Dutch Dialogues

A Look at the Dutch Dialogues   

By: Brad Hoepfner

So while I have been doing research on different types of disasters and shelters that tend to sprout up after the disaster has struck a few notions of controlling the water have made themselves prevalent.  Professor Anz keeps hounding me on the Dutch and how they are the extreme masters of this topic of controlling water. So I finally looked into it and they have some great ideas and bring forth other great concepts that people have looked at around the globe as well as looking at the failures.

One big problem the dialogues focus on is the levees in the U.S. in general. Obviously we have seen the failures during hurricane Katrina, but even here in Illinois we have many homes within flood planes that are protected by levees guaranteed to stand for a certain number of years. So questions should begin to form, for instance, why do we even build within these flood planes? Do we simply enjoy living on flat ground? The amount of money it takes to build on sloping or higher ground is no more expensive than building on a flat piece of land.

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This image from the Dutch Dialogues shows us how an area of a large city could control large amounts of unwanted water, where the necessary levees are needed, and it gives us an idea of how many pump stations we may need to be able to move the water out of harm’s way.

 After looking deeply into these Dutch dialogues my thesis seems to be starting to shift towards the idea of controlling flood planes, taking a second look at levees, homes within these flood planes, and creating a home or a device that could allow for survival within. Site selection will still be an issue, but it has allowed me to look directly at the Mississippi river and allows me to work on a regional issue of southern Illinois.

http://dutchdialogues.com/ is a great source for most water control needs and they even display student efforts and thoughts.

Black Friday

Black Friday

By: Andrew Ewing

Every year over Thanksgiving break we get together with family and friends and stuff ourselves with the best cooking of the year, and then lounge around and watch football in the afternoon.  We go to bed early Thursday night to get rested for the biggest retail shopping day of the year.  This is the day where everyone seems to go crazy and will do whatever it takes to get the best deal or get the item they have been waiting to buy on sale all year.  Black Friday is actually pretty important to the world of architecture, and not just because of the deals we can get or the fact that it takes place in buildings designed by architects.  I think it's important because it's the day stores have their highest occupancy load of the year.  We have been talking a lot about occupancy load in class and just how important that is to the building.  Occupancy loads determine or effect many things ranging from number of exits, to plumbing fixture counts, to general function of floor plans.  At some point in our career, most of us will probably design a retail store, and this day will be key to the calculations.  With Black Friday there is always a cause for concern about safety among the customers rushing in to get deals. We must always plan and design for worst case scenarios.  Because of the importance this day has on the stores, it should be a key topic of conversation should an owner ever come to you with the task of designing a retail store. 

Precedent Studies

Precedent Studies

By: Adulsak "Otto" Chanyakorn

Nature connection in Row House in Sumiyoshi (Azuma House) | Osaka | by Tadao Ando

This case study is related to a thesis study, which interprets the connection of humans and nature by using architecture as a connecting medium. The project, by Tadao Ando, is located in the central part of Osaka and the house is surrounded by wooden houses that survived World War II.  The site location is in a narrow plot, 3.6 meters wide and 13.4 meters long. Ando’s goal for this house is not to re-create the relationship between occupants and nature in traditional way. In contrast, he reinterpreted the connection of humans and nature in an abstract meaning. The design aimed to protect the users from the toughness of the climate. At the same time, the house allowed the residents to make connection to elements of natural phenomena and establish their consciousness with nature. The house is a two-storied house divided into three parts: front, middle and back portion. Ando stated that the middle portion (courtyard) is the heart of this house, and it is a center of everyday life. The courtyard links the front and back parts together. Since this area is open and connects two masses, it allows residences to be in contact with nature, be aware of their consciousness and experience the changing seasons while they cross from one room to the other. The life inside the house is completely separate from the street. There is only one small door that connects the house to the surrounding environment. This design manner lets the residents to focus themselves with natural elements.   Even though the architect constructed the house by using simple geometric form and modern materials such as raw concrete, the philosophy behind the design principle has a profound quality of connection to nature. The architect incorporates the natural elements into architecture as the most important part of the design process. The architecture allows the light and shadow to form the tangible characteristics of the spaces.

The architect carefully contemplated what was necessary for human life. The house has sacrificed the some modern conveniences, but it recalls the position of human being, the relationship of architecture, humans, and nature, and how they all impact and relate to each other

as a whole.                  

                        An image | Retrieved from Tadao Ando: Editions, A, (1990), Page 21,22.

References:

            Nussaume, Y, (2009). Tadao Ando. Basel, Switzerland: Birkhauser.

