennial award recognizes excellence in teaching
performance, innovation and commitment by an emerging faculty member in
building technology education. <br />
The BTES awards jury was particularly impressed by the
demonstration of teaching skill in Whitehead’s portfolio submission and "the
obvious passion [his] technology courses engender in [his] students' work,"
said juror Gil Snyder, an associate professor of architecture at the University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and member of the BTES board of directors. Other jurors
included Edward Allen, FAIA—coauthor of <em>Fundamentals
of Building Construction, Materials and Methods</em> and winner of the Topaz
Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education presented by the American
Institute of Architects—and Michelle Addington, Hines Professor of Sustainable
Architectural Design at Yale University.<br />
This is the third national honor for Whitehead. With
Associate Professors Jason Alread and Thomas Leslie, he received an honorable
mention for SCI-TECH in the higher education category of the U.S. Green
Building Council’s 2009 Excellence in Green Building Education Recognition
Awards. Whitehead and Leslie also received a 2009 NCARB Grant for the
Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy from the National Council
of Architectural Registration Boards for development of beginning and
intermediate structure courses to teach students how to better integrate basic
structural principles into their design work.<br />
"It has been largely Rob's effort and application that has
produced what I believe is among the most innovative, effective structures
sequences in the country," said Leslie, who nominated Whitehead for the BTES
award. "He has expanded the scope of the introductory SCI-TECH class and
increased students' fluency and comprehension in what we now regard as
fundamental elements of building design throughout our curriculum."<br />
Leslie also praised Whitehead's enthusiasm for teaching, his
commitment to students, and his strong technical and design background. "With good humor, patience and constant attention to whether
students are 'getting it' or not, Rob has been able to present complex material
in ways that are engaging, convincing and digestible to students in both
architecture and interior design. He finds teaching opportunities in both
successful and unsuccessful student projects, which creates a supportive and
welcoming atmosphere," Leslie said.<br />
<br />
<i>The Building Technology Educators’ Society is an international
association of architectural educators who teach the technology of building
design and construction. Learn more about the BTES and the Building Technology
Teaching Award for Emerging Faculty online at</i> <a href="http://www.btesonline.org/" title="">www.btesonline.org</a>. <br />Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-90466472432824817202012-05-14T00:33:00.000-05:002012-05-14T00:33:07.475-05:00International Conference on the Constructed Environment-Paper Accepted<span style="font-size: small;"><span>The following abstract was recently accepted by the Organizing Committee for the Third International Conference on the Constructed Environment for this year's convention in Vancouver, BC in October. Exciting news. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<h1 style="margin-bottom: 1px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Making and Breaking (A)way: Integrating Productive Failures in the Creation and Analysis of Surface-active Structural Systems </span></h1>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vzdA16SY7Hg/T7CXcKlnWRI/AAAAAAAAAuY/04u-pAMv1i0/s1600/IMG_3969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vzdA16SY7Hg/T7CXcKlnWRI/AAAAAAAAAuY/04u-pAMv1i0/s200/IMG_3969.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-naE2e0igq8o/T7CXOk1k0oI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/bbLocNA8n-c/s1600/IMG_3885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-naE2e0igq8o/T7CXOk1k0oI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/bbLocNA8n-c/s200/IMG_3885.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3XjcRwUzaEg/T7CXrYhVPhI/AAAAAAAAAug/nlOSFyq-yYg/s1600/DSC01797.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3XjcRwUzaEg/T7CXrYhVPhI/AAAAAAAAAug/nlOSFyq-yYg/s200/DSC01797.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EQbTmhbbGyU/T7CX4vGE7BI/AAAAAAAAAuo/0k06SCisqLg/s1600/DSC01767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EQbTmhbbGyU/T7CX4vGE7BI/AAAAAAAAAuo/0k06SCisqLg/s200/DSC01767.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Structural design has often been taught to architects using a traditional,
engineering-based system of finite element analysis in which abstract
representations of structural components are separated from larger
architectural considerations of form and space. Information is presented
through a series of formula-rich lectures and student assessment is
