how to kick a building, 101btes.org/connector/connector_vol09_02.pdf · fall 2000. volume ix. no.2...

Fall 2000 Volume IX No2

How to Kick A Building 101 Christine Theodoropoulos University of Oregon ctheodordarkwinguoregonedu

At the University of Oregon we are examining potential contributions the arshychitecture department could make to the general education ofall students at the univershysity As we study models from other schools it becomes apparent that building technolshyogy as a subject area is underrepresented The vast majority ofgeneral education offershyings by schools of architecture address history and theory Some address basic design

What do well-informed people need to know about buildings Should potenshytial homeowners be able to recognize that the house they are inspecting is craftsman rather than mission Or should they observe that the windows are single rather than double glazed The responsibility for a communitys building stock lies with all the citizens ofthat community It is a complex responsibility laden with building technolshyogy challenges for which citizens receive little if any educational preparation Ownshyers and users ofbuildings should be able to question whether a building will perform as represented and know to seek information about what is not mentioned A trained eye is a valuable tool everyone needs

Why are there so few general education offerings in building technology Are teachers of building technology so scarce all of their time must be assigned to the inshystruction ofmajors Do we believe that access to a technical understanding ofarchitecshyture depends so greatly on specialized prerequisites that students outside of the major are unprepared to learn Is building technology so boring it cant compete with the fun stuff like Architecture in Film Is it a subject area that is inherently too costly to teach to wider audiences Do university curriculum review processes not recognize the general education merits ofbuilding technology topics Or in marketplaces driven by student credit hour production are the more established general education course proshyviders protecting their turf by preventing our access to a wide campus audience Is it simply that we are so focused on professional education that we have not fully recogshynized that we can make an important contribution to our larger campus communities

Texts suitable for the broad scope and liberal nature ofgeneral education are available and many ofthem are a pleasure to read Consider the drama ofengineering error and structural failures in Henry Petroskis To Engineer is Human or the awareshyness raising sensitivity with which Lisa Heschong describes thermal phenomena in Thershymal Delight in Architecture Imagine a course that draws upon these kinds of texts to create meaningful opportunities that engage students in the interpretation of building technology

We would be interested in hearing about your experiences in general educashytion Connector invites views and accounts oftechnical teaching as well as short articles and news items that would be of interest to technology teachers in schools ofarchitecshyture Submission guidelines can be found on page 2

Connector

Edward Allen allenarchcompuservecom

The only unique product that the architect has to sell is magic That magic is the abil ity to create buildings that engage the human imagination with endlessly fascinatshying forms spaces and architectural experishyences Architectural magic can be achieved only through mastery ofthe technical means of construction Like Pier Luigi Nervi I beshylieve there is no building of any era past or present that is generally acknowledged to be great architecturally that is not also great techshynically

Nearly every student enters archishytecture school wanting to achieve technical mastery and looking forward to studying structures materials and methods ofconstrucshytion and environmental controls By the end of their first term of study students at most schools have abandoned this desire This is because design studio teachers have indishycated lack of concern or outright contempt for technical skills and knowledge Technishycal teachers have taught their subjects as if they were science mathematics philosophy or history That is they have taught them in every way except the way that would make them relevant useful and exciting to students

There are three distinct areas ofhushyman intellectual endeavor These are the arts the sciences and design Architecture is not as commonly supposed a combination ofart and science It is a design discipline one that seeks to create useful attractive objects for human use Technology is not science It is like architecture itself a design discipline Unlike science whose goal is to discover the goal of technology is to create Structures is the discipline of creating structural systems that support buildings physically and that participate meaningfully in their space and form Materials and methods ofconstruction is the discipline of creating building fabric that meets human shelter needs and particishypates meaningfully in the space and form of buildings Environmental controls is the disshycipline of creating systems that make buildshyings comfortable and participate meaningfuIIy in their space and form

The technology of architecture should be taught as design The best place to

teach any technical subject is in a design stushydio established for that purpose The next-best place to teach a technical subject is in a classshyroom or lecture course in which students enshygage in design projects as in-class and homeshywork exercises and as part ofthe examinations The third-best place is a design studio taught by someone else

