The City of Chicago

The City of Chicago 
By: Chris Pacanowski
        As get more involved in my research for my thesis project I realized that I was looking more into the ideas of architecture and possibilities with new technology, which is always a good thing to know but I wanted to look into the city of Chicago specifically. Since my project is located in the city of Chicago I wanted to look at the history of the city and find out why exactly my site is an abandon waste land and what was planed there to begin with. Luckily there is a book called Chicago central area plan which take historic plans and gives them to the public to inform them on what Chicago was thought to be. When looking at the city of Chicago and its history there was one event that had changed the city in every way. Originally the city of Chicago was so spermatic and dispersed in separate areas but one event had changed that and the way that the city was designed, the Chicago fire. The Chicago fire basically created a clean slate for Chicago, and this was a new time for Chicago and urban planners. Within 10 years of the great fire the city of Chicago became the second largest city. The city also had great things coming for it that not only helped the city flourish but establish its new found architecture excellence. The first large event was the worlds Columbian Exposition in 1893. It was just after that when the first real master plan of the city was completely thought out. Daniel Burnham had developed an idea to plan out the whole city and make it all cohesive. The city of Chicago also had two more events they had the world’s fair in 1933 and in 1992. Due to the large events city master plans had started to develop and began to set up the city for greatness.
        As I will continue to read this book I will look all of the historical plans that are provided in it and try to figure out exactly what was thought out for my site, and why things didn’t work on it. Just quickly skimming the images I had noticed that at one point in time the site I have just south of Roosevelt was thought to be a residential community with direct access to transit to where the world’s fair was thought to be. Seeing that and understanding that there is great opportunity to be able to connect directly to the city and other parts of the nearby south side.

Aging in Place

Aging in Place

Colleen O’Malley

         Another component to examine in my research thesis process is location. When looking at location, I will be focusing more on a permanent location allowing for boomers to age in place. Providing a universal design will allow for this necessity. Aging in place is defined by the National Association of Home Builders as “remaining in one’s home safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level. It means the pleasure of living in a familiar environment throughout one’s maturing years, and the ability to enjoy the familiar daily rituals and the special events that enrich all our lives. It means the reassurance of being able to call a house a ‘home’ for a lifetime”.

        Some components that are included in the concept of aging in place are health services, in-home care, home maintenance, transportation, and socialization. The term aging in place can refer to the renovation of an existing home or new construction.

        Universal design goes beyond the accessible, adaptable, and barrier-free concepts of the past and recognizes, respect, values, and attempts to accommodate the broadest possible spectrum of human ability. The university concept emphasizes user-friendly design, aiming to accommodate the needs to people of all ages, sizes, and abilities, including the changes people experience during their lifetime. All of these features will be considered in the design of a university affiliated retirement complex.

City on Water

City on Water – Thesis Sources (And Some Recommendations)

By: Jonathan Smith

        For this week’s final blog of the semester, I decided to share some of the more valuable sources that I have stumbled upon and have been guided to by other friends and professors. I think this will give some knowledge, (to those of you actually following this!), on what I am heading towards for my thesis next semester. Below are links that will guide you to each significant source, along with a corresponding summary I have provided for each one.

http://www.planetizen.com/node/58905

       This first article gives a brief overview of the World’s First Floating Village, in Glasgow. The village will include homes, offices, stores, restaurants, and an event venue. I think that there will be a great deal of similarities between my thesis project and what they are currently doing in Glasgow. I think the smaller village/ city will be more manageable.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/5045050.article?origin=BDdaily

        This article outlines a possible project in London for a permanent floating village located at the Royal Victoria Docks in London. The project was initially intended to be a temporary structure, but has recently grown into a master plan that could leave room for further expansion onto the floating village. I think the solution that is being proposed here acts as backing to prove that aquatic based solutions in architecture are beginning to be explored more and more seriously.

http://www.arquitectum.com/index.php

         This link is from Arquitectum, an architecture competition website. Within this link, click on Neomad City (at the bottom left), and you should be able to view both a presentation and the results of a competition that was held for the design of A Water Village in Sharjah (DUBAI-SHARJAH 2012). The presentation and the top three chosen presentations should serve as good conceptual precedents for my thesis project. More information about the actual competition and specifics and be viewed here: http://www.deathbyarchitecture.com/viewCompetition.html?id=2232

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/floating-homes-of-the-future.html?page=all

