        Reimer, Mark : Assignments“Cudda Wudda Shudda”An Essay on “Fifth Street” Mark Reimer Fifth Street is the result of a purposeful and thoughtful reinvention of an original feeder street bisected by the network of interstate highways. Built after the war at the bequest of the Eisenhower administration, these super highways were reincarnations of Le Corbusier’s early 20th century vision. The resulting urban decay and white flight led most residents to abandon their homes and move north to the suburbs. Georgia Tech was a victim of this new urban environment and Fifth Street became a conveyor of vagrancy, loitering, solicitation, and drugs. I remember this well as a commuting student in the eighties. As a result, the campus turned its back on the surrounding urban decay and walled itself in for the safety of its students and faculty. Until recently, the Fifth street Bridge remained an unguarded rear gateway to a dangerous downtown. Under the auspices of a progressive mayor and Atlanta city council, the Midtown Alliance, Tech Square developers, DOT and the Ga. Tech department of Urban Planning and Transportation, this area has been revitalized. Atlanta’s business and civic leaders have joined forces to reinvigorate the midtown Peachtree corridor facilitating the return of residents and businesses. This revitalization has fostered an unparallel development renaissance. The plans were hastened more than a decade ago by unprecedented nationwide and local economic prosperity. These plans continue to be executed, despite the recent economic cooling, especially in the housing sector. Atlanta seems to be weathering this economic cooling. People from the surrounding Atlanta suburbs and other cities continue to flow into the city at unprecedented rates. New infill housing in abutting midtown neighborhoods, remodeling of historic bungalows and construction of high rise condominiums are ushering in a new century of prosperity in the City of Atlanta, albeit overly optimistic. The new Fifth St. is the 21st century’s bridge from an aspiring 20th century technical college campus to a newly invigorated midtown. Atlanta is leading the nation in urban redevelopment and growth. From Ga.Techs newly dedicated Klaus center for advanced computer sciences to Atlanta’s original Biltmore Hotel erected in 1924, the Fifth St. Bridge connects almost a century of building innovation and economic fortune in the south’s most progressive city. Today, 5th St. and its abutting buildings is a conduit of academic knowledge and midtown culture where business meets civic and scholarly endeavors [institutions] for work and leisure. The new Fifth Street Bridge links the socially vibrant and young campus students to a rapidly emerging and economically affluent midtown district where faculty and students can live in a new condo or old bungalow, work at a downtown firm and play in Piedmont Park without having to resort to a car for transportation. The campus, once isolated to the less affluent west side of the interstate, is free to safely walk, ride, or take the tech trolley or MARTA to all destinations throughout the city. Bike lanes and green planting strips safely separate pedestrians on 10 to 12ft. wide brick sidewalks. Numerous benches offer travelers a temporary respite. Adjoining and equally wide concrete patios and colorful fabric awnings welcome customers into clothing, confectioneries, cafés and coffee shops. Finally, unimposing vendor signs hang vertically from period Victorian light posts, creating a safe and esthetically appealing street scape filled with a well heeled clientele of business professionals, students and faculty. From high upon the Peachtree ridge at West Peachtree St., Fifth St travels west two city blocks, traverses downtown Atlanta’s north-south connector, plunges steeply past Ga Tech’s sorority and fraternity houses and disappears behind the Russ Chandler baseball stadium. Looking west from the interstate bridge, The Klaus building sits in stark contrast to the predominantly red brick Greek revival facades of the benevolent row houses. Klaus’s expanse of green tinted glass framed by linear metal structural elements bends right around the corner following the curved transition from 5th St. to Ferst St. The affect is that Fifth St. has entered the breezeway of the Klaus building and ushers in a new millennium gateway for a highly sophisticated and computer integrated campus. As I travel back across the bridge towards the east, I find that Fifth St. is now fronted on both sides by new and homogenous brick and glass mid-rise buildings more analogous to the modern Klaus architecture than to the Neo classical Georgian of the Biltmore Hotel where 5th St. abruptly terminates. Just as the Klaus building was a benefactor of the I.T. industry, the eleven storey Biltmore Hotel was built during the height of Americas Industrial Age when a newly affluent upper class with their new Fords sought to vacation in luxury and warmth in Atlanta’s posh hotel. The Classic Porte-cochere with its paired Corinthian columns and pilaster flanked Palladian windows serves as a fitting eastern bookend to the Fifth St. corridor. If Klaus and Biltmore are our bookends, then the Fifth St. Bridge is the conveyor of knowledge and disciplines between the public campus and the private economic sector. Students and faculty benefit from the conveniences of transportation and consumer needs and wants while local business has a consistent consumer and educated clientele. Local business leaders benefit globally by the input and contributions made to the city by all the professional disciplines represented on campus and practiced off by its students and faculty. These public spaces result from the private donation of easements to accommodate the wider sidewalks and cooperation with the city and midtown alliance group. Furthermore, the GRTA and the DOT have matched federal funds to widen the overpass bridge to accommodate the linear park with landscaping. A continuous bench seat results from the retaining walls on both sides of the bridge and align with the setbacks of the buildings on the previous two blocks. There is a definitive line where private space is incorporated into the public right of way and a homogenous transition takes place. The overhead awning on the south side mimics the same atop the buildings of Technology Square and the Ga. Tech Hotel and Conference Center. The mix of brick facades and shaded glass with horizontal metal details is a defining element of sorority row and the Klaus Building. It serves to aesthetically link the architecture on both sides of the bridge. Overall, the wide spaces between effacing buildings (as much as 100 feet) allow for ease of vehicular and pedestrian movement throughout the corridor. The mid-rise building heights of five or fewer stories allow for ample air circulation and a fair amount of natural light to penetrate the east west oriented street. The combined communal spaces of the Bridge Park land and Centergy Plaza further enhance and encourage a dialogue and intimacy amongst the crowds, especially at lunchtime and on beautiful sunny days. The seating areas are ample and comfortable making Atlanta a hospitable place to learn and live. Although the City of Atlanta (within the city limits) accounts for less than 10% of the entire 10 county metropolitan population, Atlanta is rapidly becoming the most popular area to live amongst all age sectors of the economy. Baby boomers seek to return to an area where food, culture and conveniences are readily available. Young professionals of diverse ethnicity are anxious to buy new midtown condominiums and houses where there is little inconvenience when it comes to commuting. A well planned series of arterial roads parallel topographical ridges running north to south and are consistently traversed by feeder streets like Fifth, dividing blocks into manageable 600 ft. lengths. Campus is easily accessible from the surrounding neighborhoods without contributing to traffic along major distributors like Peachtree, Piedmont, Spring or West Peachtree roads. Where