            Editions, A, (1990). Tadao Ando. New York, NY: Martin’s Press

            Co, D, F, (2010). Tadao Ando: 1995-2010. New York, NY: Prestel.

Baby Boomers

Baby Boomers and University-Affiliated Retirement Communities

By: Colleen O’Malley

        As I have begun researching more of my thesis topic, I have been able to narrow down my topic of interest and focus in a more particular topic. To do this, I started looking at why we should care about these baby boomers. Several factors that make the influx of boomers into their senior years significant for architects and designers are:

-                      There are SO many aging boomers. If more than 65 million boomers in the United States will be moving through their sixties and above over the next couple of decades, and even 1 in 10 decides to move, that leaves 650,000 boomers prospects alone!

-                       As boomers begin to age, they are not going to settle for the same housing style that previous generations had. They will be pushing for more innovative designs, more flexibility to adapt to their individual lifestyles, and more technology-friendly homes. They will create change for themselves and for all Americans, as they have done throughout their lives.

-                      The opportunity has never been greater to be a part of an exciting, vibrant housing innovation boom.

Baby boomers are the most powerful demographic group our country has ever seen and comprise nearly one quarter of the total U.S. population. With about 10,000 boomers turning 60 every day, this provides an excellent opportunity for architects, designers, builders, and suppliers who wish to serve this new generation.        Looking at the past, it is clear that baby boomers will change housing for the future generations. However, nobody knows how it will change.

       Even though the future cannot be predicted in what will happen with housing for baby boomers, I believe that university affiliated retirement communities is an accurate solution.  Retirement communities of which are affiliated with a nearby college or university are ripe for development for boomers, who pride themselves on being lifelong learners, staying young, keeping active, and getting involved in athletic and cultural activities. What better place is there to mix all of these characteristics than I a university atmosphere? Some case studies that have already begun this type of retirement are developers near Notre Dame University, the University of Flordia, Cornell, Purdue University, Penn State, Stanford University, the University of Arizona, Lasell College, and Nova Southeastern University.

        However, with the surge of learning-hungry boomers, the numbers of these developments will be increasing, repositioning, and morphing to meet their needs. It is predicted that the current existing there dozen or so communities in the 20 years will grow of upward of 400, or 10 percent of the 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States. The main reason for the increase is that the arrangement benefits both the retirees and the universities. The benefits for 55+ Residents include, continuing education, available teaching or assistant positions, volunteering opportunities, cultural events, fitness centers, walking environment, library access, sporting events, diversity of people and ideas, etc. Some benefits for the university or college include, fees paid for continuing education classes, source of talent and experience to serve as teachers or assistants, fee or low-cost assistance by residents, audience for special events, source of income for use of shared facilities, stable population on campus in off-season, experiences brought by the +55 residents. 

        Although education as a part of retirement may not be for everyone, a 2006 National Association of Realtors survey of nearly 2,000 boomers found that 40 percent of boomers had a degree form a college or university. Of the remaining 60 percent, over 56 percent had graduated high school and 17 percent of those had some college experience.

Urban Planning

Urban Planning

By: Andrew Ewing

         What is Urban Planning?  One blog post probably isn't enough to explain this topic. Urban Planning is one of the main aspects of my thesis project, but what exactly does this mean? Urban planning can range from the planning of an entire city, to the planning of an area in side of a district.  This thesis focuses on the planning of a district in downtown St. Louis. Kevin Lynch writes in The Image of the City that a city has Paths, Edges, Districts, Nodes, and Landmarks. These five things are key to the success of this project and help shape a functional urban plan. Pedestrian and Vehicular paths are an issue because of the location of the baseball stadium to the site.  Roads get shut down, and the volume of pedestrian traffic increases on game day.  As a result the planning of paths around the site will have to take into account the flow of traffic during the week as well as the demands of baseball games.  Edges are an interesting topic and one that is hard to define this early in the process.  However looking at how the edges of the surrounding districts are defined, and how to possibly integrate or add are possible solutions to planning.  This venue as well as the baseball stadium will hopefully create a new entertainment district in downtown St. Louis that helps create jobs and bring in revenue.  Nodes are similar to edges in that it's too early to determine where these are located.  Kevin Lynch describes nodes as "Strategic foci into which the observer can enter, typically either junctions of paths, or concentrations of some characteristic." There are major landmarks located all over the city, and this district will contain a Cardinals Hall of Fame as well as an Anheuser Busch facility which hopefully create a landmark for the district.  Taking these 5 ideas into consideration are some basic elements to consider when master planning this site.