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ANALYZING SMI CONCRETE FOR ADAPTIVE REUSE
Owners and developers are increasingly opting, for many reasons, to convert existing buildings for new uses.
If no drawings are available for an older building, a structural engineer will often turn to industry resources to try and determine the nature and capacity of the existing structural system. Available information is then used to confirm that the facility meets the current building code requirements or to determine what strengthening or remediation must occur to accommodate the new use intended by the architect or owner. — Published 2009.0225
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EDAR IN LA
The EDAR, a four-wheeled combination cart and sleeping unit created for use by people experiencing homelessness, is beginning to make its presence known in the greater Los Angeles area.
Designed by Eric Lindeman and Jason Zasa while still in school at Pasadena Art Center College of Design, this modified shopping cart was their solution to a problem posed by local philanthropist Peter Samuelson: improve upon the cardboard box by designing a mobile, single-person shelter. — Published 2009.0211
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GLENN MURCUTT GOLD MEDAL
In locations from the far reaches of the Northern Territory to suburban New South Wales, Australian architect Glenn Murcutt has created modernist houses remarkable for their supreme sensitivity to climate, surroundings, and environment.
A true sole practitioner, Murcutt chooses mostly to design single-family dwellings, and only in Australia. The resulting structures attest to the depth of attention he affords each project. — Published 2009.0114
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DESIGNING FABRIC STRUCTURES
The first step in designing a fabric structure is to create a form with sufficient pre-stress, or tension, to prevent it from fluttering like a flag or sail. Lightweight structures with minimal surfaces optimally should have double curvature — a surface that possesses a high-point (positive) curvature along one principal axis and a low-point (negative) curvature along the other principal axis. — Published 2008.0924
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BEIJING BIRD'S NEST - ARCHITECTURE
This is the first part of a two-part series about Beijing National Stadium. Part one looks at the stadium from the architects' perspective, part two from the engineers'.
In the weeks and months leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the Chinese government faced a range of complications, from polluted skies to Tibet protests. — Published 2008.0820
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LIVING STEEL 2008
For its third annual steel housing competition, Living Steel challenged architects to design affordable, energy-efficient housing prototypes for Cherepovets, Russia, where temperatures can climb to 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer and dive as low as -49 degrees Celsius (-56 degrees Fahrenheit) in the winter. — Published 2008.0716
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HEATHROW TERMINAL 5 BY ROGERS
One of the largest construction projects in Europe — and one of the most political and controversial building projects in the UK — the new Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow Airport opened in March 2008, nearly 20 years after the Richard Rogers Partnership (now Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners) won the commission. — Published 2008.0604
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TWO NEW TENTS
In Frei Otto's landmark examples, the tent fabric was largely glass. Using the term "tent" with admitted looseness, here are two recent examples in the continuing romance of modern expression with tensile engineering. At the Estádio Municipal de Braga, the sheltering tent is made of concrete, while at the Burj Al Arab Hotel, the tent covering is on its side, a great white spinnaker defining a spectacular atrium. — Editor
Braga Stadium — Published 2008.0528
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MAKING THE WATER CUBE
The Beijing National Aquatics Center, often referred to as the "Water Cube," was built for the 2008 Olympic Games. The winning entry in an international design competition was submitted by the China State Construction and Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) with Arup and PTW Architects. — Published 2008.0430
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MODULAR MODES
Modular houses are composed of one or more sections that are factory built, transported by truck, and set on a foundation. Modular houses may be made of two modules, as is the Sunset Breezehouse shown here, or they can be assembled from a kit of prefabricated parts. — Published 2007.0411
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