neighborhoods of bungalows are abutting mid-rise condos and hotels like Colony square and the Biltmore, these mid-rise residences act as a buffer to the high rises along main boulevards such as Peachtree and West Peachtree Streets. Susan Mendheim, Pres. Of the Midtown Alliance, and Biltmore’s developer James Borders both subscribe to this recipe for urban renewal along Atlanta’s midtown mile corridor. This cooperation of civic leaders and private owners has made this urban transformation possible. In town residences no longer have to leave the city to gain access to retail and shopping venues. The new Fifth St. has all the makings of a successful reinvented street. Efficient accommodation of all modes of transportation (including pedestrian and bicycles) to major arteries along the Peachtree corridor is key. Mixed use development at street level fulfilling the basic needs of a college campus, books, coffee, food and an environment that encourages interaction and discussion which is a vital ingredient of the success of this corridor. All these items are threads woven into the fabric of a revitalized interstate corridor that originally precipitated disenfranchisement of a vital college campus. The old Tech tower was fronting a young 19th century city whose orientation had been to the south. The Fifth St. bridge is the new 21st century gateway to the regions most vibrant future, heading north along the street called Peachtree. On campus, the Fifth St. reconstruction will result in the uniting of the colleges north and south hemispheres, from Hemphill to North Ave., students will collect and congregate in a new centrally located axis around Klaus. They will walk side by side on well lit 10 ft. sidewalks past the Chandler ball field and the predominantly Greek facades of sororities and fraternities on their way to lunch. Some will stop to bask in the sun on the bridge or sit comfortably along the 16” high benches or granite retaining walls on fraternity row. Doubtless, most will be engaged in conversations, both intimate and casual. The lunchtime calories gained will be offset by the uphill journey to eat them. As they enter Tech Square, the uniform street wall or building facades and linear right of way will look back to classic virtues of straightness and order. Full uniformity in the street frontage was a main preoccupation of Urbanism and the integrity of the abutting buildings was a source of conflict during the Italian Renaissance. The brick and glass fronts of the Tech Hotel and adjoining buildings are a modern incarnation of traditional architecture and also serve to unite the revivalist elements of the Biltmore and the Sorority houses. Full uniformity of street frontage was a main preoccupation of Urbanism in the Grand Manor period. The Classical virtues of regularity, consistency of surface and slope and linear clarity were initially revived in Italy and then adopted in England and eventually the colonies for street design. Streets and their building lines in turn dictate the architecture and facades of its adjoining built environment. This new urban ideology was in contrast to the Baroque methodology where random road construction and the dissipation of the street wall resulted in more heterogeneous building facades and eclectic architecture. The Adhoc development today is a descendent of this prior infrastructure or lack there of. Unfortunately, a street cannot be all things to all people all of the time, and Fifth St. is no exception. Although pre-Haussmann Paris had grown from the indigenous ingredients added by many prior generations of Parisians, Fifth Street has become the implementation of a master plan made by a few hoping to influence the choices of subsequent generations to come. Some will argue that the architecture of technology square from the Fifth St. Bridge to West Peachtree St. is blandly homogenous, sterile, and void of warmth in its new urban form. Haussmann’s contemporaries deplored change as well and missed the peculiar nuances of an old Paris and its unstructured and organic form. I propose that unlike Paris, France or even some uniquely flavorful Atlanta in town neighborhoods, Fifth St. and its vicinity had no history to loose and subsequently none to lament. The areas history has yet to be written and I believe great streets are lived and not just traveled. Peachtree St. and its feeder’s streets like fifth will benefit from their sustainable transit and walk ability. Pedestrians from near and far will encounter a multitude of personalities and the college’s diverse population will blur the lines of segregation and bridge many cultures and ethnicities. The surrounding neighborhoods will become home to a younger, well educated and more prosperous generation of multiple ethnicity. Fifth street will be conducive to formal and informal interactions and chance encounters with strangers will enrich our life experiences while commuters wait in the isolation of their automobiles on the highways that almost destroyed the vary lifestyle they hoped to create. Patience will be Atlanta’s virtue and critics should delay passing judgment before its time. Like a fine red wine, Atlanta will grow and mature with age and Fifth Street will hopefully realize its potential as a conveyor of people with varied personalities and intellect who meet by chance on the streets of Atlanta and its campuses. Starbucks will never be a French café and Fifth will never be the Champs-Elysees whether Atlanta’s southern charm that prevails in its older eclectic neighborhoods will spread to the modern incarnations of a master plan remains to be seen. I am optimistic that it will. ARCHITECTURE By Ellen-Dunham Jones As a discipline, architecture demands more from us than just the design of a functioning structure to serve our immediate needs. It charges us with a professional obligation to improve upon our built environment, and also to plan in anticipation of our future needs. The buildings we design today are influenced by our present political, civil and social conditions, as well our architectural history. They will define and influence how we live today and tomorrow, and hopefully shape our society for the benefit and enrichment of future generations. The form and function of our buildings should transcend the ordinary, aesthetically enrich our culture, and inspire the philosophies of tomorrow. Today’s buildings are tomorrow’s timestamps. From the functionality of the vernacular hut, to the sustainability of the Solar Decathlon House, architects are shaping and influencing our society politically. In 17th Century Versailles, King Louis XIV fought to preserve the absolute power of the Monarchy. He did this with the town of Chateau and its radial designed gardens. He continued the works of his predecessor to realize a centralized government, ending the political fragmentation that had prevailed with feudalism since the dark ages. His disenfranchisement of Parliament was met with a mob of self serving nobles. This created a cultural renaissance like France had never seen. From the center of the city, the King could lookout over his dominion and realize the vindication of his efforts, culturally and politically. With a rear window view of nature and the gardens, the King wielded his dominion over man and nature for more than 70 years. Upon his death in1715, he declared that the King may die, but the State would live on for the ages. Hence the town radial layout maintained and defined a political order during his life which he hoped would help preserve the monarchy after his death. Architecture over time has also been used to define public versus private activities and spaces. The notion of a mixed use complex as born out in the architecture of Thomas Jefferson, and is still influencing our new urban developments where residences exist on top of retail stores. Perspectives face inward toward centers, as opposed to radiating out from them. Almost 100 years after the death of King Louis, Thomas Jefferson created the campus at the University of Virginia to serve its members and faculty. The unique layout of