The failure ofacademia to recognize design as an area of intellectual endeavor that is co-equal with the arts and sciences has comshypounded the problem ofteaching architectural technology Increasingly schools of architecshyture require the PhD degree as a qualificashytion for teaching in technical areas The PhD is currently granted almost exclusively in recshyognition ofachievement in scientific research Most PhDs (fortunately not aII) have spent their professional lives doing research and have designed little or nothing Too often they do not recognize the value of design they are unfamiliar with the methodology ofdesign and they are unable to design or to teach design

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Shophouse by Emily Richardson University of Oregon


They tend to teach technical courses as ifthey were science or mathematics Thus most schools of engineering have essentially beshycome schools of mathematics and science in which students learn nothing about design Enshygineering has become a boring irrelevant field of study that many prospective students find repellent Architectural technology is in grave danger ofgoing the same route

Technical subjects can best be made exciting relevant and effective through project-based learning The teacher who must be experienced in design presents students with an interesting design problem to solve The problem has been carefully formulated so that its solution requires the technical knowlshyedge and skills the teacher wants to teach As students work on the project they feel the need for various portions of knowledge and skill As these needs are felt the teacher responds by presenting the required information Stushydents learn the information almost instantashyneously and completely because through the design project they feel a need for the inforshymation and understand its relevance The onshygoing design project helps each student form a conceptual framework for storing and orgashynizing the information Through the design project students understand implicitly how structures materials details and environmenshytal control systems can be integral to the form space and experience of buildings Because the information is acquired through design experience it becomes an integral part ofeach students personal design methodology

The most important thing about teaching is love love of architecture love of our subject matter love oflearning and love for our students That love must translate into enthusiasm An effective teacher communishycates excitement in everything he or she does with students We must nourish that enthusishyasm and excitement in students by giving them exciting projects to work on and by recogshynizing and celebrating their successes while treating their failures as effective learning exshyperiences Love must also translate into reshyspect We must treat our students as if they were colleagues We must listen patiently to them and learn to read their faces as we talk to

them We must never ridicule or put down a student because it will destroy his or her selfshyconfidence and motivation

It is best to start fast We should strive to engage students imagination from the first moments of each class It is most effective to start in the middle not at the beginning-to start with the real meat of each subject the stuff that makes it relevant and interesting After relevance and interest have been secured we can go back and fill in the fundamentals and prerequisite knowledge We must not try to cover a subject Its impossible We must try instead to uncover significant aspects of the subject for our students in such a way that they can learn the rest on their own We must engage students actively in their own learnshying even in large lecture classes We shouldnt just talk at them and show them pictures We should engage them in design work discusshysions hands-on activities We should help them to learn through all their senses We must reshymember that architecture is about magic We must make our subject magical to our students

Editors note

Beginning with this issue the Deshypartment ofArchitecture at the University of Oregon will publish Connector We continue to honor the newsletters focus on teaching and providing a forum for inshyformal exchange among teachers oftechshynical subjects in schools of architecture We gratefully acknowledge the commitshyted support and inspiration we have reshyceived from Edward Allen Connector s founder and editor for the past eight years This issue would not have been possible without his help Thanks Ed We hope you are enjoying the free time that is the privilege of former newsletter editors

Nils Gore Mississippi State University nilssarcmsstateedu

I teach Materials a course for 44 sophomores in a five-year bachelor of archishytecture degree program It is the second course taken by students within the technology seshyquence Prior to this they take Passive Systemsa course introducing them to natural forces-thermal acoustic light etc- that affect building inhabitants comfort and wellshybeing I have designed Materials with the folshylowing thesis as a guiding principle We select materials in response to natural forces and in service of architectural ideas I see a triangushylar relationship between the three main parts of the thesis materials natural forces and arshychitectural ideas Alter one leg of the triangle and youve necessarily altered the balance between the other two

The class meets twice a week There is a one-hour lecture and a three-hour lab I use the lecture to present theoretical and historishycal content to the students and use the lab to let them get their hands dirty to see if their personal experience confirms what they learn in the lectures

