Proof in Architecture

By: Aaron Neal

Architectures are called upon by society to make certain judgement calls in terms of design.  They are given the responsibility to make decisions that we think will provide the best outcome for the situation.  This might be in terms of how a space is used or how a passive system works.  In both of these cases the decision is made without substantial proof that they work.  In regards to a passive system, we understand the basic principles of how to passively cool or heat a building, but we have no education on how to prove by how much or how exactly that works.  That kind of analysis requires some sort of specialized education with an emphasis in computer modeling and physics.  Most architectural firms don’t have the money to hire a full time or even contract out an expert to prove every design that goes out the doors.  This may not be a big deal when it comes to a house, or a small clinic, but large projects like schools or hospitals should have that proof behind the design.  With such a large budget the client should demand some sort of proof for every decision that goes into the design and we as architects should just include justification with our initial designs. 

            Now in regards to how a space functions, there should be significant studies done as well.  These should include behavioral studies, taking population polls, full scale mock ups and simulations.  This is where a lot of architects fail I believe.  We send someone out to do a site visit and they take some photographs, write down some measurements, and head back to the office.  To fully understand the site though, it would require someone to experience the site at all times and seasons.  Now granted, this would be near impossible to do in a timely manner, but more than a couple of site visits should be the norm in most offices.  Simulations are another thing that could drastically alter how a project turns out.  In some hospital designs, patient rooms and mock E.R.’s would be created so that the actual nurses would work there could test out the space.  Then these tests can be documented and the design can be changed so that the space functions better which could result in more lives saved.  These kinds of tests should be fundamental when doing large projects such as schools or medical buildings.  Other fields completely test their products before release.   Automobiles and airplanes go through rigorous testing to see exactly when they fail and how much they can withstand.  How much do we do in architecture?  There are some testing that goes on such as wall assemblies and structural systems, but what about the more complex issues such as social behaviors or even the thermodynamics of passive systems.  Sometimes it’s easy to say that a design will work without any proof, but what are the consequences behind those actions?  Are we being completely fair to our clients or even society when we make those opinionate decisions?

Entertainment District

By: Andy Cunningham

What’s up everybody! I hope your break was good, and got some much needed rest, I know I did. I did a whole lot of nothing, and it was everything I could have hoped for.

            Looking forward to this semester, I am actually excited about it. Being able to work on my thesis is really exciting, because normally in studios, sites and programs, or building types are predefined, but with the thesis, I get the opportunity to have a decision on everything. I’m really looking forward to the next few months.

As to what my project is, creating an entertainment district outside the United Center, it’s exciting to look around the country and see more types of places pop up around the country, and even around the city of Chicago. The Chicago cubs are currently constructing something similar outside of Wrigley field. These entertainment districts are designed to bring more people to the area and allowing them to experience the game in a similar atmosphere as actually being at the game.

            Although Wrigley field is in a better neighborhood than the United Center, bringing in an entertainment district and giving people more of a reason to go into the area the area will hopefully start to improve. With the sustained success that the Blackhawks have had over the last decade, and the bulls always hanging around, support for both of these teams is incredibly high and giving people the chance to go down and experience the game somewhere other than their house or a random bar, this gives fans a chance to experience the game in another way.

            I know for me, having a place like this would be awesome because it would be cool to go watch a hawks or bulls game there in the excitement of the Arena, and the take the train to city to do whatever.

A trip to Denevr

By: Alicia Luther

Welcome back from the holidays all! It has come to the time to where we really crack down on our thesis project. Over the break, I had the opportunity to travel to Denver. I decided to share some of the architecture that I saw on my trip. My intention of the trip was to check out the area to see if it was a potential location I would want to move to. As I was there, I noticed a lot of residential buildings being constructed and a few office buildings as well. There were a lot of unique buildings and some had amazing interiors.

            As soon as I landed at the Denver International Airport, I was already experiencing the wonderful architecture. The airport was one of the most interesting airports that I have personally experienced yet. As I was coming off the terminal, I thought the interior was awesome. To get from the terminal to the main baggage claim you had to take a train that made 3 stops until you arrived at the claim. However, it is the exterior that is truly incredible. The airport’s exterior has tall peaks that represent the snowcapped mountains. The peaks are a fabric that is held up my steel cables. Attached to the airport is a new extension, a Westin Hotel has been added to the end and it has a wave like shape that is unique.

            As I arrived to the city the Sports Authority Field immediately caught my eye. The stadium looks like a roller coaster from the exterior. The first stadium built there was said to be built for the Denver Bears baseball team and then became extended for the Bronco’s football stadium. Go Broncos!  That Mile High Stadium was then demolished and this one was built just 50’ from the original stadium. The project was a $400.7 million project and only seats 2 extra people than the originally stadium.

