ENVS10003 CONSTRUCTING ENVIRONMENTS
A03. STUDIO JOURNAL INTERIM SUBMISSION JAIME LEE. 636903. 2013 SEMESTER TWO.
Week 01 Journal Lecture-Introduction •
Brief description of the subject was introduced and the required assessments are also discussed. It was mentioned that this subject is focused on the materials and how they are used in the context of construction.
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Structural principles and the fabrics of natural and constructed environments would also be explored in this subject. We will develop the skills and knowledge in construction through the introduction of common materials and structures language and many guest speakers that will be invited from different fields within the industry for example architects, builders, engineers and developers etc.
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We will also have the opportunities in tutorials and in assessment tasks to visit construction sites, to first-handedly experience what it’s like to work in the construction field and what process must be done in the construction of a building/structure.
Glossary 01. Roller Joint: A type of joint that allow rotation but resist translation in a direction perpendicular in or away from their surfaces. Used commonly at one end of long bridges to allow structure to expand and contract with temperature variations.
Tutorial 01. Compression Activity. • Mutual agreement in group that the base of structure would be the key in building a tall and stable tower • trialed two different shaped bases: Circular and square
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 01 Journal Tutorial 01. Used brick bond method to provide more strength for the tower and increase it’s aesthetics.
Problem 01.
Brick bond is a method which involves overlapping bricks or stones in order to achieve better strength à more stable tower
Not sure how to make doorway for dinosaur to move in and out since the gap would cause the tower to collapse since it has no support at the bottom
Problem 02. Not sure if the top of the tower would meet at one point if we continued to stack bricks on top
One member suggested to build a roof that is completely unattached to the tower. I wasn’t sure about the practicability of this idea since the bricks in the middle of the unattached roof would have no rigid support and may also collapse.
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 01 Journal • Built small prototypes to test out the different possibilities. à Structure would narrow up as we keep building up but due to gravitation, it would get unstable and might collapse •
Tested roof: not rigid enough to it on top by itself à disregard having a separated roof
Ran out of time to build a roof à tested how much weight could be held by the structure
According to the physics of structure and forces, the structure of the tower would be able to hold up many more boxes without collapsing
Our group did not have the smoothest building experience in this activity but I have learnt to trial different design and structural ideas, as I believe I would learn a lot more through mistakes than success.
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 01 Journal Tutorial 01. • 
The tallest tower was built by another group of three; their design did not keep narrowing down but was in a curvy shape. I believe this would enable them to ignore the gravitation issue that was discussed earlier on as the weight of the tower was evenly distributed in all areas of the tower, making it stable and able to achieve the height at the same time. I also discovered that three out of the four groups used the same brick laying method, which indicates that this method enables the structure to be extremely stable.
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 02 Journal Lecture An architect and structural engineer was invited to take over the lecture this week and structural design was introduced. He presented the different building structures built and linked them to natural structural designs, showed us the relations and where inspirations can develop from these natural structures.
Taipei 101 Located in the center of Taipei, Taiwan. The design of the skyscraper is inspired by the natural structure of a bamboo, which enables the structure to be flexible under extreme weather conditions and able to withstand typhoon winds and earthquakes.
A conceptual design created by the AWR group in London for the purpose of an architecture competition on vertical farming in year 2011. The beehive design is developed for its aesthetics and demonstrating the harmony with nature.
h"p://www.taiwan-‐taipei.com/ taipei_city_=p/taipei_101.html
h"p://urban-‐review.com/urban-‐towers-‐farming-‐21st-‐century/
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 02 Journal Glossary 02. Load Bearing Wall: A wall that bears a load resisting upon it by conducting its weight to a foundation structure. They are used most commonly in platform framings which is a light construction method
Tutorial 02. This week’s activity was to build a structure as high as possible using 40 thin strips of balsa wood. Our group again thought the base of this structure would be the key in holding the weight of the structure above, therefore we used the shape of a triangle as it was mentioned in the lecture this week that a triangle wouldn’t bend whereas a square and rectangle would therefore triangle would be a more stable structure.
Group building the triangular foundations for our structure. Used super glue to attach the balsa wood pieces together
Used small pieces of balsa wood to provide extra support for the triangular base structure.
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 02 Journal Tutorial 02. As we moved upwards with the structure we realized that the weight above was too heavy for the foundation structure to support it. The structure would not be able to stand by itself if we kept building upwards. This problem could be solved if we extended the foundation part by one or two levels but due to time constraints, we did not have time to change our structure.
Could have used the remaining balsa wood pieces to build extra levels in the foundation à Extend the height of structure, able to hold more weight on top
The base structure of our group’s tower is shown on the left.
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 03 Journal Glossary 03. Bond: It’s a method of overlapping bricks/stones usually in a regular and recognizable pattern to increase the strength and appearance of brick work. There are different types of bonding, used for different purposes and under different circumstances, such as stretcher bond and mortar bond.
Vignettes-Bluestone Melbourne Different cities in Australia have different popular materials that could be found which gives each city different colors.
Sydney = Sandstone
Perth = Clay bricks
Melbourne = Bluestone = Basalt Â
Lava flows and bubbles of lava can be found in modern bluestone Indicators of the past from the observation of bluestones in Melbourne. Eg, wheel ruts, carriageways in the 19th century had damage these bluestones. Water and impact damage from trucks
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 03 Journal Tutorial 03.-Site Visit 01. ERC Building
Image on Left Link between the ERC building and Doug McDonnell Building
Roof supported by bent beams. There are small pods inside that are supported by steel framing
Concrete Flooring
Timber soffit: Soffit is the exterior area under the roof of a structure. Timber soffits allows a certain amount of heat to escape, therefore able to ‘breathe’ better.
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 03 Journal Tutorial 03.-Site Visit 02. MSLE Building (Link) The link uses the sides of the two buildings next to it to support the extension upwards Steel framing: Used roof material as wall material. They can be cut and shaped according the design specifications so it makes the construction relatively fast and precise (2008, Ching)
Two existing structures of different floor heights. Since they are going to move differently under different movements, the connecting structure will crack if it transmits movement from one building to another.
Air Ventilation Air ventilations are installed outside the building, angled outwards to stop unwanted particles to go in.
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 03 Journal Tutorial 03.-Site Visit 03. Queens College Extension
Wooden frames used
Non-Load bearing concrete wall: Not much will happen to the building if the wall is taken off. Unlike a load bearing wall which bears load such as people, furniture etc. that would make a structure collapse if taken out.
Tin/Aluminum Roofing
Eaves gutter Designed and installed to wash away rain. Located on the edge of the roof, as defined by the word ‘eaves’.
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 03 Journal Tutorial 03.-Site Visit 04. Dalton Library
My interpretation of a cantilever beam Link to an older sandstone building
One side of the roof is cantilevered. Cantilever Beam: It’s a type of beam that’s projected or other rigid structural member that is supported at only one fixed end (2008, Ching) Concrete Columns
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee
Week 03 Journal
Reinforcing bars made of steel are used to strengthen and hold concrete that is going to be placed on top as it creates compression. The yellow caps placed on top of each steel bar is for protection of workers and other people that have access to the construction
Tutorial 03.-Site Visit 05. Oval Pavilion
Electrical Box
Different grades of gravel are used for different types of concrete
Concrete slab Wooden frame for the support of the structure
Floor level is above ground Plastic sheet is used to wrap around the basement of the structure for waterproofing purposes
Constructing Environments 2013 Sem02 636903 Ka Wing Lee