Last year I developed a lab for the unit on masonry that I hoped would incorposhyrate both the experiential and conceptual modes of thinking and learning My intention was to introduce students to principles of mashysonry construction including the material conshystituents of concrete masonry methods of manufacture natural forces that masonry sysshytems must resist and principles inherent in the development of masonry systems I thought attempting to make masonry units from scratch would be a valuable experience Students can gain familiarity with the constituents of the masonry unit experiment with different mixes make some blocks and speculate on how the design of a particular unit has an impact on aesthetics constructibility and strength

I chose to use a block-making device called a Cinva-Ram as a vehicle for learning about masonry systems because ofits low-tech and high-touch nature The Cinva-Ram is a manual block-making machine developed by Raul Ramirez ofthe Inter-American Housing Center (CINVA) in Bogota Colombia It is a compression device used to make building blocks and tiles from various materials includ

ing common soil The Cinva-Ram is essentially a steel box with a bottom that moves up and down A damp mix is placed in the box and a steel lid is placed on top A lever is pulled to one side and the bottom moves up compressshying the mix against the fixed top The lever is released the top removed and as the lever is pushed into the opposite direction the bottom moves even further up and the block is ejected The fresh blocks are set aside to cure for a few days before using them in construction Inserts in the press can be used to transform the rectshyangular volume for specific purposes(eg holes for reinforcing patterns for decoration grooves for attaching other systems a hollow interior to reduce material volume and weight) One person can operate it although a team of four or five people can achieve a more effishycient operation Team production is reported to be as high as 500 blocks a day I purchased the plans for the machine on the internet and built it in our schools shop Most of the steel was on hand (or scavenged from one of the shops on campus) The project cost almost nothing but about 16 hours of my time Makshying it was an enjoyable challenge for me

The block-making exercise occupied about six weeks ofcalendar time and consisted of the following lab activities

Acquiring Materials Twenty-two teams of two students acquired materials to begin our tests They collected Portland cement masons cement concrete (coarse) sand fine sand pea gravel coarse gravel vermiculite and red sand (red sand is a local clayey soil used for good compaction and fill)


Making Test Cylinders [ designed 110 difshyferent mixes of some or all of the materials above Each team made test cylinders using removable molds(of 4PVC pipe couplings and hose clamps) and the schools hydraulic soil testing press After curing for two weeks we measured the mass of each cylinder and calculated the volume of each cylinder using the water displacement method The compresshysive strength was found by crushing the cylinshyders in the soil testing press All ofthese data including photographs of the cylinders were posted on a class website

Analyzing Results Students compiled a spreadsheet with all of the data from our 110 test cylinders and interpolated the data to deshytermine the following the strongest mix the lightest mix the strongest mix with the best finish thelightest mix with the best finish the strongest and lightest mix with the best finish and the strongest and lightshyest mixes with the best finish for three difshyferent colors I use quotes around these adjecshytives due to their SUbjectivity The exercise helps students understand trade-offs between various viewpoints

Making Cinva Blocks (trial run) We seshylected about a dozen of the most promising mixes and spent a lab session manufacturing trial runs of blocks By doing this as a group everyone became familiar with the operation ofthe machine got a feel for the dampness of the mix and developed techniques for makshying the blocks These blocks cured for two weeks Afterwards each was broken into two pieces One half was tested for compressive strength the other was subjected to a watershyblast from a household pressure washer to test erosion properties These data were posted to the website

Final Blocks For the final assignment each team made ten blocks to satisfy the following design criteria

Strength-Make two identical blocks with high compressive strength

Appearance-Make two identical blocks with a smooth finish and best overall appearance (no broken comers chipped edges etc)

ColorFinish-Make two identical blocks with a color and finish on one face that is substanshytially different Iiom the body

Assembly-Make two identical blocks that would simplify the assembly of a wall For example think about how indentations could be cast into the surface to lock together inshydividual blocks

Reinforcing-Make two identical blocks that can be reinforced with steel and grout

It is theoretically possible to make ten identical blocks that satisfy all of the criteria but no one arose to the challenge There is nothing mutually exclusive about these criteshyria but there may be some trade-offs

I think this project teaches in a synshythetic way the triangular relationship between materials forces and architectural ideas More importantly it demonstrates that students have the ability to rigorously test and comparatively analyze performance criteria For more inforshymation you can see the results ofthis project including photographs and video clips at

httpwwwsarc msstateedu gore cinvab I ocks cinvahtml

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A shape grammer rule Courtesy ofTerry Knight

