Major Project: Final Poster and Finished Model

Final Poster

The Physical Model

Window detail - steel frame

I-Beam

• I-Beam mullions running the full height of the building
• In the style of Mies van der Rohe
• Non-structural steel

Detailed corner of the office building

Article #3: Steel and Glass Construction

For my major project, Ive searched for many information on steel and glass construction and found this particular article on Norman Foster. This article explains Foster's ideas and solutions for a steel and glass buildings. Below is the link to the article called 'Hearst Tower' by William Lebovich who is an architectural historian and photographer from Chevy Chase, Maryland who photographs new projects for architects and developers and documents properties of historical, architectural, engineering, or industrial significance throughout the continental United States.

http://www.architectureweek.com/2007/0523/design_1-1.html

Published 23.05.2007

Major Project: Development of the physical model

The development of the physical model in the scale of 1:10.

Major Project: Development

Ground floor plan

First floor plan

Elevation detail of the north wall

horizontal section of the corner

This drawing is to show the materials involved in the building. How the glass and steel combines together and with the I-Beams to give architectural style to the building, they are non-structural steel.

vertical section of the corner

Once again to show the materials and construction of the office complex from footings to the roof. However, i haven't labeled it yet, I just want to show the drawings that I have done for the project.

Article #2: Timber

NEWS
Construction with timber highlighted by Development Program

http://www.nafi.com.au/news/view.php3?id=451



For a more detailed information on timber construction, click below:

http://www.timber.org.au/menu.asp?id=131#bottom

Major Project: References

http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Ludwig_Mies_van_der_Rohe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_frame

Werner, Blaser. 'Mies van der Rohe.' 1972. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd.

Yehuda E. Safran. 'Mies van der Rohe.' 2001. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili.

Article #1: Sustainable Architecture

Green Architecture is becoming popular, this is because of the state that we are going through which is global warming. I have found this interesting article at Architecture Week which provides information on sustainable architecture.


GreenBuild Conference
by ArchitectureWeek

The GreenBuild Conference, held in Denver, Colorado in November 2006, provided an important rallying of forces against global warming. Architects, builders, nongovernmental organizations, building product manufacturers, and other private companies gathered to announce ambitious plans for confronting the problem.

Rick Fedrizzi, president of the U.S Green Building Council (USGBC), which organized the conference, announced a long list of proposals intended "to bring about 'immediate and measurable' carbon dioxide reduction and to advance the green building industry. The USGBC will develop a CO2 offset program and require that, to achieve LEED certification, commercial buildings must reduce CO2 emissions to half of current levels.

That the USGBC is adding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the established concerns of conserving energy and fighting pollution is good news for activists alarmed by the role of the construction industry in global warming. One of these activists is Edward Mazria, founder and executive director of Architecture 2030. This group's goal is that all new buildings will be carbon neutral by the year 2030.

Mazria said at the conference: "The task we face is daunting. Working separately, we could accomplish something significant in each of our respective spheres. But by working together, we actually have a chance to influence the course of history."



Read it here, http://www.architectureweek.com/2007/0110/news_1-1.html


Published 10.01.2007

Major Project: Mies van der Rohe

Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969)

His aesthetic theories and his completed buildings reveal a preoccupation with industrial technology that shows quality and perfection of detail. Mies has set himself the task of re-establishing fundamental values in architecture. The fundamental values are the qualities of space and of form; and of proportion and of detail. Mies's works are great, that is because of his concentration upon pure form and pure detail.

When he opened his own office in 1913, he designed several villas and also produced daring design of a scyscraper that started modern architecture. In 1919, the sketches that Mies developed were for an all-glass tower, twenty storeys in height. For these projects revealed a quality in Mies which has been his most impressive characteristic throughout his career. That quality is the ability to produce architectural statements of such overwhelming precision, simplicity and a major revelation impact.

Below, are two of Mies's great buildings, the Lake Shore Drive Apartments and the Seagram Building.

As you can see from his designs, Mies developed the concept of 'skin and bones' architecture. Where steel and concrete represents strength; these would be the 'bones' of his building. Glass is the veil that draped over the skeleton to form the 'skin'. He always wanted to emphasize on structure.

The building that I have chosen is the Crown Hall, at the Illinois Institute of Technology (1950-56). Crown Hall incorporates a clear span of 220 by 120 feet. The building are framed in steel with deep steel girders or trusses spanning the distance between outside columns that spaced 60 feet apart. As a result, there is no need for any interior supports at all, so that the enclosed space can serve any functions.

The deep girders are above the roof plane, so that the roof ceiling (which was hung from the overhead girders) becomes a flat slab uninterrupted by any dropped beams. The building is famous for its clear strutural expression, the transparency building that shows Mies's style with its steel and glass facade, and the open, column free interior space.

I chose Mies van der Rohe as my master architect for this project because of his design where eventhough his style is simple, with the use of only steel, concrete and glass; but he wanted to emphasize on the structure of the building itself.

Reference:

Blake, P. 1960. 'Architecture and Structure.' Middlesex: Penguin Books

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Mies_van_der_Rohe