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Cities are organisms - always evolving, and full of processes between them people, buildings and the nature in them. 

Activities and action-oriented events is what shapes how cities are viewed by individuals, and there are different ways of tracking these events. Behavior can be observed, one may conduct a site analysis or mapping, or one can gather images of events that are happening at any given time and use them in conjunction with diagrams of how these spaces can be used. This information can then be used to plan services and building codes. For example, the planning of bus routes and where they’ll get most customers and how they can be created to avoid traffic jams as much as possible. 

Activity clusters are just as important as beauty and form, and they can and should inform the design of buildings. 

The urban landscape have changed in the post-industrial developed world, and designers are coming up with new ways of utilizing spaces that were previously used for production-related businesses. For example, it’s not uncommon for old warehouses and production plants to be converted into apartments, offices or shopping areas, and NYC saw the opening of Highline Park some years ago. 

(Source:http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/04/ny-high-line/goldberger-text.html)

Highline park is built on an old railway line serving NYC, that was unused for years before it was remade into a park. Not only does this give new use to the previous eyesore, but it also redefines how we view parks - this park is narrow and above ground in an urban landscape, but instead of having that work against it, it works with it, as shown in the viewing area where parkgoers can view the traffic that runs underneath. 

This lead to an in-class discussion of how this can be applied locally in SF. There’s a new bay bridge under construction, so what if someone made a highline park-like park in the old one? or converted it into housing or shopping facilities? Although some of the ideas presented were structurally not possible, the brainstorming did show that the old bridge could be turned into something that would benefit everybody in the city as opposed to being an eyesore. 

Urban policies can contribute to creating an overall safer urban environment, or more dangerous. The problem SF faces for example, is that it has less housing than people who wish to live here. This contributes to a situation where poor people and the middle class have no option than to move to suburbs (increasing their resource-use in the process), while the city will remain for wealthy people. 

This lecture was about innovative use of materials. We were shown work by Rael & San Fratello. 

(Source:http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/?p=1184)

This building was creating using exclusively hay. While straw-buildings are common in parts of the world, mixing it with modern elements makes it innovative. All the structural elements were recycled, making building very environmentally friendly. 

(Source:http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/?p=1154)

I was not present during this class as I was attending new students’ day at CCA, so the content in this post is a mix between what I’ve found reading on QuarryHouse’s website and information I have collected from the other students’ blogs. Therefore, my own interpretations of some of the material I have been presented may be wrong. Of course, I take full responsibility for that. 

QuarryHouse was founded by Ed Westbrook in 1993, and creates high-end stone craftsmanship buildings in California. It is devoted to creating homes and landscapes using stone, and have together with the architect Lawrence Halprin created some of the most exclusive estates in America. 

Stone masonry is making a comeback after having been out of vogue for years. It has a long history tracing back to early civilizations, but have recently been neglected for the benefit of other materials use. QuarryHouse contributes to this comeback. 

QuarryHouse focuses on the use of high-quality materials, and Ed travels the world in order to find the best stones, in many cases quarried by hand. He also uses the best craftsmen that he can find. 

As such, most of QuarryHouse’s projects are out of reach for the average American, but according to Ed,  stone can be used with good results also when one has a budget to stick to. 

(Source:http://www.ustudy.in/node/1387)

(Source:http://www.mcveighstonemason.com/casestudies.asp)

Disclaimer: Most of my notes from this class were taken directly from the powerpoint slides we were shown, and as a result, most of the content in this post may appear to be very similar to what we were shown in class.

Architects does not have to limit their job applications to architecture firms. Architects can make even more money in construction, such as being a product representative. A product representative is as the name implies, someone who sells products to other companies. 

Grace Constructions was founded in 1854, and while they deal in several different areas of materials, Paul is a representative for waterproofing products, which is what is the focus. 

Waterproofing is important because concrete is a porous material which can crack and let water in. Therefore waterproofing is critical to get on the outside of the wall, and for the waterproofing to be continuos and adhere to the sub strait (the part of the building envelope that is underground). That the waterproofing adheres to the building is also important. 