Connector

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Thomas J Hahn Arizona State University tomhahnasuedu

Environmentally responsible design is important isnt it How do we begin to engage students in this issue and at the same time lay the groundwork for discussing and evaluating options they consider in their designs both now and in the future

I have found success at different levels of undergraduate and graduate teaching by calling on students existing personal sense of responsibility their sense oftheir future responsibility as proshyfessionals I have shown them concepts to frame that sense and then proposed a set oftools they might use to address those concepts The following is an outline of this approach from various lectures

UNINTtNDCD CONSEQUENCES

USESOURCE

LOW COMPLEXITY Building _Isnd Systems

Building and Environment Our Reshysponsibility

The construction industry in the United States is a $1 trillion per year inshydustry and represents 125 percent ofthe Gross National Product By most analyshyses construction is topped only by the auto industry and transportation construction in resource use It is likely the leader among the three in resources going to landfills both in new construction and in demolition and remodeling As architects we are the ones who have significant conshytrol over the extent to which this happens But just how is the environment affected by humans in general and the building industry specifically

Ecological Footprints Canadian researchers Wackernagel

and Rees have put forward a hypothesis that all human activities occur in a humansphere within the greater ecosphere from which there are inputs ofresources and outputs of wastes and that this ecosphere slowly cycles wastes back into resources It is clear from this concept that ifwastes are produced more quickly than the ecosphere can return them to resources the system is overtaxed and will fail

They account for how balanced the input-output flows are through a method called Ecological F ootprinting whereby the amount of the earths capacity to sustain any particushylar human system (building city nation etc) is directly related to the amount of world reshysources it uses versus what it can produce as illustrated by the amount ofearth surface area resource use represents (hence Footprint) in contrast with the actual geographic area of a particular place Their analysis shows most ofthe developed world running at huge defishycits ofactual area versus used area (ie actual capacity vs used resources) while the develshyoping world exhibits large surpluses More pointedly their analysis indicates that should the entire population of Earth reach develshyoped world consumption rates (in seeking their standard of living) we would need the resources of five more planets to sustain us (This usually gets the students attention)

Unintended Consequences But what are the critical elements of

that Footprint in the environment and ways to reduce it Here I propose a concept called Unintended Consequences First suggested to me by David Eisenberg of DCAT in Tucson the concept relates to ideas noted by Ken Yeang in his book Designing with Nature regarding the cause-condition-effect and environmenshytal residues

The utilization of a material or sysshytem can be seen as a cycle from Source to Use and back to a Source-in a sense a cradleshyto-cradle loop similar to life-cycle-assessshyment research Along this loop are nodes at each major process point (eg Extraction

Construction Re-refining) The nodes are conshynected by Intended Consequences-the planned sequential actions that develop a source for use However spinning off each node are Uninshytended Consequences-the unplanned random difficult-to-control effects ofthe intended acshytions These may be environmental but also social cultural or economic

For example the Exxon Valdez oil spill was one of the (many) Unintended Conshysequences ofwanting to drive an automobile and reduction in salmon population in some streams is one of the Unintended Conseshyquences of harvesting trees for lumber Each illustrates stressors on the ability of the ecoshysphere to balance the flow ofwaste to resource for the humansphere

The loop also describes a recycling from Use back to Source with its own Uninshytended Consequences The dashed lines quesshytion whether a material even begins the recyshycling process and more important whether it returns to being a useful Source material again Or does it begin the long slow spiral ofrecyshycling degradation and end in the landfill

This concept also provides a frameshywork to discuss another hypothesis-that greater environmental impacts are associated with more complex materials and products Infershyring from the diagrams the more process nodes that exist in the loop hence the more complexshyity the more opportunity for Unintended Conshysequences and thereby more negative impact Conversely a simp ler material or product with fewer nodes might implicitly have fewer Unshyintended Consequences

Feedback Loops How and to what extent do we beshy

come aware of these Consequences and have them inform our choices Here a concept called Feedback Loops generates a diagram centered on a User who has a core Need To meet that need the User sends out a Request to a Source from which Input comes back For example take the User as a lawyer who deshysires a special wood paneling for a new office (the Need) A Request is sent out for a tropishycal hardwood from a Source say in Southeast Asia The answer comes back to the project as