the campus was indicative of the Democratic ideals he exalted in the Constitution. A certain academic hierarchy was evident where the professors living quarters were assigned by tenure and located above the classrooms. These nested hierarchies are like our government structure where the President and Congress reside over the general populous. The unique designs of each pavilion were symbolic of the individualism that democracy promoted in the Bill of Rights. Monticello’s Palladian influences were evident in the Library building which sat with prominence at the head of the courtyard as a summation of human knowledge. The common courtyard was a place of assembly where spectators could look on from their classroom. The purposeful absence of a chapel mirrored the separation of church and state the founding fathers considered paramount in the Constitution. The hierarchy that exists politically also gives expression to cultural values and ideas. Students and faculty are free to share their individual ideas in public without persecution, The right to assemble is encouraged, and learning is subsequently nourished by the common interactions. The University of Virginia and others have prevailed as a result of the inclusive atmosphere that architecture promotes. This gained knowledge will sustain future generations of scholars whose knowledge will benefit all. The preamble states a government for the people and by the people, reminding us of the symbiotic relationship between citizens and their government, architects and their environment. As students of architecture and burgeoning designers, we all have an opportunity to re-present and re-define our world through our art and legacy of buildings. As Winston Churchill so eloquently stated “We shape our buildings and then they shape us.” How we shape our buildings will also define us and our future aspirations will be conducted through our design and influence other’s thoughts and deeds. Miers van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Phillip Johnson are examples of architects whose projects have shaped and influenced successive generations of contemporary designers and the way we live. We are also inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome and the commandments of “Vitruvius” who demanded: “ ..A commodity that accommodates use and need in the present. A firmness or structural stability in our buildings so they last… And a visual delight in the aesthetics of our structures and a disdain for the unpleasant design so we might also inspire.” Building Construction Program The process of building construction has been historically inefficient with generally adversarial relations between architects and engineers or contractors and their clients. The traditional design / build model has slowly evolved to accommodate inefficiencies in the processes and relieved stresses between owners and their architects and engineers. However, the building contractor may still be a victim to exclusion in the decision process and cost overruns inherited from inefficient design or applications. He is susceptible to the inefficiencies of least professional link in the chain, subcontractors. Fragmentation and its lack of communication results in a loss of knowledge resulting in further losses of efficiency, time and ultimately profits. Through the integration of AEC [Architects, Engineers and Contractors], Builders become stakeholders in the process. That is to say they are in more control of their financial stake and have incentive to perform more efficiently. The fragmentation that results in these inadequacies gives way to cooperation and a sharing of knowledge and resources from beginning to end. From planning, to construction and operation until decommissioning, the life cycle of the building is now within the accommodations of the stakeholders and their vertically integrated team. At the center of this efficient production is communication. This is critical throughout the process. With advanced IT technologies, the synapses of communication are made even more efficient and result in ever increasing economies of scale and integration. The potential benefits in integration and automation in A/E/C is a significant savings in cost of construction and maintenance over the lifecycle of the building. Further benefits are generated when security measures are taken to preclude any potential opportunities for espionage, and mitigate external threats. An intimate knowledge of the people, technologies, finances and business models that are appropriate in the differing scales and fields of construction are a necessity. Construction is the second largest sector of the economy- scale and efficiency will prevail. The Ga. Tech. graduate will be sufficiently equipped to handle any challenges they encounter in their professional careers. Construction management from the bottom up will be their forte. Industrial Design at Georgia Tech By Abir Mullick Industrial design is a creative process that results in a functional product that is appealing to the eye and empowers the user by improving the function with which it is associated. A new product should be both economically affordable and environmentally sustainable with enough inventiveness to give it a long shelf life. Design is process driven. It initiates with “defining” a goal or purpose. Next, through a process of “discovery”, differing creative outlets are explored resulting in a usable “design “and prototype. The successful prototype is then manufactured and “delivered” in the market place where its economic sustainability is put to the ultimate test. Good design is user centered and “usability” is the ultimate goal. In other words it is manufacture driven which acts as the “catalyst” for production. People must buy and use the product if manufacturing is to continue. Furthermore it should champion the environment and be sustainable in production. Just as green building processes are being adopted, so should manufacturing ones. Good design is also community oriented and should foster interactions in society. According to Henry Dreyfuss, design starts with a problem and is process driven. The process is cognitive, creative and communicative and results in 2D and 3D models being successfully visualized prior to engineering. Successful prototypes are eventually manufactured after a systematic trial and error iterative process. The Ga. Tech. I.D. program has received national recognition and its students have received an unprecedented Five MERIT awards. The program has been ranked in the top ten programs in the nation and offers post graduate and doctoral degree programs that have been internationally recognized. BIBLIOGRAPHY “The impact of Katrina on the city and citizens of New Orleans” GIL Universal Cataloge https://giluc.usg.edu/ Search, Hurricane Katrina – social and racial implications On EUCLID @ http://web.library.emory.edu/databases/ Potter, Hillary Racing the Storm: racial implications and lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina Bates, Kristen A., Richelle S. Swan. Through the Eye of Katrina: social justice in the United States The Children Hurricane Katrina Left Behind: schooling context, professional preparation, and community politics/ Sharon P Robinson and M Christopher Brown II, editors; with a foreword by Linda Darling-Hammond and after word by Lynn Huntley. ISBN: 9780820488226 Katrina + race + class Hartman, Chester and Gregory D Squires, eds. There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster: race, class and Hurricane Katrina. New York: Routledge, 2006. David Dante Troutt, editor After the Storm: Black Intellectuals explore the meaning of Hurricane Katrina. Beverly H Wright and Robert D. Bullard Black New Orleans: before and after Hurricane Katrina Brunsma, David L. The sociology of Katrina: perspectives on a modern catastrophe / Bullard, Robert D The Black metropolis in the twenty-first century: race, power, and politics of place / What lies beneath: Katrina, race, and the state of the nation / edited by the South End Press Collective, 2007 Giroux, Henry A. Stormy