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ADAPTIVE REUSE OF CLAY-TILE ARCHED FLOORS
This article about antiquated structural systems is the second in a series aimed at structural engineers involved in the repair, restoration, or adaptive reuse of older buildings for which no drawings exist. —Editor
Concrete and steel-framed floors constructed in the late 1800s and early 1900s often included hollow clay-tile arches that spanned between beams and girders. The arches were typically covered with a concrete topping and often had plaster applied directly to the soffit of the exposed tiles. — Published 2009.0513
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AIA/ALA LIBRARY AWARDS
In León, Mexico, a white stone-and-glass-clad structure expresses monumental solidity while maintaining indoor-outdoor connectivity. A three-story pergola of white-painted steel covers a plaza and rooftop terrace, adding a rhythmic lightness to the composition. This is the new library designed by Pei Partnership Architects for the state of Guanajuato. — Published 2009.0408
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SELF-MASS DAMPER AT TOKYO SWATCH
The Swatch Group's new flagship structure in Tokyo, the Nicolas G. Hayek Center, featured in ArchitectureWeek No. 416, is built with an array of innovative elements, ranging from elevating showrooms and multistory retractable glass exterior walls to moving floors for reducing seismic forces induced in the building. — Published 2009.0401
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MULTI-ELEPHANT HOUSING BY FOSTER
The Copenhagen Zoo's new Elephant House by Foster + Partners emerges gently from the surrounding park grounds, its two leaf-patterned glass domes topping walls of pink-hued concrete. At once playful and serious, transparent and solid, this modern menagerie provides both high-quality living conditions for the animals inside and an exciting and interactive visitor experience. — Published 2009.0401
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THE TEXTILE BLOCK HOUSES
As the Hollyhock House neared completion in 1920, Frank Lloyd Wright received a second Los Angeles commission, from antiquarian Alice Millard, who had arrived in Pasadena from Chicago in 1914. With her late husband she had commissioned a classic Prairie-style house from Wright in 1906; now she wanted something new, inspired by the palazzi of Venice. — Published 2009.0318
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MODERN PREFAB BY MARMOL RADZINER
The Rincon 5 by Los Angeles firm Marmol Radziner recalls the pristine residential architecture of Mies van der Rohe, though this guest house may have more in common with the humble American mobile home. — Published 2009.0318
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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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OLSON SUNDBERG KUNDIG ALLEN AIA FIRM AWARD
Since Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects was founded, the Seattle firm has sought to integrate contemporary architectural forms into the natural settings of the Pacific Northwest, employing a combination of sensitivity and efficiency that can be recognized as sustainable design. — Published 2009.0225
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TOKYO SWATCH BY SHIGERU BAN
The new Swatch flagship store in Tokyo's Ginza district immediately stands out from the surrounding high-end fashion boutiques on this densely packed street. There is no doorway, no visible sign, and no glass storefront. Instead, a towering four-story void in the streetscape seems to signify a civic-scale entry. — Published 2009.0218
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PICTOU LANDING HEALTH CENTER
The new medical clinic and community center in the Pictou Landing First Nation in Nova Scotia recalls a longhouse, the traditional winter lodge of the Mi'kmaq.
Sustainably harvested spruce poles, six to eight inches (15 to 20 centimeters) in diameter, are bent and lashed together at the tops. Like a giant wooden model of a whale's ribcage, clad with rows of oversized spruce shingles, the peaked frame is an adaptation of traditional Native bent-wood construction. — Published 2009.0114
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