Dear Loyal Readers
I have indeed been away for awhile due to finishing my Part 1 BA Architecture degree, however now that I am free from the shackles of Archicad, Autocad and Photoshop for awhile,I intend to return to my newly developed second home... yes the fuelled by architecture website.
Over the next few weeks I shall be covering some of what the London Festival of Architecture has to offer and be giving a review of my experience as a student of Architecture at London South Bank University, including the new RIBA Mentor scheme which has been a great opportunity to witness first hand the working life I am about to enter.
Secondly I am working on a sister site for F.B.A due to the overwhelming response F.B.A received in its first few months including being favourited by BDonline. The new site is to be named F.B.Everything which will concentrate on mostly images and general things of interest linked to Instagram and Pinterest and so forth, so look out for that one too! F.B.A shall not be neglected neither !
Finally, I have finished my RIBA Part 1 Degree, so cheekily I am going to ask if any of my dear readers do have, or know of any Part 1 Architectural Assistant placements to let me know via email 'krsarchitecture@gmail.com'.I would be extremely grateful...
... continue reading and look out for me soon!
Kind Regards
Fuelled by Architecture
Remember: Follow me via Google +1
Or Follow me on twitter: @krsarchitecture
Sunday, 15 June 2014
Sunday, 2 February 2014
Alex Hogrefe - Architecture Graphics (Review)
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| Visitor Center Interior Illustration www.alexhogrefe.com
Over the last three years at University there has always been a demand from tutors to represent your idea graphically, to our young architectural minds this is a need to illustrate your ideas to the best of your ability demonstrating the sensuality of the proposed space. Gone are the days of a simplistic watercolour paintings or pencil and crayon, as we yearn for photorealistic projection; coming from what I regard as a lost generation we find ourselves at a menacing threshold, one step backwards from graphite and one step forward towards vectors and pixels whilst learning the principles of architecture.The advantage gained by this new generation is that we can let others see into our minds,using CAD systems but applying drawing techniques in softwares.
There has been no direct teaching from my school on how to represent your idea using the softwares, so it has been a self taught dimension to the course; I do not see this as a downfall as it has given me strengths elsewhere.The school does now, guide the younger years ( I am in third year) through the process of representation,layouts and softwares which is evident in the grades.
Recently, a couple of students from my class came across a site known as www.alexhogrefe.com. Alex created his website in 2009 for the purpose of his education, as it was a mechanism that enabled him to show his tutors his progress through his final project. The website then became a place where he added his thoughts,work and experiments,eventually it was moulded into a site relating to all things visual. Alex posts his photography and drawings which he regards as...
'A large part of my understanding of proportion,layout,composition,lighting and many other factors,that directly relate to architectural drawings'.
www.alexhogrefe.com has now become a form of bible to the Architecture students, as there has not been many dedicated sites that concentrate on representational techniques that take the raw model through to a finished illustration, discussing the software used and the workflow to follow. He mainly works in Google Sketch Up, the free rendering programme Kerkythea and Adobe Photoshop CS3; many of the tutorials cover Daytime/Nighttime renders, Lighting,Photoshop Post Processing,quick tip sections and much more.Tutorials are written and are shown through video presentations via youtube.
I am pleased that we came across his website, as it has had an influence on our work, although most of us do not render with Kerkythea or use sketch up we have common ground when we reach Photoshop. Gathering an understanding of the elements required in the work flow, we can adapt the information for our own uses.
The portfolio layout element is also a positive introduction into the uses of indesign, grid layouts and page spreads.
I would like to thank Alex Hogrefe for continuing to post his work and processes on to his website, as it has genuinely helped me personally and probably many others who have never seen directly how to construct such illustrations.
Please have a look and support www.alexhogrefe.com
© 2014 Kerri Rochelle Simpson copyright
All rights reserved
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Wednesday, 25 September 2013
The Rudolph Steiner House (Open House London 2013)
The weekend of the 21st -22nd September played host to this years 'Open City/Open House Event',celebrating the architecture,the people and the places of London.
