What is a natural playground?

By Audrey Treece



As I am further developing my thesis project there has been a lot of discussion on the outdoor play area. It is found, throughout many research sources, that the outdoor environment is just as important as the indoor spaces. I have been back and forth on what I want to do with the outdoor space and how I should handle its importance. I came across the notion and new concept used by many municipalities, schools, daycares and churches throughout our country of a natural playground. The natural playground concept has gained a lot of recognition and has been implemented everywhere. What is a natural playground, you ask?

A natural playground or also known as natural playscape, green playground or natural play environment is an area where children can play with natural elements such as sand, water, wood and living plants and has taken the place of conventional playground that are comprised of grassy open areas and pre-manufactured play equipment. Natural playgrounds are play environments that blend natural materials, features and vegetation with existing (or molded) landforms to create purposely complex play spaces. Each natural playground is different as they are designed to fit the landscape where they are being located.

According to research, children are lacking the engagement with the natural environment which is said to help children’s development intellectually, emotionally, socially, spiritually and physically. The benefits of implementing a natural playground help stimulate creativity and imagination, improve concentration, motor coordination, impulse control, emotional coping and stress reduction. These are all crucial components of a children’s development.

Aside from the children’s development, natural playgrounds also are sustainable, cheaper and safer. The disadvantages, however, are an increase in maintenance, inspection and insurance assessment. From my point of view, the natural playground has more pros than cons and they encourage children to use their imagination while simultaneously experiencing the smells, textures and wonders of the natural world.
Some typical natural playground components can include: earth shapes, hills, environmental art, trees, logs, shrubs, grasses, flowers, boulders and other rock structures, dirt and sand, natural fences, textured pathways and natural water features. The environments are designed to fit the landscape in which it is located and create beautiful, outdoor play and learning opportunities.

Look into it yourself, create your own opinion.

Architecture, How it Used to be Taught

By Andrew Wyne

Over the past few weeks working in Studio with some of my class mates, we have started to talk about how Architecture, the education of it, has changed a lot over the years. Now I’m not just talking how in the past ten years computers are being used and are possibly inhibiting design. I’m talking way back, before America was even a country. I’m talking about when there would be a Master architect and he would have an apprentice and the apprentice would spend years learning about how to be an architect.

I have recently been reading this article, found here: (http://www.archsoc.com/kcas/Historyed.html)

It talks about a few major countries; Britain, Germany, and France; how they have different types of study. Britain being very much an apprenticeship system and is still very much using that system. While France is using a system that is government based and how well you do as an architect is based on whether the government recognizes you as an architect. Germany is very much researched based and their universities run most of the system of architects.

What is interesting is America’s system it is somewhat of a combination of Britain and Germany. We don’t have a lot of the historical background of doing things a certain way for hundreds of years. I’m talking way back into the medieval times. But at the same time we are looking to improve much of the way things are being done. Now whether you feel things are improving or not that is most likely dependent on the perspective you take.

There does seem to be a loss in respect for what an architect does, also the amount of money that an architect can receive for a project. But there also is a variety of reasons for all of those reactions. There are more architects then there used to be. Also designing a building is a bit more complicated than it used to be. But one thing I think architects have lost that they probably shouldn’t have is the ability to not only design buildings but just be an artist. Whether its painting, sculpture, or music; there are certain things that should always be pursued and continued to be developed. What kind of designing are we doing if we cannot also create art?

Wright’s Concrete Block System

By Dempson Haney




In the early 1920’s Wright designed a concrete block system in which he referred to as the textile block system. They were featured in some of his homes such as the Millard house, Freeman house, and even Ennis house. These intricately patterned blocks were design in such a way that they could be manufactured on site with molds. Once the blocks had cured, they would be placed in position one row at a time. Steel rods would then be placed outlining the blocks both vertically and horizontally. This process would be repeated until the wall was finished. The block system suffered from numerous problems, failures, and complications. The dry mixed once cured, was porous and weak. They would deteriorate much quicker from the environment. The absence of mortar beds during erection caused blocks to come out of alignment; which was crucial since a soupy mortar mix was poured into holes between the blocks.

The process I followed was similar to that of Wright’s original plan. Using the technical innovation of digital fabrication, I constructed the molds By first modeling the block in Rhino and then extracting its contours into CAD. The laser cutter then cut out my series of layers which were then glued to form the mold. Because this is a scaled down replica of the actual system, I substituted the concrete with plaster

Different mold releases were used but the one that seemed to work the best was petroleum jelly painted onto the wood mold. After mixing the ratio of plaster and water, then letting it cure for about 24 hours, it was time to open it up. When removing the forms is when the problems occurred, the molds did not want to release. Each of the two castes broke into three relatively equal parts. The wood glued mold had peeled during the curing process allowing plaster to seep between the wood layers. This may have been caused by the heat and moisture of the plaster curing. The jelly also discolored the white plaster very slightly but was easily fixed with a couple shots of flat white paint.

The Future of World Cities?

BY Zachary Collins




I ran across an article on MSN that I thought was very interesting. In Seattle, Washington, an office building is in the process of construction that has a price tag of $30 million and will last 250 years! How do you say? By creating a “living building.”

This office building, a 6 story wonder named the Bullitt Center, will cost about a third more than a traditional office building of this size, but it will have an underlying sustainability factor that will pay off that third more cost in very little time. Spearheading this project are partners Denis Hanes and Jason McLennan. The expected completion date is in November of this year.