weather: Katrina and the politics of disposability Kirk-Duggan, Cheryl A. The sky is crying: race, class and natural disaster Avery Index @ http://www.library.gatech.edu:2048/login Search Hurricane Katrina - Rebuilding New Orleans Kennedy, Shawn. “Remaking New Orleans, without losing its past” Architectural record, 2007 June, v.195, n.6, p.85-88, 226. (Accessed October 11, 2007) McKee, Bradford. “New Orleans Recovery Plan Released.” Architect Washington D. C., 2007 May, v.96, n.6, p.20. (Accessed October 11, 2007) Gerfen, Katie. “Greening New Orleans”. By Architecture, 2006 Oct.,v.95,n.10,p.16. (Accessed October 11, 2007) Reith, Charles. “A More Protective Urban Landscape: as the world warms and becomes more populous and urban, more is expected from cityscapes.” By Urban land, 2006 Oct., v.65, n.10, p.134-136 (accessed October 11, 2007) New search: City planning -21st century-United States-New Orleans Louisiana Sowell, Jason. “UT Austin team travels to Italy with ideas for rebuilding New Orleans and environs.” Texas architect 2006 Sept-Oct., v.56, n.5, p. 19-20. (Accessed October 11, 2007) New search; Levees Wilson, Alex. “An ecological vision for rebuilding New Orleans: planning for a cleaner, greener Crescent City.” Landscape architecture, 2006 Jan., v.96, n.1, p. 64, 66, 68-69. (Accessed October 11, 2007) New search: DE ‘Buildings” Craig, Robert M., “Hurricane Katrina’s impact on nineteenth century cultural landmarks. 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A: Column 1: National Desk: Pg.14.New Orleans, Mar. 8 Bellantoni, Christina “White House Suitors Deluge New Orleans; Parties find valuable political themes in local and national response to hurricane damage.” The Washington Times, July 2, 2006 Sunday, Page One: page. A01, 825 words. New search; Richard Baker’s Plan for New Orleans Desue, Tedra. “Bakers Hurricane Bill Faces Opposition from White House.” The Bond Buyer, January 26, 2006, Pg. 32, 604 words. Nossiter, Adam. “Rejection of Building Plan Causes Dismay in Louisiana.” The New York Times, January 26th, 2006 Thursday, Section A; Column 1; National Desk; Pg. 16, 792 words. “New Orleans Betrayed”. The Washington Post, January 29th, 2006 Sunday, Editorial; B06, 582 words. New Search; Mississippi River Gulf Outlet “St. Bernard Parish Tangles with Army Corps Over Gulf Outlet.” The Washington Post, Oct. 31, 2005 Monday, A section; A17, 808 words. 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ProQuest Search; Culture, Music and Traditions in teaching to new generation of Creoles Search; Second Line Marching Band Blumenfeld, Larry. “A Cultural Conversation/ With Michael White: A Professor- Musician Passes New Orleans Jazz Tradition On.” Wall Street Journal (Eastern Addition). New York, N. Y. April 19, 2007. pD9 Spera, Keith. “Drumbeat of Violence Claims a Signature Musician.” Times- Picayune. New Orleans, La: Jan 1, 2007. p.05. Search: Black Men of Labor Filosa, Gwen. “All Saint’s Stomp: A memorial service for the victims of Hurricane Katrina culminates in traditional New Orleans style with a second line parade.” Times-Picayune. New Orleans, L.A.: Oct 30, 2005. p. 01 Katz, Jesse. “New Orleans parade tradition advances black men’s image:” [Home Edition] Los Angeles Times. 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Google: Amazon, Barnes and Noble Dyson, Michael Eric. Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and Natural, Rational & Economic Disaster. (Basic Civitas Books, Dec. 2005) Brunsma, David L., David Overfelt, and Steve Picou. Sociology of Katrina: Perspectives on a Modern Catastrophe. (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc., August 2007) Van Heerden, Ivor Van and Mike Bryan. The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina-The Inside Story from One Louisiana Scientist. (Penguin Group USA, July 2007) Rose, Chris, Dead in Attic: After Katrina. (Simon and Schuster Adult Publishing Group, Aug. 2007) Horne, Jed. Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City (Random House Publishing Group, July 2006) Cooper, Christopher and Robert Block. Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security”. (Henry Holt and Company, Inc., Aug. 2006) James, Joy and Jordan Flaherty. What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, and the State of the Nation (South End Press Collective, Feb. 2007) Robinson, Sharon and M. Christopher Brown II. Children Hurricane Katrina Left Behind: Schooling Context, Professional Preparation and Community Politics. (South End Press, Jan. 2007) McQuaid, John and Mark Scheifstein. Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms. (Little Brown, Aug. 2006) Mark Reimer B2 Assignments 9-30 The Appeal of Palladio Our lecture begins with an introduction to the work of the mason turned architect, Andrea Palladio {born; Andrea di Pietro della Gondola on Nov. 30th 1508}. Palladio lived and worked during the latter half of the Italian Renaissance. Palladio adopted historically classical elements of design from ancient Greece and Rome. He incorporated these elements to build ten country villas in the Veneto region of northern Italy where the “new” wealth was focused. Palladio’s talents and writings, including “I Quattro Libri dell Architecturra” have made him one of the most relevant and influential classical architects and scholars of modern times. The humanist movement that was born in his time continues to inspire and influence architecture into the 21st century. His relevance and contributions have been undiminished by following centuries. As the power of the Roman Catholic Church waned, The Dark Ages gave way to a renaissance or rebirth, equivalent to the modernist movement of its day. Architecture once reserved for ecclesiastical and municipal buildings was adopted in the construction of villas on estates in the provinces of central Italy. It was here, amongst the wealthy and scholarly that Palladio flourished. His employer and teacher was Trissino. He took Palladio to Rome to study and draw classic artifacts of that early empire. With proportion and symmetry, he accurately executed the columns, arches, pediments and facades of ancient times. Each villa’s layout was the unique pedigree of its commissioner’s desires. Their design was the product of a certain truth of mathematics with its finite limitations determined by its confining dimensions. A geometric keynote derived from arithmetic ratios and the platonic relationships between all the geometric shapes was the guiding factor in his floor plans like the pentagon in the Palazzo Antorini. The composite ratios of width to height produced a third ratio to construct his namesake “Palladian windows” and Romanesque arches and domes. The layout and analytical diagramming of Palladio’s buildings is reminiscent of the Iterative design processes we use today in digital design and manufacturing. Alphabets with local variation combine uniquely to produce a structured syntax with global variation. This allows for mass customization to fit our client’s needs. Palladio designed using Platonic building blocks. These blocks were arranged uniquely in syntax on a geometric grid to customize the floor plans for his clients. What was Palladio thinking when he experimented over and over with the same elements? Obviously, Palladio approached his craft from an analytical and measured perspective. This layout on a grid provided for an efficient and functional use of the space by allowing for egress and ingress without wasted space. He was a pioneer in the division and use of rooms inside his buildings. Once the feasibility and usability were addressed, the house was made beautiful. Each project was a puzzle of sorts with a set of composite pieces comprised of the elements of classical design, including the columns [Ionic, Doric and Corinthian], Pilasters [half columns abutting a wall or façade] pediments [Greek gables or triangles], and friezes [horizontal beams resting on top of columns and below pediments] as well as Roman arches. These elements in the right proportion and scale were aesthetically appealing. Palladio was the first to apply the