An event designed to engage observant and inquisitive Londoners or visitors in their surroundings, enabling one to explore buildings internally and public spaces freely to gain deeper in sight to what it is you pass on their daily journeys. The key to this event is that is absolutely free with access to places you wouldn't normally be able to roam without some form of pass!
This Year over 800 buildings were showcased around London, this included Architect guided tours,public realm walks and even boat tours; all in 48 Hours. It could be regarded as one of the greatest Architectural events of the year.
Follow: @openhouselondon #Openhouselondon
In response to the event, I ceased the opportunity to visit a couple of places that the event had on offer.
The building however was built in stages, beginning with the theatre. The theatre is designed for the use of the ' Arrhythmic Movement', who were a spoken word poetry movement that used gestures in relation to sound which resulted in travelling to depth of the stage via large forms of movement.
In 2008-2009, the building was refurbished by Nic Pople & Helen Springthorpe with David Tasker ( Gifford Ltd) structural engineer. The refurbishment was in order to meet current legislation and included rewiring, disability facilities, fire alarm system and a new cafe area.
The cafe area is composed of a wooden canopy like structure surrounded by bricks and concrete, with a form maintaining the original Goetheanum style. The pillared central structure uses seven planetary woods (Ash/Sun, Oak/Mars,Sycamore/maple/Jupiter, Hornbeam/Saturn, Cherry/Moon, Elm/Mercury, birch/Venus). Use of such material is said to create a mood of light in a space that was occupied by a fire escape.
The central pillars were made in lincolnshire out of seven different pieces then constructed on site, it also mimics a tree reinstating the organic nature.The space is quiet small but occupies three different levels. Ground playing home to the kitchen area, the mezzanine as shown on the top image and then a second level where there is extend seating.
In addition to the redevelopments offices were moved from the third floor to the first floor, retuning both levels to the original configuration.
Personal Thought...
As a student of Architecture, it was interesting to see how a building can be conserved and redeveloped. The aspect that particularly caught my interested was definitely the staircase as it was simplistic and the ideology of basing the forms used in the building, from the Terrazzo. This is something I have heard over and over again but fully understanding the result without studying it, was near impossible. It was spectacular to see a building that spoke in its entity, one language, from its form to its materials to its functionality, it is expressive and organic.
I did enjoy!
See the Video Tour...Rudolf Steiner House - Staircase Video
An event designed to engage observant and inquisitive Londoners or visitors in their surroundings, enabling one to explore buildings internally and public spaces freely to gain deeper in sight to what it is you pass on their daily journeys. The key to this event is that is absolutely free with access to places you wouldn't normally be able to roam without some form of pass!
This Year over 800 buildings were showcased around London, this included Architect guided tours,public realm walks and even boat tours; all in 48 Hours. It could be regarded as one of the greatest Architectural events of the year.
Follow: @openhouselondon #Openhouselondon
In response to the event, I ceased the opportunity to visit a couple of places that the event had on offer.
' The Rudolph Steiner House & Theatre'
located at 35 Park Road, Camden, London NW1 6XT.
The Rudolph Steiner House ( Grade II Listed) was built between 1926 - 1937 by Montague Wheeler. Mr Wheeler a partner in practice at 'Hoare and Wheeler' was also a member of the Anthroposophical Society. The Rudolph Steiner House was designed as homage to the society.
The design was inspired by the work of Rudolph Steiner himself, relative to the first Goetheanum building in Dornach,Switzland (19140. It was primarily built with timber however due to a 1922 Christmas fire it was destroyed,resulting in a rebuild from concrete with a new 'exprossionist' dimension to form.
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| Terrazzo - Steiner related form gesture |
The 'Expressionist' form is based on the marble mixed with cement 'Terrazzo' located outside the theatre.This feature of the building played a key design principle,every form is naturally related to every other form creating a form gesture that represents the organic. This is demonstrated via door openings, window openings and the elaborate yet beautiful staircase.