            While there, I experienced some of the night life and dining as well. One night we went to the Melting Pot and that was an old library converted into a restaurant. For night light I went to a club called The Church. This was and old church converted into a night club. The venue still had the old stained glass and with the high ceiling it made for an interesting venue. Also, I visited a place called Double Daughters. The interior took on an Alice and Wonderland feel. The railings were all made of axes and the color theme was a dark red.  If ever looking for a vacation destination I highly recommend Denver. 

Comprehensive Design Studio

By; Kristina Shrestha

This is the last blog of the semester. This semester has been a great learning experience. We not only had a comprehensive studio this semester but also had to design a new city. A city which will incorporate retail stores, offices, school, community center, senior living, fire station and police station. An urban sites as well as rural site were allocated for the variation of the design. The master plan of the city was designed in a group of three. The main excess points of the city were predefined. Different areas were allocated for the offices, school, retail stores, community center, senior living, fire sta­­tion and police stations. The master plan was refined and elements of the city like nodes, paths, landmark, edges and districts were defined. We also designed an individual building for the purpose of studio. I am designing a high-rise apartment. The building was inspired by sculpture of Donald Judd. In the Environment and system class, we are making panels for the project we are doing in studio. We started the panel with site analysis of the site in Glenelg, Maryland which includes wind analysis, sun path, roads leading to the site and the different site conditions. We made panels for the codes applicable for the Genelg, Maryland site. Similarly, we did a panel for soil condition of the site. We studied different types of structural units which can be applicable for the building we are designing. As I am designing a high rise building, I will be using pile foundation with steel columns and beams. The floors will be made up of precast slab. The steel columns are made up of wide ‘I’ beams. The egress and plumbing fixtures were calculated. We designed mechanical and electrical systems of the building. We made an architecture panel which helps people to understand our design.

In “professional practice” class, we learned about the rules and regulations of NCARB and AIA. We also learned about the internship programs and the process to become a certified architect. One of the interesting subjects was the “contracts”. There are different types of contracts such as Architect Owner Contract, Owner Contractor Contract and Owner Construction Manager Contract.

The other class was Research Methodologies and Architectural theory. It was one of the most interesting and inspiring classes ever. I was working on the research of my thesis. We also had a debate on post modernism versus modern and I was given post modernism. During the research for the debate, I found out so much about post modernism and especially about Robert Venturi and his design. The evolution of post modernism which started with Robert Venturi. I have always found myself supporting for modern architecture. After my research on post modernism, I started looking for the different eras of development of architecture. I was amused by the deconstructivist architecture. I researched about Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry, two pioneers of deconstructivist architecture.

When I was small I was amused by Galileo. I wonder how he imagined a real shape of the world we live today. I wondered what was inside his mind and why was he was exploring the shape of the earth? When I was growing up I was inspired by Albert Einstein too and his quest to find a single theory of the universe. He spent many years to prove the theory of relativity. He must have an incredible patience as he had to wait for so long to get into what he was searching for. Also, I wondered why he was so different from the other people. People would say things like “thinking outside the box” but I think Albert Einstein was outside the rules that human are in, in terms of his way of thinking and his belief.

When I started my journey of architecture, I was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wrights. I love all of his buildings, the simplicity and the effectiveness of his designs. My summer project was also inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s work.

The only reason behind explaining these is that this class changed my thought and inspired me. This semester I was inspired by the designs of Frank Gehry. I was motivated to design something which was out of the box, at least for me. I decided to design a building which would cry out loud. It was very different from my regular designs. I designed a building such that it could give the viewers the feeling of movement and change. Also, it would look different from various angles.

In conclusion, this semester has been a great learning experience. It has widened the horizons of my thought and made me more creative.

That’s all for today! I hope to post new articles for the spring. I wish you happy holidays!

Technology in Architecture

By: Stephen Lauer

Post 7: Final Touches

The final post this semester will be about finishing touches. There are final adjustments that can be made to alter how the image looks and “feels”. The first is to use the layer adjustments (vibrance, hue/saturation, color balance, etc.). This places a new layer on top of all of the existing layers and adds the adjustment to the affected areas. By doing this it can make the image brighter or darker, create a different feeling all together, or completely invert the color of the image. These adjustments are very simple to make and take nearly no time at all to do. The top image is the unadjusted image from an earlier tutorial of the fog and rain/snow. The bottom image is the same image as above but was adjusted using only the Vibrance layer adjustment and dropping the saturation to -100 and the vibrance to +100. This created a very foggy and ominous look and much more convincing and realistic than the top image in which I was beginning to achieve the same affect only needing one layer adjustment to achieve that. In my opinion the adjustments on sunny or bright images begins to make them look more artistic rather than realistic. But each adjustment is used in its own specific way and has its advantages and disadvantages.