primarily evaluated on the accuracy of their calculations. These
pedagogical limitations exclude many fascinating, albeit complex
structural and spatial strategies, such as surface-active systems due to the difficulty of their analysis mathematically. The system rewards
elemental calculation over spatial conceptualization and wrongly avoids
engagement in productively learning from failures.<br />
The paper will focus on structural labs recently completed by
second-year architecture students in our Structural Technology in Practice course that paired the work of minimalist
artist Donald Judd and Swiss engineer Heinz Isler. Students created
models for three new buildings that creatively solved a series of
unresolved structural design problems created by Judd in his design for
the unfinished “Ten Concrete Buildings” at the Chinati Foundation in
Marfa, Texas. Students used variations of Isler’s hanging fabric design
methodology for thin-shell structures to enclose the spatial volumes
proposed by Judd. They coated the fabric with a viscous material that
would eventually harden, and then flipped the structures over to become
fully compressive shells. They tested their structures’ bearing capacity
to the point of failure and wrote lab reports outlining their “lessons
learned.” <br />
This case-study illustrates the benefit of emphasizing and integrating
productive failure into all aspects of a structural pedagogy; it allows
students to better understand the physical behavior of existing
structures (such as Judd’s unfinished buildings), encourages a level of
creative formal experimentation using structural design principles, and
improves students’ abilities to assess the inherent structural
performance standards of their work from a highly technical level. With this methodology, even complicated structural forms and behaviors can be tested by young architects, with the expectation that these experiments will offer important lessons about the value of making and breaking their structures. -R. Whitehead, April 2012.</span></span>Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884032293160468767.post-39601609366282852602012-05-10T09:59:00.000-05:002012-05-10T09:59:42.271-05:00<u><i>ISU Spring 2012 Commencement Speech: Rob Whitehead</i></u><br />
I believe what you spend your time doing is who you become, and I think you should be happy with that thought. For me, I see architecture is a central, essential, and powerful cultural discipline that is worthy of our time and effort--in short, it is a great profession to have. I believe great architects see solutions where others only see problems because those designers are guided by a mindful holistic vision. However, day-to-day problems can become so overwhelming that we forget to be mindful of ourselves and others and we lose track of this vision. My last assignment to you is a challenge to write yourself a letter, or even a manifesto, to remind yourself about what you feel is most important in considering a life in design. Recently, I wrote the following letter to myself as a reminder about what I felt was important:<br />
<br />
-<i>Design Beautiful Things that Work: </i><span style="font-size: small;">The world needs more beautiful things and you are privileged to have the ability to help. Don't ever take this gift and obligation for granted.</span><br />
<i>-See What's Possible, Not What's Difficult: </i>Keep your eyes open and maintain a constant level of curiosity about other beautiful things that work.<br />
-<i>Treat Design as a Lifestyle:</i> Embrace this part of your life and involve yourself in cultural arts beyond architecture--you will become a more interesting person and a better architect.<br />
<i>-Treat Design like a Job:</i> Protecting the Health, Safety, and Welfare of the public is a serious obligation and it is worthy of a professional attitude, great effort, and constant improvement.<br />
<i>-Do Not Confuse your Job with Your Life:</i> You become what you spend your time doing, so make sure this is a comforting thought. Do not forget what is really important to you.<br />
<i>-Think Critically about the World Around You:</i> BUT don't confuse skepticism with cynicism. Don't let this attitude turn you into someone that is conceited or cruel. Be kind to each-other--it's hard enough out there.<br />
<i>-Fight Through Your Failures:</i> In a life of design you will face low moments of self-doubt and fatigue that accompanies your inevitably frequent failures. See these moments as learning opportunities and ways to improve your skills. Steel your resolve to persevere even in light of enormous challenges--this resolve is what makes you special. <br />
<i>-Be Ready:</i> It is an imperfect world out there. But its is a BEAUTIFUL WORLD. It is a world that needs you...and the beautiful things you'll design.<br />
<br />
I wish you all a life of peace, happiness, and beauty. Rob Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10834554517949433415noreply@blogger.com0