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| Theatre (1962) - Note Window openings,stage depth and wall colour |
The building however was built in stages, beginning with the theatre. The theatre is designed for the use of the ' Arrhythmic Movement', who were a spoken word poetry movement that used gestures in relation to sound which resulted in travelling to depth of the stage via large forms of movement.
In relation to this whole ideology of expression, the theatre walls also became an art in itself painted using the 'Lazure' technique, which uses water based plant colour pigment. The colour is applied to a textured surface in the style of water colours with regards to building up layers in order to gain depth of colour. The work was done repeatedly overnight on site by Gary Chippendale and Assistant. The same methodology is subtly implemented on the staircase retaining the organic nature.
The first floor was also built at the same time as the theatre ,other rooms were added later as well as the book shop.
Please spend time to appreciate the infamous focal point of the house, the staircase!
In 2008-2009, the building was refurbished by Nic Pople & Helen Springthorpe with David Tasker ( Gifford Ltd) structural engineer. The refurbishment was in order to meet current legislation and included rewiring, disability facilities, fire alarm system and a new cafe area.
The cafe area is composed of a wooden canopy like structure surrounded by bricks and concrete, with a form maintaining the original Goetheanum style. The pillared central structure uses seven planetary woods (Ash/Sun, Oak/Mars,Sycamore/maple/Jupiter, Hornbeam/Saturn, Cherry/Moon, Elm/Mercury, birch/Venus). Use of such material is said to create a mood of light in a space that was occupied by a fire escape.
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| Cafe Area Mezzanine |
In addition to the redevelopments offices were moved from the third floor to the first floor, retuning both levels to the original configuration.
Personal Thought...
As a student of Architecture, it was interesting to see how a building can be conserved and redeveloped. The aspect that particularly caught my interested was definitely the staircase as it was simplistic and the ideology of basing the forms used in the building, from the Terrazzo. This is something I have heard over and over again but fully understanding the result without studying it, was near impossible. It was spectacular to see a building that spoke in its entity, one language, from its form to its materials to its functionality, it is expressive and organic.
I did enjoy!
See the Video Tour...Rudolf Steiner House - Staircase Video
© 2013 Kerri Rochelle Simpson copyright
All rights reserved
Sunday, 22 September 2013
Rudolf Steiner House - Article Taster Video
Rudolph Steiner House
Architect: Montague Wheeler 1874- 1937
Redevelopment: Nic Pople + Helen Springthorpe
The first 'Expressionist House' of London
35 Park Road NW1 6XT
(Open House 2013)
Song credits: 5 Teile Wodka - The Rain
Saturday, 21 September 2013
The Endless Stair - Video Tour
Click here for the Endless Stair article!
In addition to the previous post, here is a short journey through the staircase. It is brief, but will give you more of an emotional response to the project and you will be able to see the interaction people had with the structure.
© 2013 Kerri Rochelle Simpson copyright
All rights reserved
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
The Endless Stairs - drMM Architects, Arup Engineers & SEAM Design
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| River Facing View |
The Endless Stair
13 September '13 - 10 October '13
Monday - Sunday 9AM - Dusk
The Lawn in front of the Tate Modern,Bankside,London,SE1 9TG
Who?
dRMM Architects - Timber Studio
Arup Engineering Structures,Materials and Fire specialist
Sponsored by American Wood expert Council
Contractor - Nussil
The Endless stair by dRMM in collaboration with Arup Engineering and SEAM Design is part of the London Design Festival, which is a nine day event with hundreds of showcases around London. The staircase is the 2013 Landmark project placed at the Tate Modern (London) . The initial site was set to be at the St. Paul's Cathedral however it is great to see the Tate host this in their front garden.
Inspired by the works of M.C Escher's 'Relativity', it is composed of 15 interlocking staircases; the Endless Stair provides an interactive installation that creates a panoramic view of the area upon ascend and descent.
The structure still manages to weigh in at a staggering 11.4 tonnes with a combined total length of 436M (when all the panels used are laid flat) which is 4.5 times the size of Big Ben!