Another way to make these final adjustments are to use plug-ins such as Topaz Labs software, https://www.topazlabs.com/, which has numerous plug-ins that allows for various types of adjustments. A few of their software plug-ins are as follows, Adjust, Clarity, and Detail. Each of these take advantage of different aspects of the image and highlights them. As Topaz Labs has their own software for these adjustments, there are other companies that do the same thing and Topaz Labs is just one that I have personally tried myself and have seen used in other tutorials.

A final word on Photoshop tutorials that I would llike to say is that to use other tutorials out there to learn better ways and more efficient manners of doing things in Photoshop. One specific website where I have learned many things is https://visualizingarchitecture.com/. The person who does these tutorials is very skilled in his work and teaches very well. Some tutorials have just text and process images while others give full video tutorials. Finally do not forget that achieving a great rendering takes many hours of work to learn how to do it and it takes hours to actually finish a rendering to a high quality. I hope these tutorials have helped you and will push you to continue on to learn more and make great things. 

Case Studies for La Milagrosa Chapel, Leaf Chapel, M-Velope

By: Patrick Szczecina

The topic chosen for this week is to build off the thesis abstract that was written before and addition to Case studies The thesis that I have chosen is that of transformative architecture, which utilizes building movement (walls, rooms) to create new spaces.

La Milagrosa Chapel

The concept behind La MIlagrosa Chapel is that to not change any of the site, and to build off the natural features of the environment; wind and the light to create and essential harmony. The largest feature of this structure is that to open to the natural world, allowing for large masses (Open) and private masses (closed). Some of the features include move-able alter allowing for choir space, tabernacle becomes part of the landscape. The structure is made of 4 materials; Stone (rigid), Steel, wood and glass (Mobile). “The relation between a still and a mobile volume represents “the passage between two worlds, between the known and the unknown, the light and the darkness. As the door opens, a mystery is revealed, and has a dynamic and psychological value, not only showing us a landscape, but inviting us to pass through it.” - Daniel Bonilla

Leaf Chapel

The Leaf Chapel sits in a courtyard of Risonare Hotel Resort, having views of Southern Japanese Alps, Yatsugatake peaks and Mt. Fuji. The Chapel has two components, one glass (Stationary) and one steel (Mobile). The glass portion acts as the structure, having the look of a stem of a leaf. The Steel leaf contains 4700 holes, filled with acrylic having a leaf/branch pattern as well as acting as the brides veil. When the Groom lifts the brides veil for the kiss, the metal leaf lifts up (Within 38sec, weighting 11 tons) revealing the pond and the natural world.

M-Velope

The M-Velope is a smaller scale of the M-House, where one is able to live, while the M-Velope is more of an outdoor structure where someone is able to sit. M-Projects are made of wooden panels fastened with hinges to the supporting structure, allowing for each panel to be opened or closed, into one of the two positions. All the panels are different allowing for a variety of options to open the structure. Not just being a home that allows for space to be manipulated, the panels locations along with how they are open allow for control of the climate on the interior and surrounding structure. Both projects where designed to allow variations of configuration along with allowing for relocations whenever it is suited.

Let’s Get Some Interior Design

By: Megan Crider

As we approach the end of the semester, every student begins to plot their studio work to be presented.  Naturally, the workflow in the lab increases dramatically.  During my shift yesterday, one of the other lab assistants was helping me manage the influx of students and plots.  One of the sheets being printed was that of a junior interior design student.  My fellow lab assistant was admiring the renderings on the sheet and made a comment about how beneficial it would be for our architecture curriculum to include an interior design class…

I agree.  Granted I am biased because my undergraduate degree was in interior design.

I doubt our condensed graduate curriculum has room for an additional class.  Well frankly it doesn’t.  I do feel though that in one or two of our classes a little bit more attention could be paid to the in-depth design of an interior space or two…. I feel that architecture students miss out on quite a bit by not having this exposure.  Their focus is largely on the exterior of the building – I get it, after all that is the architecture.  But the design of the interior is a whole other story.  Material selections of everything from the wall finishes to the flooring come into play, as well as furniture, fixture, and lighting selections, all the while color schemes and choices are kept in mind.  Interior design a lot of times is a much more complex and intricate entity that requires a lot of diligent thought and attention.  I am not knocking architecture by any means, but those students are really missing a different and fulfilling experience.  Not to mention I find it kind of fun, in a designy, nerdy sort of way.