pedimented porticos [porches with low gabled roofs supported by columns] of Roman temples to the facades of his residential villas. How was Palladio a product of his times? Palladio often recombined these principal elements of Roman buildings to suit the contemporary needs of his clients. He did this while maintaining the proper proportion and scale of the elements relative to his buildings and sites. In the progressive humanistic approaches of the modernist, he embraced architecture on a human scale and heralded in a new rebirth of the residential villas he designed and the public buildings he remodeled like the Villa Rotunda in Vicenza. It was here that he introduced natural light by reducing the width and placement of columns on the front façade. He also used both Doric and Ionic columns on the first and second floors. What are the Humanist values in Renaissance Architecture? Like many of his contemporaries, Trissino was a poet and scholar of classical antiquity and Latin. The Italian Renaissance began a century earlier as an intellectual endeavor of the privileged minority in the cities of northern Italy under the auspices of the Church and Vatican. It was a transitional period between a medieval and emerging modern Europe, where protestant ideology infiltrated and exposed the hypocrisy and indiscretions of the Roman Catholic Church. This was subsequent to the fall of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire. This catalyst precipitated the scholarly exodus of Greeks to northern Italy and renewed the scholarly interests in classical antiquity and the Greek studies of philosophy and poetry. The humanist movement developed from this rediscovery of Latin and Greek text. Trissino mentored Palladio and instilled in him the same knowledge and skills that he possessed. The middle ages witnessed the first “sustained Urbanization of northern Italy and western Europe. Scholars like Trissino and his predecessors in the 15th century instilled in their students an appreciation of the classics as they were influenced by Vitruvious and Plato. They shared their knowledge in the new cities of northern Italy and Europe, and conveyed their wisdom on future architects like Palladio. He in turn influenced the likes of Thomas Jefferson in Monticello and eventually Le Corbusier and his modern villa. We are a product of our times and our times are a product of us. Modernism does not belong to one generation. It is each subsequent generation’s privilege and duty to redefine it for themselves in the context of the unique human needs in their time and build upon this past knowledge to sustain future generations. Andrea Polladio was truly a “Renaissance Man.” His innovations and contributions continue to influence our built environment, and will inspire many modernist interpretations to follow. Atlantic Station In her photo documentation and subsequent lecture, Ruth reflects on the transformation of Atlantic Station from an abandoned century old steel mill, to one of the largest urban industrial site redevelopments in the nation. She acknowledges her admiration of “industrial form” and understands its appeal to the “modernist.” At the same time, she reflects on her ambiguous feelings to the inevitable social implications that this “perceived progress” have on her and our collective soul. Since we cannot build “new old buildings”, how do we incorporate the growing needs of a “new South” and its inevitable demands on our previously built environment without losing our sense of time and place from which we derive our cultural values and personal identities? From its inception in the early 20th century and bohemian Bauhaus traditions, the modernist have delighted in the omnipotent or all powerful and God like control over their built environment. With their “utopian” proposals of impractical ideal schemes, Corbusier’s “Radiant City” on top of Paris and Bel Geddes’s interstate highway “Futurama” on top of America were never realized because they ignored existing cultural histories [Paris] and topological conditions [land contours]. Some, like Victor Gruen’s plan for “Epcot City” were only realized in fragments and relegated to pieces in theme parks such as the “monorail” train in Walt Disney World, Fla. Worse yet, Walt Disney’s experimental prototype city “Project X” was reincarnated as a revivalist dream called “Celebration Florida.” This was ironically designed as harking back to a pre-industrial, quintessential American town. No wonder Ruth is appalled by these modernist ideals as they have been so heinously realized in her native Florida. For all their talk of a more optimistic future ushered in on the wings of a “New Century” of technology, modernist must remember our past histories and mistakes or we shall be doomed to repeat them. Technology has heirs of success in this post industrial age of progress. We have the means to reverse the negative trends of pollution and global warming resulting from the lack of environmental stewardship inherited from our turn of the century industrial expansion and the subsequent metropoli that they spawned. What threats do we observe in and around our cities and what do they pose? The suburbs of our cities are the closest incarnations of the Modernist dream. We construct entire new cities from scratch on land formerly forested and subsequently farmed. In these places, inhabited by few, with little or no pre existing features or memoirs, we are free to denude the land, erode our fields and poison our streams with little bureaucratic opposition and few zoning controls. We can essentially begin anew with a clean slate to build more homogenous, aesthetically and culturally bankrupt satellite communities, complete with “Mac mansions” and strip malls to feed our conspicuous consumption. Our cities are equally endangered. Historic buildings and neighborhoods are demolished or overrun with new “infill development.” This development dislocates the poor and angers others by shadowing their existing houses for the sake of progress and the need to house our exploding populations and growing families. Aging infrastructure and traffic jams are the manifestation of our insatiable demand for goods and independence from our neighbors. How do we reverse these self-destructive trends and still accommodate our growth needs without loosing our sense of place? We must embrace our inherent values and subscribe to a common good if we are to coexist with nature and each other. As constructors we can adopt Green building practices and encourage smart growth in our cities by increasing density where infrastructure allows. We can also encourage alternative transportation like the “Beltline” and mass transit. By adding bike paths and walking trails we can connect our historic, architecturally rich and culturally diverse neighborhoods. We can encourage recycling of demolished materials and soil reclamation practices when redeveloping existing commercial and industrial sites. We can strive to incorporate the old industrial sites into new mixed- use communities with green space, as demonstrated in Duesburg Nord Park, Germany and Castleberry Hill in Atlanta. Who were these employees and where did they come from? Atlantic steel employees represented at least four generations of Atlantans, including veterans of two World Wars, the Korean conflict, and Vietnam. Like most industry of its time, workers were generally uneducated, middle or working class persons who were recently displaced from their rural and agrarian lives. They lived in adjacent mill town housing in and around Home Park. They played on or were spectators at company baseball games. They found joy in the simpler things in life and shared these everyday community experiences with their neighbors. Although initially segregated by race and later socially by choice, they shared a common, simpler existence. Their socio-economic status was a step above today’s inhabitants of the impoverished rural south that we see on the Mississippi Delta or in lower Alabama and Georgia. Their kids had access to public schools and white collar jobs that eluded