With 187 Endless Stairs this allows for an overall capacity of 93 people at any one time, the shortest staircase has 48 stairs.The intersectional landings give access to different sides of the structure via an 'up and over' methodology,contributing to the exploration of the piece and creating internal views of the structure.Ultimately all ascending routes lead to the top of the piece and all descending routes lead to the ground, however you have the choice of which route you would like to take.Like a maze.
At the highest point you are met with a glass end panel which creates the illusion that you could continue on, a staircase to the skies is what i would say. At this point you have the opportunity to take in the panoramic view of the thames.
Process and Production...
Select image to see processes( image provided by www.nickwattsdesign.co.uk)
Did I tell you it lights up at night...
Click Here to see dRMM explain The Endless Stair
Please look out for The Endless Stair at night and the Tour video!
Subscribe or follow us at @KRSarchitecture
Photos of Endless Stair copyright Kerri R Simpson
© 2013 Kerri Rochelle Simpson copyright
All rights reserved
Saturday, 14 September 2013
SouthBank Skate Park Saved?
The London Southbank skate park located in the undercroft of the Queen Elizabeth Hall (River Thames,London) has been alive for over 40 years, being regarded as a place that generations of skaters have rode around becoming part of the London skate cult.
The south bank skate park forms a hub for skaters around the world, a place that could be defined as a safe skate haven, a place that is dear to the heart of many as they have explored the unit from childhood to adulthood; breaking limitations and setting new goals to achieve.
Southbank is still today a prime meeting point for a lot of London skaters, also a canvas for Graffiti artists retaining its value to the rich artistry and cultural value of the south bank. Instead of taking away from the south bank it is giving back.
For sometime the Southbank skate park has been under threat, there have been plans to demolish and relocate the park put forward by Lambeth council, this was in order to make space for new retail and restaurants that will further develop the income in the south bank area.
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| Distant Memories |
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| Rich Grafitti Art, notice the SOS... |
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| The undercroft skating area, people passing by at the background and skate boarder in the mid ground |
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| " Thinking about what he may lose" |
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| The Green square indicates the location of the skate park |
The above images show what the current state of the skatepark is in 2013, this is a quiet week day. However when speaking to some of the locals, I was told that on a weekend it is far more busier than the week; although at evenings this is where people come to deflate after a long day.
" What do you think about the demolition of the Southbank Skate Park?"
A common response was revolved around devastation and a loss, I was also advised to visit this website http://www.savethesouthbank.com a website that leads to a petition, the petition is said to have drawn over 50,000 signatures from the UK and abroad demonstrating the importance it has to so many who use the area.
From an Architectural perspective, taking architecture in not the static but the emotional sense. The skate park gives the area personality, a fully interactive space connecting expressionists to one and another; holding skate jams as well as performances it relates to the static buildings in the area which host cultural and artist events alike; the removal of such a place disconnects social activities whilst depleting the areas richness. Here is a sample of the new proposal, which looks admittedly a beautiful attachment to an existing building accompanied by the introduction of further green spaces. 
Although this image is not directly showing the impact to the undercut it shows the overall vision for the area. To the common visitor it appears to be an attractive touristic place, which will indeed draw a sufficient source of further income to the area,additionally and possibly exploring other cultural values besides the skate cult known to the area. In the ideal world, we would prefer for the existing development to accommodate the 20% remains of the SouthBank skate park.
The voices were eventually heard in the SouthBank area, however the result comes with great compromise from the 'Long Live SouthBank Group' ( the group of skater challenging councils decisions).The group have been given the option to allow the skate park to become extinct so that the £120 Million redevelopment can go through, this is in acceptance of a new £1Million skate park to be built under the Hungerford Bridge;extending space by 10% with a 120 Meter span of floor space.
There are three different designs that could be put forward for the relocation as shown by the video above, which is just a little way from the original site. The acceptance from the skaters is still pending furthermore the idea is neither set in stone, so it is difficult to come to a conclusion until discussions have been made; it would be said that it is a very good offer, as an area like the Southbank skate park are lucky to have the opportunity to be heard. I think they should accept and create a new as well as positive outlook for the future of skating,BMX-ing and artists alike!