It is possible to use interior-side waterproofing (positive waterproofing) when outside waterproofing (negative waterproofing) is difficult or impossible. This type of waterproofing is mostly used in restaurations of existing houses rather than in new buildings. Positive waterproofing is generally not thought of as a permanent solution, and may have to be replaced every 10-20 years. 

For positive-side waterproofing, the most commonly used products are Bituthene 3000 and 4000. These are peel-and-stick products that adheres aggressively to most sub strates. This product was developed by Grace Construction about 60 years ago. 

Procor is faster to apply than Bituthene, but about twice as expensive. It can easily shave off half the construction time of a project, so in many cases the cost is justified. It is essentially an acrylic rubber, similar to what shoe soles are made of. The garden outside the DeYoung museum is on top of Procor (there’s a parking garage underneath.)

One of the most booming fields in construction right now, is air barriers. Air barriers are “the system that you can’t see,” and a good air barrier system will reduce airflow. Basically, air movement is the dominant factor in the transport of moisture through building envelope assemblies. It is also an important component of heat transfer. Many problems concerning building envelope deterioration can be attributed to inadequate or failed air barriers. 

So the goal is to create air barriers that keeps the heat (or the cold) in, while at the same time letting the moisture out in order to avoid mildew. 

There is a difference between vapor barriers and air barriers. Vapor is moisture, and vapor molecules are extremely small. The principal function of a vapor barrier is to retard the passage of moisture as it diffuses through the assembly of materials in a wall or floor. The purpose of an air barrier is to prevent the through flow of air between inside and outside. 

Climate generally dictates how to design a building envelope, and we can contrast Miami and SoCal to show how construction is done differently between these two places. In Miami the climate is generally hot and humid outside, and the air inside is usually air conditioned cold air. The goal in this area is to not let vapor in. In SoCal, the climate is milder and drier, so less moisture is trying to get in. 

Air barriers also affects the use of interior decorating, such as the use of paint vs. wall paper. Pain would let mosture in, while vinyl wallpaper would trap moisture and create mildew. There have been wallpapers specifically created to avoid moisture from getting trapped. 

After Paul’s lecture, we got a few advices on how to build models. Summed up, they included

• - Always pay attention to the detail of scale
• - The use of drafting tape and how to put drafting tape on edges to create them from slipping
•  - Always pre-plan and check the project underway as much as possible

Sustainable design have traditionally been associated with hippie design, “design that is not really design,” and a niche, outside of mainstream media. However, as environmental awareness have increased in the last decades, the concept of sustainable design have started to be taken more serious. For us who are in architecture school now, and who will graduate in about 4-5 years, sustainable design seem to be (or should be!) one of the main goals that we should have in the back of our minds. For me personally, the design of smaller and more energy efficient buildings is one of my main interest areas, and I put a lot of weight on this when I chose the school to transfer to. 

There are several goals associated with sustainable design, so here are some of them summed up:

• - Contextual landscape - suburban and urban. Sustainable design focuses on how to integrate the buildings in a way that touches the site as little as possible. 
• - Build as small as possible, compact and with good use of volume and space. Create less circulation space while not taking away from the usability of the building. How I interpret this, is to create smarter storage solutions and layouts of rooms. 
• - Buildings should be designed and use materials that allows for them to regulate their own temperatures as necessary in their respective climates, as well as generating their own electricity as far as possible. 
• - Resourceefficiency should be maximised. Something that has a low resource embodiment is wanted.
• - Ecological design should still be beautiful, and should harmonize with the site. Key forces are views, wind, orientation, and depending on season, location. 

A key concept with sustainable design, is that small is beautiful. 

One of the key organizations in promoting sustainable design, is USGBC, a non-profit. From slide, “[..] to promote the design and construction of buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work [in].”

USGBC have developed the LEED, a rating system for green buildings. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Even as undergrads, we can get certain LEED-certifications, while other types are only accessible to working professionals. 

