Building materials

after many buildings were not ready for the seismic activity of this magnitude. After this event, many codes were to be passed and buildings had to be inspected and passed for structural safety. These codes have been built on for many years as technology improves and so does our understanding of seismic activity. An example of a code that was passed in California was that after the Loma Prieta earthquake that struck the Santa Cruz Mountains, analyzation of some of the cities buildings revealed…

architects and designers very creative and ambitious in building projects. The designs are becoming innovative and attractive. To achieve this, tremendous amount of weight placed was on materials leading to their inability to bear this significant weight. Consequently, to be able to achieve the structural design and strength engineers developed the truss. Trusses are web-shaped structures that are able to bear tremendous weight. They are used in buildings and bridges of all sizes. Trusses allow…

and Farnsworth house do share common material and tectonic expression. They are constructed of similar materials and in somewhat similar fashions. Additionally, both forms are constructed in a fashion that allows them to be apart of its surrounding site. However, they do have divergences. They differ mainly in how they relate to their surroundings, and how their different constructions allow the surroundings to affect the forms. Additionally, tectonics and material expression are both still very…

commercial and manufacturing construction, there is one roofing material that is most commonly seen: sheet metal systems. Sheet metal systems are one of the most popular commercial roofing materials in the United States because of its singular value. Sheet metal systems are cost-effective, energy-efficient, durable, and easy to find in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. If you are looking at constructing a new warehouse or office building, or are even looking to replace an existing roofing…

that resulted in the design, and later construction, of Autonomous House 1, which could accommodate a family of four. The structure occupies a one-acre plot of land and the most valuable features include its materials, which result in the structure being well-insulated through its building skin, having a low rate of ventilation, and having minimal heating demands. The house includes a substantial south-facing surface that allows natural light into the rooms and only a small number of windows…

Vernacular: A brief in a system of inherited, established or customary patterns of thoughts, forms, and styles. Usually expressed in use of local materials and handed-down building technologies. Critical Regionalism: A particular approach to the making of buildings based on the belief that buildings should respond to and reflect specific local conditions – this can be seen as developing and understanding of a regions ‘deep structure’. However, Vernacular Design Attitudes Critical Regional…

found in fibrous form. It is very resistant to heat and chemical erosions and it also has a very good tensile strength. As it is usually mixed with other materials to use, so it is very hard to recognize. But if you are working in a building made before 1990, some parts of it would contain asbestos. Asbestos was used widely in building materials such as to make fireproofing on walls and ceilings, floor tiles, cement pipes, cement boards and a lot more. Individual asbestos fibers are too small…

activity by which we can judge and acknowledge architecture by the presence of these both. Ranging from all types of material culture, architecture is the most expressive and experiencing medium. As a medium, architecture has a language also through which we can identify the culture and society of a particular era. Architecture also discloses the desires, power struggles and material culture of a society along with the aesthetic and formal presence of an architect. As anthropologist Victor…

they are building codes, construction materials, and population density & urbanization. All of which are an effect of Haiti being a poverty stricken country (Inside Disaster: Haiti). Since Haiti is poverty stricken it lends to the issue of people building where they want and how they can. And according to Cletus Spring, director of the Department of Sustainable Development, Organization of American States, “Not everybody’s going to be able to build to the exacting standards that a building code…

An analytical study of Albert Speer’s work and how he created memory through works of ar¬¬chitecture. The scale of a building is usually driven by the client’s notion to create and establish an understanding that is derived from its appearance and structural might: an experience by the people that experience the spaces within the building. It’s also through the scale of the building that memory of the owner will transcend into the future to create a lasting memory. Grandeur in architecture is…