Constructing Environments LogBook (Wk 1)

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WK1 – Studio Report This weeks exercise required us to construct a tower using small rectangular bricks. The Pirst sketches and ideas my group had for our towers design focused on structures with circular bases with covered tops. The diagrams on the left show how we took inspiration from a cone, which had the top tip cut off to create a Plat surface.

Above: Preliminary sketches of tower.

Below: Load path through proposed wall.

We decided to layer our bricks so that every second layer lined up, the most common layout for a brick wall (masonry). The diagram on the left shows the load path through this sort of layout. We can see here that the load is evenly distributed from the top of the wall to the base of the wall, with the weight being spread out. Spreading the load across a greater area will allow the structure to be much more grounded and therefore, stable.

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A fault in the the design can be seen in the photograph below, in the uneven spacing of the blocks when creating the structure. Because of this, some parts of the structure were less stable than other’s, causing the load path to be distributed unevenly in this sections.

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WK1 – Studio Report

The towers that were being built also needed to feature some sort of opening that would allow for the insertion of a foreign object. The image in the bottom left hand corner shows this object (an animal Pigurine). Our group discussed creating an opening that spanned from the top to the bottom of the structure (shown to the left of text), but ultimately decided on an archway design (shown at the top left hand corner).

Green section shows the archway/opening created at the base of our structure.

The diagram in the top left hand corner of this page shows the changed load path of a structure with an archway. Weight is distributed around the opening and again, evenly spread downwards to the base of the structure. We worked on creating an archway that was just big enough for the foreign object, as we did not want an opening that larger than it needed to be.

An issue we had at this stage of construction, was the inconsistency of spacing between the bricks. As the spaces between the bricks were slightly different every time, the diameter of the structure became more and more asymmetric as the tower grew in height.

The photograph on the right shows the progression of the towers diameter.

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WK1 – Studio Report

The photograph on the left shows our groups completed tower. It stood approximately 130cm tall and had a diameter of approximately 30cm. The area shaded in green shows the archway that was built into the tower, and from the image we can see the scale of this opening.

Another group in the class adopted the same technique as us to build their tower, but there were some major differences in the execution of the build. Whereas our tower had relatively small gaps between the bricks, the other group had large gaps in-­‐ between them. This meant that they ended up with a taller towers, as they used less bricks to build up to the height that ours was at. However, the large gaps in their structure also made it less stable, which shows the variety in structure characteristics when using the same material.

The diagram on the left shows what techniques the other groups in the class employed during construction of their towers.

3 out 4 groups used conventional block laying in their towers, and at the end of the session these three ended up being the tallest of the bunch. The group that experimented with different layering methods of bricks endured more collapses during the building process, and therefore Pinished with the shortest tower.

Comparison of our design against the designs of other groups in class.

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Our tower withstanding a substantial live load.

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WK1 – Studio Report After the completion of our groups tower, we decided to test the stability of the structure by creating holes in the sides and base of the tower. We wanted to see what sections of the structure we could remove without compromising the stability of the tower.

The image on the bottom left shows holes in the sides of the tower, with the red arrows showing the changed load path. We can see that the load of any live loads would be diverted around the holes and evenly spread throughout the remaining bricks.

Holes at the bottom of the tower were also made. The photograph on the top right shows the different archways that were created at the bottom of the tower (shaded in green) as well as an opening that went from the bottom to the top of the building (left side of image). The diagram in the bottom right hand corner shows the planning of these new ‘columns’ and ‘archways’.

S u r p r i s i n g l y , t h e t o w e r r e m a i n e d completely upright even with all of the changes to the base, meaning the base remained stable.

Load path around holes created.

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WK1 – Learning Loop Force – Any inPluence that produces a change in the shape and movement of a body. It is a vector quantity possessing magnitude and direction which is represented by an arrow whose length is proportion to magnitude.

Vector Sum – Algebraic sum of magnitudes of forces acting along one line of action. e.g. àààààßß = ààà ààààßßß = à

Compression forces – Force that pushes on structural member and causes particles in the material to compact together. Compression results in shortening of material with amount of shortening depending on stiffness of material and magnitude of force.

Tension forces – Force that pulls on structural member and causes particles of the material to move apart.

Tension stretches and elongates material, with the amount of elongation depending on stiffness of material and magnitude of force.

ENVS10003 Constructing Environments

Raina Shauki 698887 Melbourne bluestone – Bluestone is a type of basalt (igneous rock formed by volcanoes). Bluestone is a local material (sourced in Melbourne) and is used throughout the Melbourne CBD and gives the city its dark colouring. Bubbles in bluestone show volcanic history of the city.

Load Path Diagram – In a LPD loads are represented by arrows that have direction and scale. Loads take the most direct route through a structure to the ground. At the ground, applied load is matched by reaction force equal to the force applied by the load.

GLOSSARY

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Force – A vector quantity possessing magnitude and direction that produces a change in the shape or movement of a body.

Load Path – The path in which loads are transferred through a structure.

Masonry – The building of structures from individual units, laid and bound by mortar.

Compression – Force that pushes inwards on an object, causing in decrease in size and increase in density.

Reaction Force – Force that reacts to loads on a structure, pushing upwards from the ground into the structure (equal to force of load).

Point Load – A load that is localised to a speciPic location on a structure.

Beam – Horizontal structural element, usually holding up rooPing or Plooring.

ENVS10003 Constructing Environments