While one of my personal heroes of sustainable design is Shigeru Ban, I have decided to focus on a cabin, developed by a Norwegian architect. In the last twenty years, the development of Norwegian cabins have been sprawling; there are areas in the countries where there are suburb-like clusters of cabins, most of them as big and comfortable as houses. There are both cultural implications of this - cabin and camping have traditionally been about “going back to the roots,” and environmental, as big cabins with modern amenities requires a lot of resources. Therefore, this cabin concept is named Woody 35, the 35 referring to the fact that the cabin is 35 sq. meters (377 sq. feet). The cabin is produced with environmentally friendly materials, and can be built in most landscapes. It is also insulated for use as a skiing lodge. As the pictures below show, spacial solutions and layout are good, which contributes to the cabin not appearing to be cramped despite its size. 

(Source:http://www.woody35.no/)

To me, this cabin is a good example of good sustainable design, and it really inspires me. 

A problem in the western world have been to build big and suburbanize - who wouldn’t want a big house with a garden? - instead of encouraging denser living and with less focus on a car-centric culture and more focus on public transportation. I was very inspired by the book Triumph of the City - How our Greatest invention Makes us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier by Edward Glaeser. I would recommend this book to everyone who is serious about sustainable design although it doesn’t have much to do with architecture per se., it was an eye opener which explains a lot of the dynamics behind our current housing situation and how restrictive city planning contributes to suburbanizing. 

In this post I’ve grouped the blog posts from week 4 to 6 together, as that’s how they are grouped in the syllabus, and due to the way my notes are composed. 

In architecture, there are six main ordering principles: axis, symmetry, rhythm, datum, hierarchy and transformation. Understanding these principles gives a much more professional way of looking at, and understanding buildings, and they are an elementary, but helpful way to describe architecture. A building can consist of several ordering principles, and when looking at a building consisting of a mix of ordering principles, one must look at what the essence of a project is, and what the largest primary principle is. 

Datum is a point of reference that the rest of the building is organized from and points back to. A church with a courtyard scheme that works as the reference point is a classic example of datum. Sometimes the reference point is not clearly defined, such as in a plaza with a weird shape or a path. 

Symmetry is when both sides of an axis are equal in shape and size. Shown below is a good example of symmetry. In this case, the axis is vertical, but it can also be horizontal. 

(Source:http://swipelife.com/2009/08/20/petrovic-residence-by-bojan-simic-architecture/)

Axis is when a straight line organizes two or more buildings. Unlike symmetry, the buildings on either side of an axis does not have to be the same in size and shape. In the example below, the building is divided on a vertical axis.  

(Source:http://sustainablecities.dk/en/city-projects/cases/paimio-healing-power-in-sustainable-architecture)

Rhythm is sometimes also referred to as repetition, and includes the repetition of an element in the building. A general rule for classifying rhythm as an ordering principle, is that the building have at least three elements. 

(Source:http://spacedid.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/chapel-for-the-deaconesses-of-st-louptimber/)

Hierarchy is when one element is elevated over the others, either in scale, shape or placement, and all other elements references back to that element. 

Transformation is when an element of a building changes within a horizontal or vertical framework. 

At the end of the class, we also discussed affordable design - does design have to be expensive to be good? One can utilize space and light in order to make good design, in other words, one does not have to spend a lot of money on neither materials nor designers in order to design spaces well.

One can work with light to manipulate spaces and surfaces, which Steven Holl is known for. 

(Source:http://www.archidose.org/Jan00/011700.html)

The topic for this week was framing spaces - the use of walls or other elements such as ceilings or fences to frame a space for a specific purpose. We also looked at materials used for such purposes, along with the use of plants and light, and how these elements could be manipulated to create different ways of perceiving spaces.

For example, different architects use walls and materials differently in order to make different architectonic expressions. If we contrast Shigeru Ban, known for his innovative use of paper to create walls, and Rick Joy, who is known for designing buildings in inhospitable desert environments and his use of rammed earth, this shows how they in each cases use materials differently in order to create different expressions depending on the environment and their individual style. 

