Another example of artistic use of sunlight and mirror...

Here is an excellent description of many sunlight-related phenomena in the form of simple Q&A. Example: Why are any materials transparent?

An expensive, but instructive, example of concentrating sunlight for surgery...

Natural light glossary, because one forgets. Light pipe or sun tunnel is an example. There are better solutions, but they are expensive and hard to find.

JB writes, "I'd buy one. Click on Products then Hermit's Cabin."

Analemma via ericalba.org.

William R. Yelland, maker of warm houses people like, not the cold modernist cubes people hate, according to yesterday's Architext. Also Cliff May and Carr Jones.

This is great. Ikea clobbers Breuer.

The Data Processing Primitives
Input
Save
Retrieve
Output
Copy
Change
Translate
Derive
Compare
Decide
Repeat
Destroy
Count
Sum
Collect

72 x 84, our king size bed...

Along the lines of Rudofsky's vernacular architecture, we have caterina's finds.

Thick profile fake, fake, fake roofing...

Internship issues.

Read this in architect thing.

These stock plans look outstanding.

Malorama wrote about an artsfartsy interview.

Thumbnails of concrete and masonry details. This one looks especially good for retaining wall.

Requirement is to get religion over retaining wall to slab detail. Religion. More religion.

Off-the-grid special house. Does it really cost only $600,000? Is it really only 3,000 sq. ft.?

Cottage, 700 sq. ft. This one is smaller. Here is a simple design. Elaborate, but not in the sense of modern and big.

McMansions and an account of why they are so much fun. Well some like em porky. Many principled articles, but not too many little cottages, and even those, $50,000.

These proposals for WTC are decent.

Here are the six (6) designs for the World Trade Center that went nowhere.

“Do you want to work on sandcastles for money?”

“No.”

"Never work for doctors and lawyers."

For one thing, what kind of contract? What is the exit strategy?

The fix for WTC is harder than making another box. In "Mourning and Modernism After 9/11, Can Function Follow Form?" Casey Nelson Blake in The Nation, September 23, 2002, describes ways last summer's proposals failed because the Port Authority commission's 11 million square foot program was unworkable, and the idea of a "modern" skyscraper is thirty years outdated anyway.

move brick building
'r' lawyers
we goats
be the goat
Hopland
ranch > 50 acres rented
single wide
Volkswagen bus
$200 / acre
gates
fear
qorvis
defunct
uebergieser
unter

So what's a raft of willows
soil nailing
pressure grout
how much does this cost?
what do they want?
landscape?
brook?
garage?
make 11 x 17
cough cough cough
birdbath
no
he won't produce much
we have to

There must be a way to automate terrain adjustments.

Make fog for fun.

Redo, redo, redo all!

Out of control lists:

Gorse and pampas grass, poison hemlock and yellow star thistle, Scotch broom and German ivy, red-apple aptenia and blue-gum eucalyptus

giant thistle cardoon, and fennel

broom, pampas grass (both the Cortaderia jubata evildoer and the less-invasive C. selloana), fountaingrass, water hyacinth

Reasons...

Another article and web sites

-- Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven);

-- Arundo donax (giant reed);

-- Centaurea melitensis (tocalote);

-- Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle);

-- Cortaderia jubata (jubata grass, miscalled pampas grass);

-- Senecio mikanioides (cape ivy);

-- Spartium junceum (Spanish broom);

-- Tamarix chinensis, T. gallica, T. parviflora, T. ramosissima (tamarisk, salt cedar).

-- Red-apple aptenia (Aptenia cordifolia);

-- Licorice plant (Helichrysum petiolare) -- these two are not widespread, yet, but show potential;

-- Pennyroyal (near wetlands);

-- Water hyacinth, parrot's feather, and elodea or anacharis if you're next to fresh water;

-- Periwinkle (Vinca major);

-- Capeweed (Arctotheca calendula);

-- Cape or German ivy (Delaira odorata or Senecio mikanioides);

-- English ivy (good old Hedera helix);

-- Ox-eye daisy, or marguerite;

-- Foxglove (if you're near a damp area or stream);

-- Purple loosestrife -- illegal to sell in some states;

-- Fennel;

-- Woolly mullein;

-- Fountaingrass (Pennisetum setaceum);

-- Pampas grass;

-- Broom of all sorts;

-- Gorse;

-- Tamarisk;

-- Myoporum;

-- Russian olive;

-- Ailanthus;

-- Blue gum eucalyptus;

Some criticize the neighbors for moving walls on a daily basis, going through contractors one, two, three and making the price of construction go from $400,000 to $1.3 million.