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Downcycling

the Input However generated along with this Input from the Source is a Feedback about this impact-be it environmental social cultural etc

The question is How strong is that Feedback with respect to the User In some cases the Feedback is quite strong such as the extraction of earth for adobe in the Nile River Valley It reduces arable land at frightshyening rates which informs changes in behavshyior In our previous example however how aware is the lawyer of the Feedback of deforshyestation in Malaysia This disconnection is not necessarily determined by geographic disshytance It could be economic social or political distance among others

Natural Design Guidelines All three ofthese concepts-Ecologishy

cal Footprints Unintended Consequences and Feedback Loops-raise questions about detershymining how best to use resources especially in the design and construction of buildings Toward this end I suggest a set of strategies I am developing in my architectural practice called Natural Design Guidelines-methods we

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

employ to begin to harmonize our choices with the greater implications for the environment and society and seek the way nature uses reshysources efficiently elegantly and sustain ably

Based in Natures approach to sustainability the Guidelines recommend

Minimize minimize-Use or create absolutely the least necessary to accomplish a given task

Integrate Functions-Make elements of any design serve at least two or more important roles

Climate Responsiveness-Make every aspect ofa design passively efficient with the particushylar macro- and microclimate

Durable Design-When using resources make their use last for maximum efficiency

Resource Efficiency-Use materials that utishylize their base resources most efficiently

Local Resources-Use local and regional re-

SOURCE

of Building Materials iIInd Sysbems

sources for least resource use for transshyport

Recyclable Resources-Use resources that can easily be turned back into other resources

Recycled Resources-Use resources reshycovered after use as other materials or from other processes

Non-or Least Toxic Resources-Use nothing that harms the makers users or environment in which they exist

Conclusion Once introduced to the stushy

dents the previous concepts have set the stage for us to consider the environmenshytal implications of choices about mateshyrials and methods of construction But these strategies can also be employed at more schematic levels to assess the appropriateness of building design deshycisions even land planning strategies relative to the environment Left wldisshyturbed nature finds an inherent and rich elegance and sustainability If we can begin to capture that process employ it ourselves and teach others to use it we will by definition avoid many of the Unintended Consequences that make up Environmental Feedback and perhaps

HIGH COMRLEXITY Building MaterIals and Systems

achieve some ofthis natural elegance

Connector

Shahin Vassigh State University of New York at Buffalo vassighapbuffaloedu

If architecture students are to learn and apply sophisticated structural analysis and design effectively teaching materials must respond to the needs cashypabil ities and perspectives of the archishytecture student Using a seed grant from the State University ofNew York at Bufshyfalo I have been working on the developshyment of a multimedia instructional softshyware package that utilizes a wide range ofgraphics animation and sound to demshyonstrate the principles and application of structural analysis and building technolshyogy The software system attempts to overshycome the limitations oftwo-dimensional abstracted representations of structural dynamics and to provide the means to study structure within a real building conshytext The development of the program is based on the following beliefs and prinshyciples

bull Structures instruction should facilishytate comprehension of fundamental principles ofthe practical aspects of structural design as well as the creshyative possibilities ofapplied structure within the built environment

bull Particularly for architecture students the instruction ofstructures should be visually grounded using real-world examples to demonstrate basic prin ciples of analysis and design

bull Instruction in structures should be always be grounded and referenced to complete buildings andor structshyural systems This connects principshyles ofsubcomponent analysis to broashyder issues of building design

bull Classroom activities and the commushynication ofbasic theory and principshyles should focus on reinforcing and

bull Wherever possible structural analysis and design should be integrated into the broader architecture curriculum

bull Educational and instructional tools should make the instructor more effective in the classshyroom the student a more effective and efficient leamer and student-faculty interaction as effective and efficient as possible

bull Structural instruction should increase student interest in structural design particularly as a lifelong learning skill Since architectural education is a continuous learning process creashyting an interest in structures can postively affect a students predisposition to further explshyore structures as a practicing professional

bull Effective structures education should not be uniquely dependent upon a single instructor The results ofpedagogical methods should be replicable and easily distributed