Shigeru Ban, Quinta Botanica (Source:http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/SBA_WORKS/SBA_PAPER/SBA_PAPER_28/SBA_Paper_28.html)

Rick Joy, Desert Nomad House (Source: http://envoltorio.wordpress.com/2007/05/28/intervenciones-aridas-rick-joy-y-sus-multiples-obras-en-tucson-az/)

The way I interpret these two examples, is that while Quinta Botanica tries to - and succeed - to harmonize with its surrounding, the Desert Nomad house is intending and manages to be a contrast to its rugged surroundings, a bit like a spaceship on a planet far away from home. 

On the more technical side, we discussed dirt walls, and their properties. Positive aspects of using dirt walls (rammed earth), is that they are energy efficient and sturdy, but on the downside they require a lot of manpower to construct, and may not look innovative and modern if the designer doesn’t have a lot of interest or experience in doing so. Rick Joy is an example of a designer who have mastered this category very well, as we can see in both the Desert Nomad house and here:

(Source:http://archinect.com/forum/thread/23815/low-budget-home-design)

Designers may employ a tectonic language, meaning that they expose parts of the building’s structure as a part of the design, for example here, where Shigeru Ban is using the beams as part of the design expression. This tea house is also an example of his use of paper to design buildings. 

(Source:http://www.dezeen.com/2008/04/02/paper-tea-house-by-shigeru-ban/)

John Saladino uses a mix between classic and minimalistic elements to make spaces interesting. This is an example that framing spaces is not just about the more permanent fixtures of a building, but also how the use of furnishings can be used to take the fullest advantage of the spaces in order to make them functional and beautiful. 

(Source:http://tokyojinja.com/2011/05/06/lavender-love-john-saladino-and-me/)

We also discussed how doors aren’t considered ceremonial in the west, while in different parts of the world such as parts of Asia, the middle east and Africa, doors are still created to have a spiritual and traditional significance. As a future designer, I feel that I need to be aware of these aspects in order to be able to create the most interesting spaces, especially when working in these regions. 

I was running a bit late for this session, and as I entered a dark, but crowded auditorium where classical music was played, I got the feeling that I had mixed up the rooms - or worse, the time listed on my schedule - and left. After double-checking my schedule and the assigned room  number, I re-entered to find that the music had stoppedand the lights were turned on.

As this was an introduction session, it started off with the practicalities. After that, the main focus of this session was what architects do and the myths surrounding this profession.

Some of the points raised here were:

• Architects are specialized. Some deal with a more technical and construction-oriented part of a projects, others may focus more on landscape, interior or exterior design. Big projects often have big teams of architects working together with engineers and contractors in order to ensure that the project turns out exactly how it is envisioned. 
• Architecture is not just about design, and many architects does not design much or any at all. As mentioned above, an architect may choose to be more involved with construction documents and the more technical aspects of a project, or they may do tasks for other architects in the company. 
• Architecture as profession has a bigger unemployment rate than other industries, but on the other hand the education is versatile. Architects knows “a little bit about everything,” And therefore, an architect will be fit to do several types of job - especially in design - during recessions.

In addition to the classical music that was played at the beginning of the session, we looked at pictures of some amazing projects (maybe I should just drop this class and sell coffee instead?), concept drawings and artwork. 

• In my interpretation, this is a reminder that as architects, we do not just design places. We incorporate all we know - from several academic fields - in order to design perfect environments for humans to live in and interact with. 
• We can - and should - find inspiration in everything. My interpretation of this may be biased by my studio experience, but after taking my first studio class, I was more than ever observant to my surroundings and started viewing things in a different way - from merely being things around me, to inspiration for use in my future projects. 

What I have chosen as an inspiring image from this session, is from Marzahn in Berlin. 

credit: unknown

Marzahn is located in the former East Berlin, and this housing estate - built in 1977 -  is identical to estates one may find in all the former eastern block countries, from Vladivostok in the east to Berlin in the west. Therefore, what makes this project interesting to me, is how the artist have made this housing project unique by adding the lights on the roofs of the buildings, creating a beautiful and interesting skyline out of something that initially was grey and uniform, as shown here.