Module 10 Ubanism

Professor Huang covered three topics today in class Kevin Lynch's five main elements of a city, Urban Acupuncture and Parklets. But most of class time was focused on Lynch's five elements.

The five main elements defined by Kevin Lynch are as follows:

1. Paths- include sidewalks,bike trails or lanes, paths through parks, hidden paths, and old forgotten paths through the city. When I first moved into my apartment across the street from Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, I would often lose myself in the many paths that weave through the park and I would always see something new. I feel paths like these and others that weave through downtown hold hidden pockets of past times.

2. Edges- example of edges are freeways, water fronts, and country boarder lines. An edge can can be a physical barrier or it can be a perceived edge.  Edges are often forgotten about and left to ruin. But creating a functional edge brings life to a city's edge. An examples in San Francisco is the Ferry Building weekend farmers market . edges must have character and functionality. 

3. Landmarks- Land marks are the commonly known parts of the city. Landmarks can be bridges, parks, cable cars, sculptures etc. landmarks define a city by grounding its history and giving it personality at the same time. 

  

4. Districts- Districts break city's up and are defined by culture and those who live in the district. San Francisco is a small city but has 11 districts examples are SOMA, Mission, and Tenderloin are only a couple of San Francisco's 11 districts.

 

5. Node- Nodes are points of entry and exit they are the connectors from one point to another point. Nodes are to points of transportation meeting points such as bus terminals, and rail stations. Though Grand Central station is considered a landmark its also a node. Below is a rendering of the Transbay Terminal which is now undergoing construction in San Francisco.



These five elements give a city life and also help to keep it on track.

   

Module 9 The PG&E Experience

Class this week was split in two groups one group had the week off and the other went on a field trip to the Pacific Energy Center. I was fortunate enough to attend the field trip this week which was very educational and interesting.  



The first part of the field trip involved the class browsing the exhibits in the lobby of the Pacific Energy Center. When you first enter the building to the left there are over ten educational exhibits that take readings of various household appliances. The exhibit in the back was set up on a table and above the table was light that where arranged in months of the year that mimicked the sun patterns over San Francisco and as you toggled with the buttons the light would turn on in according to time and month of the year. This particular exhibit caught my attention as I found it useful if I wanted to properly set a building on site to maximize the buildings energy efficiency.



From the lobby we went into a conference room where we where given a presentation by Sam Augustine. Augustine talked about the many different types of lamps and educated the class on which lamps work best for each application. This was by far very educational and a bit overwhelming because of all the knowledge presented to the class in the time period available. I will have to venture back there in the future very soon to absorb more lighting and electrical engineering knowledge.

Class ended with Augustine demonstrating the Heleiodon which a mechanical apparatus that rotates a building model to simulate various sun angles. And then pictures are taken of what occurs inside the model using a special camera. Its important to know that all of these exhibits are open to the public free of charge. The Pacific Energy Center is something I will add to my tool box and take advantage of in the future.

Module 8 Motivation From Bob Habian

In class this week we had another guest speaker. His name is Bob Habian he's an architect and graduate from Cal Poly and considers himself a professional problem solver. Bob talked to the class about professional goals and helped us to see different paths architects can take.

Starting off in a rush Bob explained that we cant get to where we want to be from here. Because people are easily stuck in the here and cant ever reach their there. For this Bob had a two step solution:

1. Define are there
2. Once are there is established we must then define are there in the present so we don't get stuck in the here. 

This segment caught my interest and from then on Bob had my full undivided attention.

From there Bob did a demonstration which involved unlocking the attained knowledge each individual in the class had locked inside of them. The demonstration involved the student trying to figure out a way to make a better tsunami warning system. Bob then pulled ideas from everyone in the class and wrote them on the board and the end result was the beginning of what he calls his design process. In the end Bob explained the most important part of any design is to clearly define the problem and that half of the money and time is spent defining the problem.

Bob ended the class with five request:

1. Stay excited
2. Stay positive
3. Stay passionate
4. Take the time to become an expert 
5. Remember we're all puzzle builders

      

Module 7 Sustainability

Today's class started off on an interesting subject we discussed those in the industry who can at times be overly abstract. We came to the conclusion that its important to talk about architecture in an educated way but being to abstract can disconnect one to his clients or audience.  

Professor Huang dedicated the rest of class to sustainability. Throughout the year green design has been mentioned in every lecture professor Huang has embedded the idea in our minds and rightfully so. I believe we all feel that through design we can reach people and make them become aware of how wasteful our society is and through design change wasteful behavior. Architect David Arkin has developed 5 goals that lead to sustainable design.

1. Harmonize with the site- be aware of your surroundings try and blend in with the site by adapting your structure and design to the area it will exist for years to come as seen in the image below.

2. Build as little as possible- build within your means leave room on the site that can be enjoyed under the sun. Use local and readily available materials as seen in the image below.

3. Buildings should heat and cool themselves as well as generate their own electricity- buildings should be self-sufficient this is done through solar panels, windmill, some home owners are lucky enough to heat and power their homes with geothermal energy as seen in the cartoons below.

  

4. Maximize resource efficiency- this can be accomplished by using recycled material or using materials that don't consume a lot of energy when being made. Below is an image from a company named TerraMai they recycle wood from old building around the world, finish it then sell it to people in the trade.