The full version of the program divides the study of structures into five concept areas

1 The Architects Includes biographies excerpts from written works drawings and spoken interviews from the great architects designers and engineers This section also includes a searchshyable interactive database oftheir most significant works-presented through photographs movshyies and computer-generated models The key learning element ofthis section is that each of the building or structural works is actively linked through a series of hot spots-the user can click on any portion ofthe building and view information from any ofthe other concept areas regardshying that specific building element(ie the structural member type its mechanical behavior member connections at that location and analytical data and formulae)

demonstrating principles of applicashytion


2 Basic Concepts Explores general structural analysis and design concepts definitions and working principles are all embedded within this option Introductory concepts such as loading definition statics principles and strength ofmaterials can all be selected from this option

3 Structural Systems A searchable database of structural subsystems (eg trusses cables arches beams and columns)that includes construction details models ofstructural behavior unshyder various loading scenarios and analytical procedures for structural investigation and design

4 Technical Reference Library A complete technical reference of analytical formulae memshyber properties sizing guides and selected national building code guidelines for specific materishyals

5 Assignments Combines electronic homework with graphics and animation This section inshycludes interactive example problems examination aids and tabulated information The interacshytive examples allow students to alter the quantitative parameters and create a large number of practice problems

Each concept area is not a separate study module but a starting point from which to study the different aspects of structural perfonnance design and analysis For example a user typically begins by examining the lives and works ofthe Architects settling on a single architect and selecting a single building Clicking on any part of the building structure reveals the Basic Concepts of its structural design Through the use of linked menus and hypertext all concept areas are linked and accessible from within each other The student can also move from the more specific to the more general

A complete building always provides the visual axis grounding the investigation Sucshycessive layers of information (eg mathematical formulas analytical results graphic represenshytations of behavior) can be accessed and overlain onto the buildings issues and subsystems

being studied The graphic images are threeshydimensional and most animated to simulate behavior under conditions ofstructural stress Rather than abstract representations of strucshytural components all images are either photoshygraphs or highly detailed computer model imshyages ofexisting buildings beams columns and trusses

In another scenario for example the user can start from the Structural Systems menu and select Beams Under this option the user can either select a specific beam type such as a simply supported beam select the loading type such as uniformly distributed load and learn about the beam and its behavior under loading The user can then select another beam type choose from another set ofoptions within the same menu or move on to another conshycept area

Written using multimedia-authoring software the package will be available on COshyROM in both PC and Mac formats

bull

Connector

Gary L McGavin California State Polytechnic University Pomona VanwaI138emailmsncom

You have been teaching basic archishy In the early to mid-twentieth century tectural structures for years The concepts of aeronautical and aerospace engineers discovshyforce acceleration stress and strain are all ered the same phenomena for finding stress second nature to you because mathematics is concentrations in airframes In the early 1970s beautiful However to some ofyour students Scienttfic American bridged the gap for archishythese concepts are something of an enigma tects with their article on the epoxy plastic They may be totally elusive and even frightshy cross-polarized light demonstration for catheshyening They are anything but second nature dral stresses2

for many students As architects your students Why is cross-polarized light a useful must become fully understand and comprehend tool for student demonstration It allows them these and similar concepts to see a variety of relationships visually that

Stress is a simple physical and mathshy are otherwise expressed only mathematically ematical relationship of force per unit area Visualization is a powerful tool for learning Unfortunately it can be difficult for the archishy What are some of the relationships that can tectural instructor to explain this seemingly easily be discovered with cross-polarized simple concept to a student who is not fully light conversant in either mathematics or physics As architects we are in a profession that has bull Tension and compression in bending the wonderful world of color at its fingertips Color is something that architectural students bull Neutral axis in a beam Why it is OK to who tend to learn visually can grasp with ease poke holes in some parts of a beam and The colors of architecture are magnificent not others

About one hundred years ago optishycal crystallographers (a sub-branch ofgeology) bull IgJiss relationship for stress concentration learned that if they cut very thin sections of at small cracks rock so thin that white light can pass through the otherwise opaque rock they could see stress bull Stress distribution in trusses patterns in the solid rock that were sometimes millions of years old I They used ordinary bull Stress distribution in shear and moment white light that was subjected to polarization members on both sides of the specimen When the po larizers are crossed (set at 90deg to each other) How sophisticated is cross-polarized light the stress patterns and other mineralogical and how can it be managed in a large lecture characteristics are revealed in bands of vivid hall Easy Ifyou arent comfortable with poshycolor larized light demonstrations take a trip down