© 2013 Kerri Rochelle Simpson copyright
All rights reserved
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Wednesday, 11 September 2013
09/11 Terrorist Attack Memorial
The image above is produced by myself as a reflection of events and devastation that lingered at the time of the September 11th 2001 air attack.
As a none American my memories are not as vivid as those who were close to the event at time, however social media kept a constant stream of news with repetitive powerful images making those in a foreign country aware of the happenings in America.
I have constructed this image using two powerful social media images, the background shows the twin towers after impact with the fumes dissipating into the clear blue sky.
To me this communicates, the cloud in the clarity; a smoke of devastation with no general knowledge as to why?
The foreground however shows the remains of the towers, another image that was constantly used to depict the extent of the destruction. The lonely on-looker signifies the person who is about to try and rectify the problems, the one who makes the decision as to what happens next, he is not a bold figure in this image but more of one who blends in with the disaster.
As a complete image other things to note is the darkness at ground level, this represents the emotion at ground level a dark time, however played off against the strong blue and red of america, it represents hope and recovery.
R.I.P to those who past on this day, you live in all our thoughts
...Please see these comments as strictly opinionated,a way of looking at things differently...
© 2013 Kerri Rochelle Simpson copyright
All rights reserved
Saturday, 7 September 2013
An Architecture Students Guide to Living in University Halls
Congratulations, you are officially an Architecture student. The questions you may ask yourself over the first few months is 'Oh My Life what is this work load that will not allow me to do all the fun things my flat mates are doing?'. All I can tell you is this is just something that will not change, unless you know how to manage your time effectively and beat your demons.
This article is now going to become your guidance.
Imagine you have just moved in to your less than 12sqm room at University,you have brought all of your things from home forgetting that one day you may just return to your humble abode to find that you have one wardrobe, a desk and a bed in your room. Shock horror right?
Your first thought it this looks a bit like a prison cell. Anyway, you begin the first two weeks of the course with an outlined brief of your first design project, you have to design a house maybe and produce plans,sections,elevations,3D model,sketches and all sorts of other explorative things that you may never have done in your life.
In your first year you are likely to be encouraged to hand draw ALOT! You can not go on to produce these fantastically wonderful, futuristic designs if you do not understand the basic principles of hand drawing, wether that be technical or sketches. You will need to know how to use a scale ruler, a drawing board and probably an adjustable set square.
SO firstly when living in halls, you need to organise your work space in order to accommodated for your equipment.
I recommend:
Setting Up The Desk Provided
You will probably have a worn surfaced but sturdy desk, with two draws and a noticeboard above. If your lucky you will get two shelves. With the desk provided, it would be benificial to measure it before purchasing a none freestanding drawing board, as sometimes the back of the board may slip off if the desk is too small.
You could purchase a small 3 tiered draw that will contain, drawing pens,pencils and colours. It is advisable to have a set of drawing equipment to leave at home and one to take to university, so that if you were to loose any then you still have ones at home.
In the two draws provided, you could use this to store documents such as support materials for projects or any preliminary work! I would make sure you keep these draws in order using a filing system for each project.
When modelling at home, ensure you purchase a cutting board to stop cutting through your desk and put down newspaper or a cloth, there is nothing worse than a bumpy desk and one with glue in odd places.
Organising Your Noticeboard
The noticeboard is where I would put my current design briefs and notes on what needs to be produced, this way you can not forget what you are working towards. Always create a list of tasks and tick them off as you go along, your list may change weekly after tutorials but it is a key way to keep on top and organise your time.
Also the notice board can be layered, a place above your desk where you can pin up reference drawings that you may need while you are working on a current drawing.
It is tempting to do the student thing, where you pin up pictures of friends and family, find another space to do this such as by your bed.Space is precious.
Setting Up Your Wall
Before a critic or review, it is essential that you double check that you have done the work that is required and to make sure it all flows as a project. In your room you could do this by using a wall to pin up your work in order as you would if you was pinning up for a crit. Use masking tape so you do not damage the walls! Leave the masking tape on the wall so that you do not waste masking tap.