Paradox. Architects create space, all of it empty at one time. There is no future in storage. Yet, these words are stored.

Julia Morgan threw her drawings away on retirement, not before. So when she was looking for something in her last years, no problem. It was already gone.

And more on Kennedy Center

Ed Stone arranged to pick Jackie's favorite colors for presentation.

Practice issue. Never allow anyone to broker the architect to the client. For example, an Australian that's been around the client about a month calls up and says, "What have you been doing on the client's job? Tell me, and I'll tell the client."

Architect should say "Nothing doing," and contact client directly, not through broker, ending professional relationship at this point, if necessary. Broker will always find architect wrong.

The catenary is the locus of the focus of a parabola rolling along a straight line.

CATENARY (from Lat. catena, a chain), in mathematics, the curve assumed by a uniform chain or string hanging freely between two supports. It was investigated by Galileo, who erroneously determined it to be a parabola; Jungius detected Galileo’s error, but the true form was not discovered until 1691, when James Bernoulli published it as a problem in the Ada Erudiorum. Bernoulli also considered the cases when (I) the chain was of variable density, (2) extensible, (3) acted upon at each point by a force directed to a fixed centre. These curves attracted much attention and were discussed by John Bernoulli, Leibnitz, Huygens, David Gregory and others.

Signs...

Examples of depression practice...

depression architecture practice...

Seen on the lamppost.

There are some fancy chemicals available, but for all practical purposes out of reach. Back to basics. It's quite possible the oil in the floor is irremediable, and flooring simply has to be replaced.

Oil spill cleanup seems to be the problem with a former printing company floor that will not clean. Technique now involves applying a combination of odorless paint thinner, laundry soda and Pine Sol in hot water with damp mop. Oily gunk rises to surface in a milky emulsion. Rinse black gunk from mop repeatedly. Dry with paper towel (or other cellulose product). Result is sticky, black floor. Don't know if this is an improvement.

Jennifer Kretschmer, Associate AIA, wrote this study page and link to questions for general structures.

“I.”

Make something beautiful by design.

Anti-matter disposition.

meticulous architecture

Adobe walls, 18" thick.

Office space alternative to lease or rent?

Modular ratio (n), a ratio of the moduli of elasticity of different materials to determine bend strength of two different materials such as a composite beam; e.g. W shape with concrete slab top flange.

Examples:

n = E_s/E_c
n = E_s/E_m # E_s steel, E_c concrete, E_m masonry

What are the three laws of equilibrium with regard to any structural member?

Σ ↑ = ↓ # vertical forces
Σ ← = → # horizontal forces
Σ clockwise = counter-clockwise

If these equations can be solved, beam is “statically determinate.”

strain = D/L
deformation under axial load (as below)

Strain, deformation of a member resulting from stress (unit deformation), can also be written as

s = e / L

s strain
e dimensional change
L original length of the member

Anderson Marsh State Historic Park (SHP) has an old ranch house that I am looking for...

Someone from the business world called and said industrial gross (IG) is a lease agreement where the landlord is responsible for real estate taxes and insurance, while the tenant is responsible for utilities, janitorial and items inside the building. On utilities in office buildings that have adopted this arrangement, sometimes the landord installs separate meters or he or she might charge a proportional share of charges incurred on meters for all or parts of the building.

This reference gives a mind-numbing array of leasing terms, and dances around IG. An East Bay reference spells out IG substantially as above.

“Greenspirit - Trees are the Answer” is the title of an article someone from another state sent. The article is a powerful argument against burning fossil fuels, building parking lots and monoculture forms of agriculture. The article also offers some ideas about sustainable forestry and increased use of wood for fuel, particularly in developing countries at no net increase in carbon dioxide emissions, and reduced use of fossil fuel, which represents more than 100% carbon dioxide burden considering the fossil fuels used in extraction and refinement. As to paper and construction the article recommends using wood, while reducing use of unsustainable concrete, steel and plastic.