First polarizing filter Second crossed polarizing filter

(~hite Light

Source

Light Light vibrating vibrating

in two in one directions direction

Figure 1 Diagram of what happens to light as it passes through the two crossed poiarizers


to your physics department Their storeroom is full of marvelous goodies that are already set up for large-lecture formats If you want to make your own it is as easy as a trip to the physics storeroom Well almost as easy

Polarizers are familiar to just about everybody Sunglasses are polarizers Some camera filters are polarizers For this demshyonstration you must use a linear (straightshyline) polarizing filter rather than a circular polarizing filter CRT monitor filters are ofshyten circular polarizers dont try to use these As a simple experiment take two camera filshyterpolarizers and hold them up to a nonnal white light (not the sun) allowing the light to pass through both ofthem in series The light should be somewhat diminished but not opaque Now rotate one of the polarizing lenses in your hands until all the light is blocked out you have achieved cross-polarshyized light The filter closest to the light source has very fme straight lines scribed on the lens These straight lines polarize the light when it passes through the lens so that the light is vishybrating in only one direction When the light gets to the second lens with the polarized lines set at 900 to the first polarizing filter in effect all the light is b locked out and no light passes through the two cross-polarized filters-as shown in Figure 1

A magical thing happens when you place an object between the polarizers Light that enters the object after passing through the first polarizing filter is refracted as it enshyters the object and further refracted as it enshycounters varying levels of stress concentrashytions within the object When the refracted light exits the object it is no longer vibrating in the direction of the first polarizing filter rather it is slightly askew to the angle of the first polarizing filter Each level of stress within the object creates a different angle for the exiting light from each internal refraction When this light then passes through the secshyond polarizing filter the orders ofmagni1ude ofstress within the object light up like a neon sign The colors are vivid and wonderful One can see the order of magnitude of each and every line of stress When they are far apart there is little stress When they are bunched

together as at a re-entrant comer the stress concentrations are high

What is the best material to use for the demonstration In the Scientific Amerishycan article epoxy plastic was used but epshyoxy plastic is not easy to use Modem chemshyistry has brought us Lucite plastic Use this material Ifyou use acrylic plastic the stress concentrations are hard to see and they beshycome monochrome which is not very excitshying Cut various shapes of plastic A few exshyamples are suggested in Figure 2

o

F L--~

Figure 2 Examples of cul shapes that demonstrate stress concepts

Use a white light source that is not too bright A low-watt bulb works fine Ifyou use a monochromatic light source such as a sodium light the stress concentrations are demonstrated by shades of gray and black White light yields very vivid colors with Lucite

If you borrow the polarizers from the university physics department you can use the overhead proj ect to share the demonshystration with a large class Do not get a hot

Figure 3 Student model showing stress concentrations in a suspended ceiling with fire sprinkler lines

and bright light source too close to the polarizers Those made of plastic will melt

Figure 3 (reproduced in black and white for this pUblication) shows stress concentrations in a student reshysearch report using cross-polarized light for a model of a suspended ceiling and fire sprinkler system

A variety of concepts can be demonstrated using the cross-polarized visual method Students can assist in making the Lucite Plastic shapes for lecture demonstrations Complex shapes can also be modeled Some of my recent students have been modelshying the SAC Joint Venture welded steel moment frame structures to see if the Interim Guidelines for moment connecshytions create undue stress concentrations with good accuracy that correlates to SACs full-scale test results While their examinations have been limited to twoshydimensional demonstrations to date some students have been working on solving three-dimensional demonstrashytion techniques Many sophisticated structural analysis computer programs build pseudo-stress demonstrations into their analyses For instance one can view stress concentrations in a base plate using loads applied by the comshyputer program For the student this is not as interesting as physically making his or her own colors of architecture