Step back from your work and give yourself your own crit.
Storage of Materials for Models/Project
You will inevitably find that you will acquire a good amount of card or even Wood this is BIG... and unless you can find a space within the Architecture department to store this for personal use, you are better off taking it home. You can store this either under your bed, behind your wardrobe, down the side of your wardrobe, at the back of your desk or simply against the wall. eventually you will use it so it will not be there forever; your bedroom is still your bedroom and needs to remain homely.
Put models on your window sill, be carful of condensation as you do not want them to get wet but I find this works well. If your models look good then it will also add to deco in your room.
Do you have extra room for a desk?
If you are a lucky person who has a large room, then you may consider the purchase of a second desk, here can be a multi-use desk. A place for computer work! This will enable you to seperate the two aspects and remain organised, you will find that you will already have your drawing space set up and that you will have a computer desk set up as well. Its like having your own little office at home. Here you can also put your TV, which may like to double up as your monitor depending on how you like to work.
Hope this gives a little help...Good Luck!
© 2013 Kerri Rochelle Simpson copyright
All rights reserved
Monday, 26 August 2013
How Plate Glass and Float Glass Influenced Changes to the Building Style of the Last 150 Years?
Image provided by http://inhabitat.com/bahrain-world-trade-center-has-wind-turbines/
Through out centuries, the domination of glass in construction around the world has become
more apparent.Over the last 150 years Britain alone has created a visual documentation of the advancing innovations of glass technology,seeing the construction methods change and new support structures accommodate the ever growing use of glass.
Le corbusier stated "It created a relationship between light and gravitational objects" , such statements confirm the importance of glass and reflect the historical value,which has been inspirational to modern day construction ideas and influential to the future; he is also aware that structural design habits had to change in order to embrace the new technology.
The excitement basking in the 19th/18th century resulted in a vast amount of companies creating glass for an array of uses such as automotive.retail display and architectural purposes. The common dilemma within the glass industry was manufacturing to specification e.g. Size,thickness,various designs required quicker production times, and achieving pristine clarity in the glass.
Plate Glass
The main glass production type was plate glass due to its ability to suit building styles of that era; this was later followed by float glasses which opened up neoteric impressions of architecture.
Plate glass was profoundly developed in Germany in the 11th century ,further advances by France created the first development in glass technology,using the material for windows and classic glazed doors.By this time glass production was no longer a craft but a potential industry.
In the 18th Century the "British Plate Glass Company" ( Raven Head, Lancashire) was established. This became one of the first companies in Britain to manufacture sheet/plate glass through a process of manual labour and low tech machinery. The machinery in the 1830's known as the cylinder process created glass sheets of uniform thickness ranging from 6mm to 25mm depending on the requirements of the user.
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| The image above shows the plate glass - casting table,with cuvette,heavy roller and side rails. |
The determination for the thickness of the glass was adjudicated by two metal stripes at either side of the casting table, each plate was approximately 12.55M/sq to 10.8M/sq before it was cut. The casting tables on wheels allowed the material once cut to be wheeled out to annealing chambers were the glass was left to cool for a further two weeks.
Plate glass once cooled is a rough material, the glass required to be grounded and sanded to achieve the flat even surface and this was done by hand. Grinding and sanding was followed by smoothing; the glass was smoothed using aluminium oxide and iron bearing minerals originating from the Greek Island 'Naxo's'. Emery, an abrasive waste substance of sulphuric acid could also be used. On average once produced, glass plates were 12mm thick; however after sanding and abrasion the end product was 6mm thick.
The most extravagant use of plate glass was demonstrated in 1851 by the 'Crystal Palace', Hyde Park, London (Joseph Paxton). The palace is described as a product of the industrial revolution; the Crystal Palace was constructed with modular cast-iron enabling it to be dismantled for re-location in the future. The purpose built enlarged greenhouse had plate glass curtain walled facades, one of the first structures to contradict the need for load bearing walls in a structure as the facade resists its own dead weight and has no weight to bear from the building because its materials are light.