ARE division statements, tasks and references

General Structures

Lateral Forces

STRUCTURES
GENERAL

Terms, concepts
structural elements
purlin: roof beam usu. @ truss panel joints to avoid bending stress in top
chord
pile cap: transfers column load to piles
forces
force couple = equal but opposite forces
double shear: 2 shear planes (places of poss. shear failure ) as in bolts
shear stress in column pad depends on load, column, size & thickness of pad
(not reinf. steel)

matenal properties
E = modulus of elasticity = stress/strain (Hooke's law)
E for steel = 29, 000, 000 psi
E for Doug fir = 1,600,000 psi
E for conc. = 57,000√f'c (-->ult. strength after 28 days)
for A36 steel, Fb = 24 ksi if compression flange laterally supported
fy = 40 ksi for grade 40 steel, 60 ksi for grade 60 steel
joist girder designation: 60G10N14.4K
60 in. deep, 10 eq. spaces along girder, 14.4 kip load @ ea. panel point
rules of thumb
structural costs about 25% of total constr. cost
truss depth to span ratio 1:10 best
slab on grade 3-1/2 to 9"
max slump
sidewalk conc.: 4"
min. conc. coverage
3" @ footings against earth
1-1/2" interior columns
3/4" @ interior slabs

Characteristics of different structural-systems
folded plate
inclined planes function as deep beams
pretensioning: steel tensioned before conc. cast
no end anchorages
consider shrinkage of conc. & creep of conc. & steel
continuous beams
less Mmax, deflection
Mmax greater in end spans than in middle
flat plate
use where loads relatively light
deflection high
flat slab
round column w/ capital, drop panel

formulas





stress = P/A (unit axial stress)
bending stress: f = M/S
strain = D/L
deformation under axial load
Δ=PL/AE
coefficient of linear expansion n (per 1 degree )
Δ = nL Δ t
Max moment
Mmax = w1**2/8 uniform load simple beam
Mmax = Pl/4 concentrated load at center

moment of inertia I (in**4)
I = bd**3/12 for rectangular section
neutral axis: y bar = ΣAy/ΣA
Ix-x = Σ (Io + Ayn**2)
section modulus
S = I/c (in**3) (c = dist. from outer fiber to neut. axis)
S = M/Fb (allowable bending stress)
Area of wood beam
A = 3V/2Fv (V = max shear; Fv = allowable shear)
Tu = Asfy ultimate tensile strength of rebar
Trig
sin 30 = .5
cos 30 = .866
tan 30 = .577
sin 45 = .707
cos 45 = .707
tan 45 = 1
sin 60 = .866
cos 60 = .5
tan 60 = 1.732
columns
round conc. columns reinforcement
spiral - stronger
ties
K factor in column design
accounts for diffs in column end conditions
Kx unbraced length = Kl (effective length)
steel columns
slenderness ratio = l/r (radius of gyration)
circle, tube - most efficient shapes - resist buckling; material far from axis
base plate
non-shrink grout (1")
Fp = 0.35 f'c
f'c = 3000 psi --> Fp = 1050 psi



A=P/Fp
Beams
Preliminary beam sizes
depth (in.) = 1/2 span (ft)
weight (lb/ft) = 1.25 W (kips)
delta = depth (in)/10
most efficient way to minimize deflection: increase depth ( -->I)
stiffness calcs to check for ponding - double deflections
short beams + long girders = less material but more depth
long beams + short girders = more material but less depth
plate girders
large load
large span ~ 100
depth 3 to 6'
web stiffeners
composite beams
large load, span
wide beam spacing
optional welded plate @ bottom
4 to 6" conc. deck
open-web steel joists
spans > 60' bolted bridging
LH for floors: 18-48" d, 96' 1
DLH for roofs: 52- 72" d, 144' 1
J series 36,000 psi yield strength
H series 50,000 psi yield strength chord sections
either hot-rolled or cold-rolled steel
underslung or pitched
designation: nominal depth @ center + size of top chord section (e.g., 40 LH
10)
often provided w/ top chord extended ends --> cantilever
other one-way flexural systems
channel slab
box girder
double T - most common
two-way flexural systems
1/12 - 1/20 span/depth --> shallower

connections
F - friction type
impact loading
N - bearing, threads included
steel binds w/bolt
X - bearing, no threads
bolts
A307 (120 ksi)
A325 (44 ksi) most common


welds
radiographic inspection (x-rays) used to test welds
strength of weld based on shear strength thru throat
fillet weld throat = .707(size)
Fsw = 0.40 Fy base material
Fsw = 0.30Fy weld material
avoid welding rebar

conc. systems
ultimate strength = 1.4 DL + 1.7 LL (factored loads)
balanced beam: designed for simultaneous failure of conc. and steel
under-reinforced is better - warning cracks
compression steel - can help reduce depth of conc. beam
in top portion of beam - tied w/ stirrups to lower reinf.
prestressed conc. advantages
fewer cracks
corrosive atmosphere
stiffer
smaller
kelly ball test - for workability of conc. - less common than slump test