References cited 1 Bloss F D Optical Crystallography Holt Rinehart Winston 1961 2 Mark Robert The Structural Analysis of Gothic Cathedrals Scientific American November 1972 3 Berumen Carmen et AI Seismic Test osuspended Ceiling System amp Fire Sprinshykler System interaction Seismic Model Based on Code 2000 Model Tests Under Load Displayed with Cross-Polarized Light California State Polytechnic Univershysity Pomona Student Research for ARC425 Advanced Structures under the direction of Gary L McGavin AlA June 1999

O111lectlJr A Forum for Teachers of Teclmology in Schools of Architecture

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON Department of Architecture 1206 University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403-1206

copy 2000 University of Oregon

An equal- opportunity affinnative-action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act This publication will be made available in accessible formats upon request (541) 346-3656

Connector FaJl 2000 Volume IX No2

Christine Theodoropoulos University of Oregon

ctheodordarkwinguoregonedu

Here is a fun and simple exercise that addresses multiple facets ofbuilding technology through in-class gamesmanship The o exercise was developed and tested at the Technology Teaching Workshop at MIT last July Teams of three students prepare a quick design for a classroom to be sited in the location written on a slip they draw from a hat The classroom should seat 30 and be suitable for a broad range ofpost-secondary instruction formats Teams have about an hour to design and ten minutes to present to the class As in the game charades the audience will try to guess the location ofthe project Teams should be instructed not reveal their assigned region and to avoid obvious giveaways such as showshying the Eiffel tower in sketches for Paris The goal is to develop a design that is so appropriate to the assigned region that other stushydents will be able to guess its location Teams should consider building materials climatic response structural systems probshyable site features cultural conditions etc The scheme shown on the right elicited a correct guess from workshop participants Test your guessing ability Where is it The answer can be found on the bottom of page 2

Volume IX Number 2 Fall 2000_01












Connector

Edward Allen allenarchcompuservecom

The only unique product that the architect has to sell is magic That magic is the abil ity to create buildings that engage the human imagination with endlessly fascinatshying forms spaces and architectural experishyences Architectural magic can be achieved only through mastery ofthe technical means of construction Like Pier Luigi Nervi I beshylieve there is no building of any era past or present that is generally acknowledged to be great architecturally that is not also great techshynically

Nearly every student enters archishytecture school wanting to achieve technical mastery and looking forward to studying structures materials and methods ofconstrucshytion and environmental controls By the end of their first term of study students at most schools have abandoned this desire This is because design studio teachers have indishycated lack of concern or outright contempt for technical skills and knowledge Technishycal teachers have taught their subjects as if they were science mathematics philosophy or history That is they have taught them in every way except the way that would make them relevant useful and exciting to students

There are three distinct areas ofhushyman intellectual endeavor These are the arts the sciences and design Architecture is not as commonly supposed a combination ofart and science It is a design discipline one that seeks to create useful attractive objects for human use Technology is not science It is like architecture itself a design discipline Unlike science whose goal is to discover the goal of technology is to create Structures is the discipline of creating structural systems that support buildings physically and that participate meaningfully in their space and form Materials and methods ofconstruction is the discipline of creating building fabric that meets human shelter needs and particishypates meaningfully in the space and form of buildings Environmental controls is the disshycipline of creating systems that make buildshyings comfortable and participate meaningfuIIy in their space and form

The technology of architecture should be taught as design The best place to

teach any technical subject is in a design stushydio established for that purpose The next-best place to teach a technical subject is in a classshyroom or lecture course in which students enshygage in design projects as in-class and homeshywork exercises and as part ofthe examinations The third-best place is a design studio taught by someone else

The failure ofacademia to recognize design as an area of intellectual endeavor that is co-equal with the arts and sciences has comshypounded the problem ofteaching architectural technology Increasingly schools of architecshyture require the PhD degree as a qualificashytion for teaching in technical areas The PhD is currently granted almost exclusively in recshyognition ofachievement in scientific research Most PhDs (fortunately not aII) have spent their professional lives doing research and have designed little or nothing Too often they do not recognize the value of design they are unfamiliar with the methodology ofdesign and they are unable to design or to teach design

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Shophouse by Emily Richardson University of Oregon







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how to kick a building, 101btes.org/connector/connector_vol09_02.pdf · fall 2000. volume ix. no.2...

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