their mill working parents. Today’s residents of Atlantic station and adjoining midtown high rise condos, and the consumers who shop there, are far removed from the humble lives of these former employees. Although still considered middle class, they are very different. Like most imported Atlantans, they are young, college educated, and comfortably affluent with disposable incomes to spend on shopping and dining out. They are of many races and nationalities, integrated by choice and lured by white collar jobs from cities with less opportunity or colder climates. They seek an urban environment where they can live, work and play as they wish. They can walk to Symphony Hall and the Woodruff Arts Center as well as The High and Piedmont Park. In-town kids can walk and ride their bikes to school and play. Parents can commute to work on Marta or the proposed Peachtree St. trolley. Suburban commuters can carpool or ride existing or proposed rail like the Brain Train connecting our college campuses. The developers of Atlantic Station preserved the nostalgia of the old mill by resurrecting the smokestack in a place of prominence and reproducing the Gothic vernacular “clerestory” roof with its defining window elements on a building reminiscent of the original smelt. Throughout this transformation, their aim was to mold a new beginning from the Georgia red clay and redefine a new 21st Century modernist approach to building a sustainable urban environment. This environment places people’s needs as the designer’s priority, and maintains that the environment is impacted for the greater good of all. We may differ in our opinions regarding the degree of their success, but we can be grateful that we have living record of this unique transformation. As Atlanta grows, we all bear the responsibility of preserving the old south, and maintaining that famous small town charm in “Hotlanta.”. Architecture, Culture and Behavior In his lecture, Craig Zimring addresses the symbiotic relationship our architecture has with our culture, and how our behavior affects the design of our buildings and is simultaneously an effect of our architecture. As Winston Churchill stated “We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us”. Mr. Zimring examines our sedentary lifestyles and the increasing rates of obesity and resulting diseases. He proposes and shows evidence that we can encourage a change in our behavior by addressing “environmental factors” that impede our use of stairs, allowing for increased physical activity. Further benefits and savings in healthcare can be gained by reducing the risk from falls, stress and infections in our hospitals. By using “space syntax” we can design safer, more sanitary and cheerful patient rooms for visitors and healthcare professionals. As our country’s body mass index [ratio of fat to weight] continues to climb nationally, so do the incidences of juvenile diabetes, adolescent depression, strokes, heart attacks and cancer in adults. The Surgeon General report states that as little as 30 minutes of exercise per day could save >200K lives. Why do we engage in physical activity or exercise? Some of us exercise “intentionally” by going to the company gym or walking or running during a lunch break. We may even bike to work. We all get “incidental” exercise by attending to domestic chores like mowing the lawn. We all can make the intentional choice to take the steps rather than an elevator which gets us to where we are going with the added benefits of increased heart rate and metabolism. This “hybrid” approach is easy to incorporate into our daily regiment. So -Why don’t we use stairs when available? “Voluntary use predictors” prove that by designing stairs or prompts so that they are more visible and inviting –adding light, art, and music- architects can encourage stair use amongst individuals. Incremental changes in our personal habits can have positive effects on our health and mental well being. Health care costs saved by a well society more than compensate for these improvements using “evidence based design”. Despite our best efforts at home and work, we all will inevitably be hospitalized at some time in our lives. Unfortunately, our hospitals are unnecessarily dangerous and stressful due to poor layout and design by our predecessors. Furthermore, as our population ages and gets fatter so do our care givers and their patients. What can we as designers do to correct these design flaws and accommodate these inherent issues? By changing the layout and configuration of our hospital rooms and beds we can reduce staph infections, accidental fall and promote a healing environment. We can move the bed to the bathroom wall and provide a continuous hand rail to a wider bathroom door where a caregiver can provide uninterrupted assistance to the patient. We can add a sink adjacent to a visitor sitting area so that hands can be easily washed to prevent the transfer of staph infections. We can add lifts to assist in moving patients and significantly reduce back injuries amongst care givers. Lastly, we can increase the amount of natural light and reduce the sound level with ceiling tiles, thereby improving both patient and caregiver outlooks. By improving these core values in the family and patient zones, we promote a healing environment. Studies have demonstrated that by improving the ergonomics or usability of our environments, we offset the costs of implementation by reducing the number of accidents and decrease the length of hospital visits. The savings incurred by implementing these design changes lead to an economically sustainable plan in our future. Assistive Technology In this lecture, Dr. Sprigle (with Ga. Tech’s Center for Assistive Technology (A.T.) and Environmental Access), emphasizes the importance of cross disciplinary collaboration as it relates to their development of products and their related systems. He discusses how they are used to increase, maintain or improve the functional capabilities of the disabled, and the general healthy public. They have Universal Design appeal. These goals are accomplished through research and development of new products, and outreach activities that accommodate disabled students, disabled teachers, and disabled public in their home and work environments. Many of these Assisted Technologies have Universal Design Appeal since they improve daily functions for all of us. Specialized A.T. products, such as the wheel chair necessitate further environmental improvements such as the wheelchair ramp. Barrier free accessibility at home, work and school benefits all of us by increasing productivity and enabling even the disabled to contribute to our economic GNP. This Philosophy of Universal Design embraced by CATEA is in stark contrast to the U.S. government’s definition of “disability”. It excludes monetary assistance beyond a victim’s home environment. Any physically or mentally impaired person who is substantially limited in one or more of the major life activities of communication, ambulation or self care is only eligible for at-home assistance. This short sighted approach has contributed to a 40% gap between the disabled unemployed and the non- disabled unemployed populations. Dr. Sprigle and his colleges have collaborated with other professional disciplines to reinvent the wheelchair because “usability” must be the end result of all our endeavors. The wheel chair as we know it is ergonomically and physiologically challenging to use, and can result in pressure ulcers to paralyzed individuals. This Bio medical collaboration included myriad foci of engineers, industrial designers, anthropologist, web designers and programmers, educational technologists, physical occupation and speech therapists. Although no one staff member possessed all the expertise, they did share a common goal to invent a safer and more usable wheeled chair that could reduce the barriers to disabled individuals leading a full life. They accomplished this by first recognizing and measuring the disparate use and variability within the wheelchair community, including environmental, health