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| Crystal Palace, (then Sydenham Hill, London,1851) http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Crystal_Palace.html |
This design was initially a small scale project; instead it was enlarged and set new limits to architectural design. The discovery of the limits of glass was followed by the ability to solve factors of the light in a building and increase social well being as seen in the millions of visitors to Crystal Palace.
Plate Glass
Plate glass eventually became a thing of the past due to its long processing time and its inability to produce high quality glass. As a result in 1955 Sir Alistair Pilkington and Kenneth Bickerstaff established what has become " Pilkington's" glass company of today.
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| Float Glass general process http://www.agc-group.com/en/about/flatglass_03.html |
The manufacturing process of Pilkington's glass is similar to that of when oil is poured on to water, the oil spreads out at the top of the water body; in terms of molten glass, the gravity and surface tension cause the materials parallel surfaces to become completely flat. The equilibrium between gravity and surface tension creates uniform thickness.
An example of the early use of float glass is the " Crystal Palace Station" built after the move of the Crystal Palace its self, following the same design idea as the plate glass built palace, however with a modern change of glass possibly due to the weather resistant qualities of float glasses. As a purpose built station for frequent usage it embraces the natural flood light.
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| Crystal Palace Station http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3623/3493825147_fb108e973e_z.jpg |
Over the last 150 years glass technology has significantly changed from a craft to an industry that is relied upon by Architects around the world. Modern day glass innovations are on-going and further variations in glass are making our buildings phenomenal. Pilkingtons have created a whole range of glass for the consumers needs,depending on what the consumer wants to achieve from in the building.
These are some of the products influencing building of today and the future. Insulight glass is designed to optimise thermal insulation therefore if a construction project wwas located in a cooler climate or a section of a building was situated in a shaded area with limitations to the amount of sunlight/thermal properties, it would either reduce the buildings heat loss via the windows or allow thermal radiation to pass into the building. A product like this coincides with the current target to create a green and economical building;thermal insulation could reduce heating costs say for an office building.
Optilight increases visible light,achieved by reducing the iron content of the glass. Optilight could more than likely be used in an industrial building were maximum natural light is a bonus, in contrast Arctic Blue tinted windows prevent glare and controls solar energy. These types of glass are produced as glass facades, they also have different types of fixings depending on how the structure of the building is designed.
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| Lippo Center,Admiralty, Hong Kong,China http://www.12hk.com/area/Admiralty/LippoCtr_PHOT0582.html |
The example image above of the Lippo Center by Paul Rudolph of Wong-Ouyang ltd ( an Australian), the Lippo Centre is said to resemble Koala bears climbing as tree. The building is part retail and part office spaces, the innovation was constructed with float glass and steel.
With the choices of thickness (0.4mm-25mm) and the technology widely available within the glass industry, the influence that glass has on building designs of the future is immeasurable; the competence of glass will help see in economical large scale building designs and achieve new concepts. Although the glass making has become the industry,the Architects/Designers have become the crafts men retaining
Bruno Taut's quote...
" Glass has no other purpose than to be beautiful" - 1918.
References
The Great Exhibition 1851. (2002) from Historyuk: http//www.historic-uk.com\HistoryUK\England-History\GreatExhibition1851.htm
Behling,S.a (1998), Glass, In structures and technology in Architecture,foto nigel oung
Center, L (2009) Home,,from lippo centre: http://lippocenter.com.hk
Ltd,T.T (2004, 12 22) Float Glass Technology, from Tangram: httpp://www.tangram.co.uk
Pilikingtons, (2011) Pilkingtons: http://www.pilkingtons.com
Pye, D.B (n.d) Glass in Buildings, Pilkingtons
Watts, D (2009-2010) Thames plate glass A History of glass making London.
Wiki,Crystal Palace station http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/crystal_palace_railway_station
Wiki ( n.d) Wiki Retrieved from Crystal Palace
© 2013 Kerri Rochelle Simpson copyright
All rights reserved
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