        This article is a compilation of different futuristic proposals for water based architectural designs. I found this site rather early in my research, and the projects provided interested me enough that it helped me make my final decision for what to do my Architectural Thesis project on. The ideas and designs provided here rather highly conceptual, but I foresee my thesis project resulting somewhere in between a futuristic/conceptual design and a more realistic/near future one. For a similar, but more expansive list I also found, (they both mention the same projects, but not all are the same), then you can check this link: http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2009/12/07/real-life-water-world-12-futuristic-offshore-building-projects/

http://www.archdaily.com/288198/iba-dock-architech/

        This page goes into detail about Iba Dock. This is a project located Hamburg, Germany on a Port of the Elbe. Measuring 50-meters by 26-meters, Iba Dock is Germany’s largest floating building. It rests on a pontoon that is attached to pilings, where it will move with the tide daily (up to 3.5 meters up and down). This project should act as a solid precedent for my thesis. To view alternate information regarding Iba Dock, check here (probably best to translate with  first google unless you know German: http://www.iba-hamburg.de/themen-projekte/iba-dock/projekt/iba-dock.html

 And…. For this semester folks……  FIN

Information on building information modeling

Information on Building Information Modeling

By: Kyle Miller

Building Information Modeling Definition:

•      We use BIM as a verb or an adjective phrase to describe tools, processes and technologies that are facilitated by digital, machine-readable documentation about a building, its performance, its planning, its construction and later its operation. Therefore BIM describes an activity, not an object. To describe the result of the modeling activity, we use the term ‘building information model’, or more simply ‘building model’ in full.

What Is BIM Movie Clip:

•      What is BIM movie clip

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qj9pI5us7o

•      Building Information Modeling (BIM)

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgyhRk8smkk

•      The ArchiCAD BIM Blues

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdHSzPyGvtE&feature=g-all-u

Current AEC Business Model:

•      Facility delivery process remains fragmented, and depends on paper-based modes of communication.

•      Errors and omissions in paper documents often cause unanticipated field costs, delays, and eventual lawsuits between the various parties in a project team.

•      These problems cause friction, financial expenses, and delays.

•      Most common problems associated with paper-based communication during the design phase is the considerable time and expense required to generate critical assessment information about a proposed design, including cost estimating, energy-use analysis, structural details, etc. 

Building Models are Characterized by:

•      Building components that are represented with intelligent digital representations (objects) that ‘know’ what they are, and can be associated with computable graphic and data attributes and parametric rules.

•      Components that include data that describes how they behave, as needed for analyses and work processes, e.g., takeoff, specification, and energy analysis.

•      Consistent and non-redundant data such that changes to component data are represented in all views of the component.

•      Coordinated data such that all views of a model are represented in a coordinated way.

“An intelligent simulation of architecture”:

•      To enable us to achieve integrated delivery, this simulation must exhibit six key characteristics. It must be:

•      Digital

•      Spatial (3D)

•      Measurable (quantifiable, dimension-able, and query-able)

•      Comprehensive (encapsulating and communicating design intent, building performance, constructability, and include sequential and financial aspects of means and methods)

•      Accessible (to the entire AEC/ owner team through an interoperable and intuitive interface)

•      Durable (usable through all phases of a facility’s life).

What is not BIM technology:

•      Models that contain 3D data only and no object attributes.

•      Models with no support of behavior.

•      Models that are composed of multiple 2D CAD reference files that must be combined to define the building.

•      Models that allow changes to dimensions in one view that are not automatically reflected in other views.

What are the benefits of BIM?  And What problems does it address?

•      Pre-Construction Benefits to Owner

•      Concept, Feasibility and Design Benefits

•      Increased Building Performance and Quality

•      Design Benefit

•      Earlier and More Accurate Visualization of a Design

•      Automatic Low-Level Corrections When Changes Are Made To Design

•      Generate Accurate and Consistent 2D Drawings at Any Stage of the Design

•      Earlier Collaboration of Multiple Design Disciplines

•      Easily Check against the Design Intent

•      Extract Cost Estimates during the Design Stage

•      Improve Energy Efficiency and Sustainability

•      Construction and Fabrication Benefits

•      Synchronize Design and Construction Planning

•      Discover Design Errors and Omissions before Construction (Clash Detection)

•      React Quickly to Design or Site Problems

•      Use Design Model as Basis for Fabrication Components

•      Better Implementation and Lean Construction Techniques

•      Synchronize Procurement with Design and Construction

•      Post Construction Benefits

•      Better Manage and Operate Facilities

•      Integrate with Facility Operation and Management Systems

Object based parametric modeling

•      The current generation of BIM architectural design tools, include Autodesk Revit Architecture and Structure, Bentley Architecture and its associated set of products, the Graphisoft ArchiCAD family, and Gehry Technology’s Digitial Project as well as fabrication-level BIM tools, such as Tekla Structures, SDS/2, and Structureworks all grew out of the object-based parametric modeling capabilities developed for mechanical system design.

•      BIM Tools for Architectural Design

•      Revit

•      Bentley Systems

•      ArchiCAD

•      Digital Project

•      AutoCAD-based Application

•      Tekla Structures

•      DProfiler