Foundations
spread footing
wall, grade beam
combined
at property line
cantilever footing ( also strap footing) @ property line
mat/raft
good for differential settlement
moves up and down w/water table
pile footing/caissons
drilled pier - bell @ bottom for bearing

site constr .
excavation
footing 6" @ natural grade
6" below frost line
backfill
clean, low shrink/swell, compacted
std. proctor compaction test
95% bldg.
90% parking lots

History
Perret- first to use reinf. conc. frame in hi-rise
Kahn- struct. eng. on Hancock, Sears Tower
Jenney- first skyscraper - Home Insurance Co. 1883
Maillart - Swiss eng. - bridges


LATERAL

retaining walls
resultant should fall in middle third of base
usu. designed to resist 30 lb/cf pressure
counterfort wall: retaining wall w/ bracing walls

hydrostatic pressure 62.4 lb/cf - pools, tanks

seismic force
Richter scale - each no. is about 32 times previous no.
lateral force, or shear at base V
V = ZIKCSW or V = ZICW/R
Z = zone factor
zone 0, z = 0
zone 1, z = 3/16
zone 2, z = 3/8
zone 3, z = 3/4
zone 4, z = 1
I = importance 1-1.5
assembly of over 300 --> I = 1.25
essential facilities (hospitals, fire, police) --> I = 1.5
K = lateral resisting type
moment resisting frames
resists by bending
most ductile
steel or conc.
ductile moment resisting space frame
shear walls
allowable shear for diff mat'ls -- table 25K
stiffest
braced frames
seismic force is dependent on stiffness of structure
K value from table 23T
.67 --> 2.5
ductile --> less ductile
bldgs > l60'h in zone 3 or 4 must have DMRSF resist 25%
C = accel. = 1/15√T (period (sec.)) or C = 1.25S/T**2/3 (1991 UBC)
T = .05h/√D
h = ht. of structure (ft)
D = dimension parallel to applied forces (ft)
for DMRSF bldgs., T = .10ON
N = no. of stories
long period --> flexible, low force
short period --> stiff, high force
drift = 1/500 h
S = subsoil condition - betw. 1-1.5
max when Tbldg = Tsoil

firm soil --> higher force
CS < 0.14 per UBC
W = total dead load incl. partitions
storage & warehouse include 25% live load also
distribution of base shear
force applied to any level x
Fx = (V -Ft)wx*hx/Σwh
Ft = force at top = .07TV < .25V
diaphragms
rigid, semi-rigid - transfers loads in proportion to rigidity of verticals
flexible, semi-flexible
drag strut - collects seismic load from diaphragm
parts of bldg: Fp = Z*I*Cp*Wp; Cp from table 23J - horiz force factor

Wind pressure
p = Ce*Cq*qs*I - all from UBC

Ce = exposure (based on height) - Table 23G
Cq = pressure coefficient - Table 23H
method 1 (normal force method)
method 2 (projected area method)
qs = wind stagnation pressure @ ht. 30'
from basic wind speed - table 23F
I = importance
assemblies, I = 1.15
others, I = 1

Just as we gained a uniform, mathematical time, so also we gained a uniform, mathematical space. The change is evident in the evolution of the artist's techniques. Before the development of linear perspective during the Renaissance, space did not present itself to the artist independently of things; it was more like the qualitatively varying presence of things, and derived its local shape from them. This plastic quality of space, evident in so many medieval paintings, typically appears highly confused to us.—Steve Talbott, TECHNOLOGY, ALIENATION, AND FREEDOM

When I developed a hypothesis whereby two people look at an object, a measurement of its its apparent size to each person will vary, someone said, “That’s architecture.”

subsidence
seismic events
soil settling
oil and gas extraction voids

deflection
concrete beam design
crown side up

“Praying for rain today, truck has no wipers. Good excuse to stay home and read. Schlepping at a court in Quogue, a little west of here, near Jim's town. Newly built McMansion shingle-style. All out with gazebos, stonework, etc. No shade and we're doing asphalt work. The end is in sight thankfully.”—JB

25% commercial vacancy

For N.Y., a building to remember...

“Looks like this will spotlight the more obnoxious side of things.”—JB

Decay...

From Southampton...

