Digital Fabrication

May 11
On this last day of our lecture
We talked about:-
-3D printing
-Digital Fabrication
-Material
-Technology
-OTA+

We talked about San Fratello + Rael, architects who used 3D printing to make wonderful and creative things, the designers of the burrito wall and Bay Bridge Product. The above object is also one of their creation. The above picture is called Haeckel Bowl. The shape and pattern based on the 19th century biologist Ernst Haeckel's illustrations of art forms in nature. The bowl is made of pecan wood and has soft translucent fibers embedded in the mix that enhance the texture.

This is the Rapid Type Coffee Pod.
It is a design/build studio at the California College of the Arts(CCA) initiated as a result of ALPOLIC's continued interest in engaging young architects in the use of aluminum composite materials (ACM).
The program allowed 15 students, led by OTA+'s Kory Bieg, and Studio Under Manufacture's Andre Caradec, to push the boundaries of ALPOLIC aluminum composite materials.

Old with New

May 4
Amily's lecture was about Urbanism and Context.
The topics for the lecture includes:-
-Field Operation
-Pattern of the City
-Mapping
-Grid
-Turning Old to New and interesting

This is the High Line Park in New York City.
It was originally an old railway track but now it has been redesigned and planted as aerial greenway.
Although one is in the city, being surrounded by plants feels relaxing.
The park's attractions include naturalized plantings that are inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew on the disused tracks and the views of the city and the Hudson River.

This is one of the places where new things were formed on the old buildings. Amily also showed us more pictures of reconstructing the Bay Bridge and also the Burrito Wall designed by San Fratello+ Rael.
I really like the idea of not demolishing the old buildings and building a completely different building but leave the old as it is and implant new things in it to make it interesting and beautiful. This way we could still see the part of the old building combined with the new.

Stones

April 20
A guest from Quarry House came to our class.
His name is Ed Westbrook. He is a stone expert and also a founder of the Quarry House.
The lecture that day involved about :-
-the origins of stone
-uses of stone
-material honesty
-feel of seeing stones
-beauty of stones

This is a stone bridge I found when surfing on the internet.
As you can see, although its just an arc formed from stones, it gives off an interesting feeling.
I can see the different shapes and texture formed on the stones, with uneven lines and cracks.
There are what makes them beautiful.
Because of this uneven looks, we can see the history of these stones.
Stones are materials that hold deep mystery. To me, values and qualities of stones do not differ from one another.
Different stones represents different background and meaning.
Just seeing the shapes of stones created naturally calm and makes me feel at peace.

Ed Westbrook also told us how he went from country to country searching and looking for different stones. He also showed us pictures of the stones he saw. And also told us that there were still some craftsman who are still using labor work to build stone structures instead of using technology.

Waterproofing

April 13
We had a guest from Grace Construction Products.
His name is Paul Miller who specialize in water proofing.
With his presence there, I learned:

• Water Proofing
• Air Barrier
• Vapor Barrier
• Uses of water proof materials
• How these materials are applied.

 From Miller, I learned how water enters the building and how waterproofing helps prevents it.
Although the cements look tough and all, under some circumstances, cracks will be formed in the cement and the rain or water from the exterior could easily invade into these cracks.
So what waterproofing does is, formed a layer between the outside (soil in the picture) and the cement and will prevent the water from entering.

During class, Miller brought in some samples of Grace Products of different kinds.
He explained to us how they are used and what each product role is.
I really enjoyed it because I have to feel the texture of different materials used in the building.

Sustainable

After the Spring Break, we continued our studies on architecture on April 6th.
The lecture Amily gave us was about Sustainable Materials.
The week was all about green and eco-friendly.
The five facts that I marked down during lecture which will lead the building to being green are:-
1. Harmonize with site.
2. Built little as possible.
3.Buildings should generate own electricity and should heat and cool naturally
4.Maximize resource efficiency
5.Beauty of Ecological design

This house is called Sommerhaus Piu (Piu Summer House)

It was built by German Architects, Patrick Frey and Bjorn Gotte. This green home building's is made from sustainable materials, wood since wooden materials can provide naturalistic feelings for the house especially since this house is located on a natural open site. About half of the wall is filled with glasses which allows the natural light from outside flows into the house naturally.

Even though the house is just a simple rectangular house, the striped patterns of the wooden material on the wood makes it beautiful as the sunlight passes through the gaps between and reflecting on the walls of it.

And also during the lecture, Amily introduced us to an organization called LEED, standing for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is developed by the USGBC, short for US Green Building Council. It consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, home and neighborhoods.