   

 

5. Ecological design should be beautiful and lyrical- by using nature as our guide this last goal is easy to accomplish I've spent a lot of time in Santa Fe and Taos New Mexico while growing up, out there it appears the law is to blend and harmonize with the natural surrounding as seen in the Taos Pueblo below. The pueblo was constructed of the very soil it sits on and the wood beams where gathered from the surrounding forest. Its scale and placement harmonize with the mountains in the background. but more importantly its function for the time was to house and protect multiple Native American families.      

   

Built on either side of the Rio Pueblo (Pueblo River), Taos Pueblo, is the final site in a chain of Pueblo Indian dwellings in the Taos Valley dating back to the 900s. The pueblo was first visited by Europeans in 1540. In 1598 Mission San Gerónimo de Taos was founded. Rebuilt on three separate occasions, the mission was officially abandoned in 1846. Taos Pueblo was historically one of the major centers of trade between the Rio Grande pueblos and the Plains Indians. Trade fairs were held every season and were eventually institutionalized by the Spanish. The fairs also gave rise to merchant caravans, which traveled along the Chihuahua Trail from northern New Mexico to the cities of Mexico. Taos Pueblo was also a center of the Great Pueblo Revolt of 1680. This regional uprising, a response to Spanish mistreatment of the Pueblo Indians, drove the Spanish out of New Mexico until 1692. The pueblo is inhabited and consists of impressive adobe two to five-story residential blocks, many still accessible only by ladder, the original defensive wall, kivas and the ruins of the mission.

work cited http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/amsw/sw47.HTM

Module 6 A Visit From David Green, Curtain Wall Consultant

David Green is an architect working out San Francisco who specializes in glass curtain wall systems. Curtain walls are the exterior shell of a skyscraper which has no structural obligation to the building. Curtain walls functions are both aesthetic and functional. Functional because it keeps the harsh environment out of the interior of a building and aesthetic by giving a building its style and appearance as seen in the image below.

David Green instructed the class that the glass from skyscrapers are made of float glass and that there are only five manufacturers of float glass in the United States. Green also explained that in order to produce this type of glass the float glass plants must stay running continuously. There are many types of glass but the one that caught my interest was the glass used on the Mirage in Las Vegas, Nevada. In order to attain the gold reflection desired solid gold bars where vaporized into the glass that drapes the Mirage.

By the end of class Green had covered all aspects of glass and curtain wall fabrication which left me content to know that there is more to architecture then designing. 

  

   

Moduel 5 Ordering Principles Part 2

Today in class, Professor Huang continued with the design process by talking about the ordering principals, operational principals and materiality. As a reminder to myself and those reading, the six ordering principle as written in "Ordering Principals Addendum."are:

• “Axis:  When the prevailing order is axial, a straight line organizes two or more buildings.”  

• “Symmetry: “Describes the equivalency of forms or spaces across a dividing line or plane.”

• “Hierarchy: The importance of a particular element is elevated over the other elements in the composition due to its distinction by scale, shape, and/or placement.” 

• “Datum: Is an ordering principle that may be described by a varying number of dimensions. Ignoring the issue of dimension, the core concept is that a geometric zone is utilized to organize and measure other spatial components. This geometric zone – be it a line, plane, or volume – is called a datum. A datum is defined by the fact that all other elements of the composition relate to it.”

• “Rhythm or repetition: Is the principle that a particular element is repeated. Although the repeated element may vary in exact character or form, the individual element nonetheless is characterized by a relationship to a larger set of elements. Also note that repetition, at a minimum, requires three elements.”

• ”Transformation: Describes the modification of structure and organization within a specific framework in order to allow for conformance with a specific context or program. The modification of the framework results in a set of different permutations of the same concept.”

These six ordering principals are crucial to architecture because they govern and give identity to a structure or building with out the use of these principals its hard to establish a notable design.


Operational Principles  such as ramping, weaving, slicing fracturing, flocking are the next step in the design process there is no set list like the ordering principals. These are the way in which smaller elements come together to form larger elements through the ordering principals.

The next step in the design process is materiality. Materiality refers to the material used to construct the building and can come from anywhere and is either man made, organic or a combination of both. As seen below when materiality and operational principals collide we get an astonishing reaction. below is an example of Shigeru Ban's work this dome ceiling is made of paper tubes and glass which make up the material aspect of his design and the weaving refers to the operational principal.    




As viewed above these techniques are vital to an architect if he or she craves to create works of art.

Moduel 4 Greenopedia & Sheryl Ryan

Today we had a visitor by the name of Sheryl Ryan who is the CEO and founder of Greenopedia.com. in their own words "Greenopedia is a convenient place to learn about the sustainability topics that interest you most, and how they support your lifestyle. We cover everything from how to reduce toxins in your day-to-day life, to new technologies in water and energy management. Our articles, videos and infographics break down complex concepts quickly and clearly, and help you easily integrate these sustainable ideas into your daily life."

Though we discussed many topics in class I feel we just skimmed the surface of what Greenopedia has to offer its viewers. While browsing Greenopedia's site I found many interesting articles. The image above belongs to an article that describes the difference between "grass fed" and "grain fed" cows and its impact not just on consumer health but its impact on the cow's health and more importantly the environment. The image below belongs to an article that describes the proper way to dispose of your old batteries. Though these articles might appear different on the surface they both achieve a common goal which is sustainability.  

As I enjoyably carried on with my search through Greenopedia's articles I stumbled upon information that will help in future projects. But more importantly Greenopedia will help me to become a better steward of the environment.