Will be working a society gala tonight at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton. Blue Bloods sipping cocktails. I'll be guarding the artwork and keeping the masses from slipping in. Good times.

I'm trying to document some of the houses I've been working at. Some are really amazing. And just driving around from site to site you see some incredible places. Near the ocean are numerous modernist boxes. I really like some of them. Might try to go to the Halsey House today. I don't think I've ever been there before—JB

“Different mentality out here. We had to stop work and leave a site yesterday. Mansion on the ocean. The owner's dog was sick so he had it helicoptered (by itself) out from the city to a landing pad down the street on Meadow Lane. Then it was chauffeured to the house where it was lazing about enjoying the fresh air. He didn't want it disturbed so the caretaker told us to split. More delays.”—JB

“I'm happy to have contributed to the gentrification of the Mission...pass it along to my other valet friend.”—JB

Step foundation on steep hillside.

Measured Survey

Electronic measuring devices, but watch out for sound!

This one won't be around for long...maybe this one will...

Pressure grouting in Sonoma County...

Eradicate star thistle.

"Model towns like Celebration and Prince Charles' Poundbury settlement on the edge of Dorchester are prime examples of utopian nostalgia: places where everything is freshly minted to look old."—Charles Leadbeater, Financial Times, July 5, 2002

Mission Divided

landslide
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/lb/5-00-459.pdf
engineered fill
slope instability
Devil's Slide
http://www.tfhrc.gov/structur/gtr/century/chap03/chpt03.htm
landfill design
geofoam bibliography
Fills Over Marginal Building Sites - elastizell concrete

Housing Prototypes International Multifamily Housing

Pattern Language is the site that lets you design something, however humbly.

I've been looking at a way to schedule work. This is a system I picked up from Joel on Software where you break the various essential tasks to completion into hour-size chunks in Excel. Example:

Feature	Task	Priority	Orig. Est.	Current Est.	Elapsed	Remain
Spell check	Dialog	1	8 (hrs)	12	8	4

This way, when I go through the book with missing building section, missing HVAC, missing/extra doors called out on the door schedule, missing foundation plan or whatever, at least I'll know roughly, but convincingly, what size is the heap of trouble that I have to deal with. By creating a spreadsheet like this, I can defer or avoid altogether spinning wheels on something not needed to push thing out the door.

This reference to pictures of housing is from another world.

Soil nailing

In Peru(?) they daily clean with the strongest (smelling) cleanser they can find; e.g. Pine Sol. I disagree with this. Spic and Span are gone gone gone from shelves of Safe Way Wall Green?

Verdura 30
Metal Roof Company
IMSA Building Products

I drive through the suburbs every day on my way to work. There is a striking similarity between the efficiently designed regularity of the neutral toned houses and the gray cubicles I spend my day in. BUT, when I turn my eyes away from the houses this is what I see: beautiful green pastures, fields of grass darkened by the shadows of passing clouds, sheep, cows, goats, a lama, wetlands, tall reeds, red-winged blackbirds, great blue herons, crumbling abandoned houses and farms, aspiring Christmas trees, wild flowers.

On Vianya is a good article on apartment living and the vision above.

Land use in Wendover, Somewhere, but not Massachusetts, is worth visiting.

Villa Montalvo as to architecture consists of ten new live/work cottages and common building slated for completion fall, 2003. It's supposed to look to Rural Studio for inspiration. Right.

Time. Schedule the givens that make a practice work, the job. Move things around as incoming work, the creative, demands. Keep a tickler file for future paper, 1 - 31.

It's just out there,
flotsam and jetsam
on the big
cyber sea...

SF Chronicle had a great article today on Samuel Mockbee with pictures.

The first of the new-house families included the Bryants, an elderly, handicapped couple raising their three grandchildren in a shanty without plumbing or heating. They were delighted to get a solid, translucent roof over their heads.

Nick Denton has a great find on skyscrapers, or just go directly to SkyscraperPage.com. Just click on Mies and see what he did.

Size...............................................4"H x 12"W x 8-1/2"D
Weight.............................................................26-1/2 lbs.
Area....................................................................1/3 sq. ft.
Setback...........................................................................1"
Radius..........................................................................2'1"
Wall Height.................................................up to 2.5 feet
Comp. Strength...................................3000 PSI minimum
Absorption...................................................6% maximum

Tried TSP to remove oozing machine oil from wood floor of former printing press room. It works fine, but unfortunately it has its problems.

For some ideas on exhibition spaces...

For the real deal on foundations from the trenches...