factors, travel distances, and destinations. Next they gained quantitative data of the pelvic region thru Anthropometry and engineered a vacuum actuated cushion to alleviate pressure where necessary to prevent ulcers on the butt and thighs. In summary, Disability R&D is complex and includes a myriad of approaches and cooperation across many disciplines unified by a common goal. Technical feasibility, human usability and business viability must all weigh in on the compromised solution that is practical, usable and affordable for all. AEC Integration A view from the center The construction industry and its loosely related activities constitute the second largest sector of the economy, contributing an excess of 1 trillion dollars. Residential construction comprises approximately 57% of that gross value. Despite this contribution, the industry has been stubbornly slow to integrate its practices. Collaboration amongst related professions has been historically adversarial. Although today’s clients still demand a good product delivered quickly and cheaply, more are willing to pay a premium for better quality and efficiency. This has lead to professionals and companies adopting new building production and business models. “Vertical integration” is one way a company can expand its arena to include related disciplines in the same production line. Many building and remodeling companies now employ in-house designers and architects to assist their clients and reap the benefits of efficiency, and ultimately profit. These “Design/ Build” firms are providing a more sophisticated product to the more demanding clients in the more affluent markets where quality, competency and speed are most important. Vertical integration is also occurring in the commercial construction sector with their supply chains leading to more cost efficient production and distribution of materials. Turnkey operations are able to better control quality, schedule and costs by having complete control and involvement in their projects from start to finish. The resulting “life cycle” costing and “risk management” gives the client more ‘value’ and the contractor a ‘peace of mind’ with regards to potential liabilities incurred. How does the general public benefit from an integrated and evolving industry? Public, Private Partnerships are formed when private enterprises contract to local, state and federal municipalities to do civil work and are compensated with funds from these public entities. The resulting partnership is less encumbered by government bureaucracy and therefore more efficient and desirable to the tax payer. We all benefit from these cost effective improvements to our utilities, transportation and infrastructure. How do we encourage interdisciplinary respect in the construction industry? As a framing subcontractor in the eighties, I had little respect for other subs that came before or after me. This changed during my decade long tenure with J.W.Homes when I was a member on a board of various subs and builders to improve quality and efficiency in the houses we were mutually constructing. My education and bias were initially a hindrance to my acceptance of the importance of every unique discipline employed by J.W.H.’s. Ultimately, the cooperation and collaboration we shared enabled all of us to prosper and benefit from a house well built. How does the industry guarantee a profitable and sustainable future? Just like the professional world, the industry must promote the teaching of cooperation, respect and collaboration in the classroom. Teachers should encourage the interactions of students amongst themselves and schools of different disciplines such as engineering and architecture and/or computer and bio-medical sciences. When professionals return to the classroom to share their experiences and lessons they facilitate our success in our future professions. We can build on their successes and mistakes for a sustainable and viable industry in the future. Why should the building industry integrate if it has been functioning for centuries without doing so? This same philosophy will benefit the professional disciplines of Architecture, Engineering and now Building construction as we seek joint projects to collaborate on prior to the start of construction. By employing “value engineering” and job site common sense in our designs, we can deliver a better quality product on time and with less cost than the traditional design/build models would allow. We can design and engineer to the build, rather than build to the design. Competency shared and gained across disciplines will result in a “leaner and meaner” contracting profession with greater cost and time saving profits for every discipline and profession. Geographic Information Systems “Whenever where matters” In this lecture, Dr. French, professor of city and regional planning at GA.Tech. explained how we can use converging technologies and their resulting data to gain new knowledge thru research and consolidation of multiple data bases from a myriad of professional inquires. By geographically plotting this ubiquitous data, we can see various relationships and their impact on our emerging environment. How do we use this data? Data gathered for one client can be combined with that of another to draw new conclusions beyond the original intentions. Furthermore, we can use “regression analysis” techniques to decipher this data and draw new conclusions with different variables. GIS uses the converging technologies of remote sensing, GPS, wireless and internet to collect this data and superimpose it on maps to paint a picture of our emerging environment. We can then analyze future developmental consequences and visualize alternative solutions to our problems. How do we bring Analytical data to design? Dr. Sprigle and his CATEA team employed these data gathering technologies to inventory existing conditions among disabled wheelchair users. Measuring such variables as their time in the chair, distance traveled, destination and location. This data could then be used to project future needs and determine design criteria based on the topography of the routes traveled. How is this technology changing what and where we build? Geographic information systems help us to see density and its location as it relates to existing infrastructure and topography. Remote sensing devices can record traffic density and utility usage in our urban populations. These trends can then be used to predict future growth and determine what dwelling density can be incorporated or absorbed by existing infrastructures. How do we reduce the negative impacts of growth and development? Deforestation, ozone depletion, flooding and storm and sanitation issues are the reality of our growing populations. Increased urban density or suburban sprawl are our two alternatives. As confirmed by a NASA study by GIS, we are loosing our battles to all of the above. Our only solution to reverse these trends is to build “GREENER” and economically sustainable alternatives. Smart infrastructure that is sensitive to peak demand periods can regulate flows at specific locations. Green building techniques using energy efficient and heat reflective surfaces can be combined with land development practices that utilize grey water runoff from impervious surfaces. We can increase pervious surfaces and minimize our environmental impacts by building more density where it already exists, instead of loosing more pervious and forested land to suburban sprawl. We must allow the rezoning of sensitive land parcels to increase density so that more land can be smartly developed with room for both dense housing and green space for recreation. By embracing these solutions, we will help ensure a mutually beneficial and sustainable future for our cities and mankind. Mark Reimer CR2 Atrium Installation 1-Description Upon entering the atrium of the architecture building, my focus is immediately drawn to the far corner where a wide wooden seating bench rises two and a half stories beyond the top of the uppermost balcony. Washed in the natural light from the third story