The sustainability factors used in this building will make it a net-zero building. The building will have power produced from solar panels, with excess collected energy put back into the power-grid in the summer, and then in winter, when there is less solar gain, it will take back that power to be used. Rainfall will be collected for building use, which in result, will make this building have zero monthly water and electric bills. WOW. Also, all sewage and wastewater is taken care of on-site and there will be no parking lot, only racks for bikes.

“We clean up our own messes.” is a quote from Hanes where he explains that what they build will self-satisfy and not put any burden on anyone else. It is a self-contained building.

Hanes’ ultimate goal is for this office building to be certified under the “Living Building Challenge.” And if this is achieved, the Bullitt Center will be the largest office tower in the nation that is a “living building.”

I encourage you to all go to this link and read more about this project. It’s very interesting, and I feel that this should be the direction all architects should be heading in.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/20/10226909-could-this-30-million-green-tower-be-the-future-of-world-cities

Michael Green presents ‘The Case for Tall Wood Buildings’

By Sean Koetting

Driven by the desire to find safe, carbon-neutral and sustainable alternatives to the incumbent structural materials of the urban world, Michael Green, Principal at Michael Green Architecture, has shared with us this highly-anticipated feasibility study, The Case for Tall Wood Buildings. The 200-page document encourages architects, engineers and designers to push the envelope of conventional thinking by demonstrating that wood is a viable material for tall and large buildings and exposing its environmental and economic benefits.



Co-author Michael Green explains, “To slow and contain greenhouse gas emissions and find truly sustainable solutions to building, we must look at the fundamentals of the way we build – from the bones of large urban building structures to the details of energy performance. We need to search for the big picture solutions of today’s vast climate, environmental, economic and world housing needs.”

Mid-rise and tall buildings around the globe have been predominately constructed in concrete and steel, two materials that have served their purpose well. However, in the challenging age of Climate Change, it is imperative that we revolutionize our building industry, as the report reveals that “concrete production represents roughly 5% of world carbon dioxide emissions, the dominant green house gas. In essence the production and transportation of concrete represents more than five times the carbon footprint of the airline industry as a whole.”
The Case for Tall Wood Buildings introduces a new way of constructing tall buildings with a renewable, durable and strong building material that is manufactured by nature. When harvested responsibly, wood may be the best option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and storing carbon in our buildings.
If you are interested in learning more about the project, Green has generously published the results of his research in an open source paper than can be reviewed in its entirety at the following web address

http://wecbc.smallboxcms.com/database/rte/files/Tall%20Wood.pdf

Thanks for reading,
Sean Koetting

Cite: Rosenfield , Karissa . "Michael Green presents ‘The Case for Tall Wood Buildings’" 27 Mar 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed 28 Mar 2012.

Structural Element for ARC 532 History

By Sean Hartman

In our ARC 532 History class we all had to find a structural element or building of our choice and create a mock up model of the element or building that we chose. This had to be something from a non-western architectural setting.

I chose to a Japanese joinery, which connected two beams together. After studying the plans and trying to figure out how I was going to construct this it seemed to me that it took a master craftsman to complete such task. Their joinery techniques were complex and took skill to do. Japanese didn't have the means or resources to create extravagant concrete or masonry buildings, but what they did have was large trees that could create heavy timber frame buildings. But after creating so many large buildings with what they thought was good heavy timber, the Japanese reverted using trees that they had passed over for the larger trees. With smaller trees they had to come up with a way to connect beams and other members together thus the creation of Japanese joinery. With this practice the Japanese was still able to construct buildings the same way as they once did with the timber that they harvested from the larger trees.

I chose the Okkake Daisen Tsugi ( Dadoed and rabbetted scarf joint). This type of joint was used to splice together ground sills, girders, and beams. There are multiple types of joints to do just this. These take a great deal of craftsmanship. "The numerous joints require expert technique to construct. They also give the impression of having been designed strictly for appearance by a master craftsman. However tsugite and shiguchi were developed on the basis of structural principles, to resist shear, bending, and moment during an era when metals were scarce." (Complete Japanese Joinery pg. 173) Below are some pictures of the joinery that I have completed for my structural element project.

Structural Glass

By Micah Jacobson




I read an article recently about structural glass that was quite interesting. Many of you may know that glass, despite its high strength, is very breakable. Glass has a strength of 140 ksi (kips per square inch) and a modulus of elasticity of 10,000 psi (pounds per square inch). In comparison steel has a strength of 35-75 ksi (up 290 for steel cables used in bridges and prestressed concrete, but that doesn’t exhibit the typical steel stress-strain relationship) and a modulus of elasticity of ~29,000 psi. Concrete has a strength of 3-20 ksi and a modulus of 57,000 *SQRT(f’c) psi (f’c is the 28 day strength of concrete). So with glass being so strong why don’t we have any scy scraper with a glass structural system?

Part of the reason is that glass is a brittle material. This means it has a purely elastic response to stress until it’s limit and then has a sudden failure. Steel has a yielding point then experiences strain hardening, in which it gains strength. Through this experience it can endure a certain amount of deformation. This allows it to absorb more energy, referred to as toughness, that’s why steel is so tough. Glass however has a very small area under the stress strain curve, meaning that it has a small amount of toughness, or energy absorbed. Another reason is because of its tendency to fracture. It is very dependent on any surface fractures or defects.
Hopefully architects and engineers will continue to expand the use of structural glass and experiment with the material, and maybe we will have an all glass tower in the future!