windows, its blond complexion demonstrates a stark contrast to the grays of the surrounding concrete surfaces. Its undulating back cascades gently over the balcony banisters and railings, complimenting and softening the rigid lines of the modernist building and it’s vertically scored concrete parapets. As my oblique perspective gives way to a frontal view, I observe that the installation is constructed of 80 adjacent ribs of 5/8” plywood running vertically and continuously from the back of the bench to the top of the installation. They are approximately 4” wide and are composed of short pieces which are spliced together and joined with tiny screws and metal gussets. Each rib is of a varying curvature and chord length causing the back of the bench to roll and undulate. Additionally, the ribs are secured to each other horizontally with intermittent 1/2” threaded steel rods, bolts and lock washers. Every rib is separated from the others by a distance of three plywood pieces. These pieces separate to form the bench’s seat and s-shaped curved legs. The ribs are held apart by the sleeves which circumvent the rods. The rods secure and support the structure. The sleeves provide consistent spacing, except for a planned deviation forming two pleats about 10ft. off the floor in the back of the seat. Cantilevered steel brackets extend from the parapet walls and banisters on the balconies. They support additional ¾”steel rods which pierce the ribs horizontally to provide most of the structural support at the balcony levels. On the second floor, a row of four steel grills is hinged to the rear of these same brackets. Maybe their weight acts as a counter balance. On the third floor, the ribs on the back bend to the floor, forming an s-shaped curved foot. All the separate pieces that form the plywood ribs have sequential letters and numbers embossed on their sides from left to right [1-80] and down to up [A-E]. Plywood proved to be an excellent choice of material for this installation. The strength of the wood as well as it’s less expensive fabrication costs are attractive qualities. The curved plywood ribs could be scroll cut out of sheets using jigs and templates generated from a CAD design, although this would be a time consuming task since all the ribs are of varying curvature. The assembly from left to right and beginning from the bottom would have been aided by the identifying letters and numbers. But even this would prove tedious and frustrating as the occasional mistakes on the ribs substantiate. Applying fasteners and inserting rods would also take immense amounts of time and patience as demonstrated in the photos of the frustrated installers shown during our lecture. 2-Speculation Is this installation a manifestation of “Form Follows Function” or the reverse? It is my opinion that the creator’s motivation was primarily aesthetic, designing a structure whose primary purpose is to draw the visitor’s eyes up and away from the confining shadows below. An additional secondary benefit is the comfortable bench seating in an otherwise stark concrete atrium. The light tones of the wood and gently undulating back provide an appealing visual distraction from the austere surroundings. The wooden bench and its adjoining space provide a welcome and hospitable environment to allow student interaction as we circulate in and out of studios and the library. Considering both of these attributes, I must conclude that this installation also exists as “Art,” but not to the same extent as the plastic sculpture in the courtyard. This sculpture is a bench seat with a very creative back and geometry where form does follow function and artist license was copiously embraced. The cascading back is reminiscent of a waterfall as it falls and sways in the breeze parting and reuniting at the final plunge onto the rock ledge or seat and into the tranquil pool beneath the floor. I think a great name for this installation is Amicalola Falls. The word Amicalola is derived from the Cherokee word meaning “tumbling waters”. After all, they are the highest falls in Georgia and an inspiration for all. Terrace Installation 1-Description I approached the architecture building from the south on this sunny afternoon, and confronted a gleaming, cascading mass of clear ribbon erupting from the terrace patio below. The sculpture, bathed in reflected sunlight, was juxtaposed in stark contrast to the grey concrete of the Bauhaus monolith it adorned. Rising from the east, it surpentined around a concrete column, exploded, and finally came to rest atop a concrete girder one storey higher and approximately 60’ to the west of its point of origin. As I entered the courtyard from the east, I was immediately confronted by a narrow stack of ¼” sheets of clear plastic. This plastic is about 2’ in height, and rests on the concrete border of the brick patio. After touching the material, I realized that it is composed of hard plastic, and not laminated as I anticipated. Due to the heat and humidity, a layer of condensation was visible between the layers, making them appear dark and cohesive. As I proceeded west, the sheets of plastic cleave like mica and rise, morphing into horizontal boxes held together with aluminum rivets. The elongated boxes then contorted and formed oscillating wave shapes. With increasing amplitude, these waves of energized plastic bend around the large column and unravel into a tall riot of twisted plastic ribbon, a manifestation of the disintegration of their prior elongated box structure. These pieces of plastic ribbon are fastened together with oval gussets of the same plastic material, and are secured with stainless hex nuts and bolts. In addition, each gusset is embossed with an identifying mark of bumps resembling brail. These might have been a result of the extrusion process or an aid in assembly. As the energy dissipates, the ribbons of plastic reunite and finally come to rest on the top of the concrete girder, secured by wires extending from eye bolts above. 2-Speculation Upon closer inspection, it is more complicated with its multi -faceted interwoven structures. It begins humbly as a simple stack of plastic sheets which unfold to form a sophisticated interwoven structure. The energy is tangible and undeniable in its metamorphosis. Viewing the installation from the side evoked comparisons to a wave breaking on the piling of a huge concrete pier. Or maybe a blue whale surfacing in sunlit waters with its tail still below the surface of the deep ocean…or a school of fish scattering to avoid this same predator. As I view the sculpture from the front, I realize that the explosion of ribbon has assumed a more vertical form and is now more reminiscent of a funnel cloud with the tail almost obscured as it appears to dissolve into the brick patio. Like architecture, this installation serves both an artistic and structural purpose. The label you assign to it depends on the viewer’s mental and physical perspective at the time it is observed. I consider this installation to be purely art. Its visual aesthetics dictate its form and shape. In addition, the metaphorical comparisons serve a function. Just like its construction, the sculpture serves as a teaching tool and place for contemplation of its purpose and ours. As students of Architecture, we will constantly seek a balance between form and function. From my perspective I believe it to be a sculpture since it embraces form with no obvious function beyond the intellectual academic or contemplative. This is Art in its pure form and I would christen this wave,”Hang Ten”. Mark Reimer B2 Classical and Traditional Architecture Part One In this lecture, six design professionals are returning to GA Tech to attend a one year MS. Classical program. They discussed their unique careers and singular desire to study the classics. Some expressed regret that more time was not devoted to the classics in their prior educations in architecture. All the speakers voiced their unique perspective on the relevance of classical architecture in more contemporary times and places. Part Two Classical architecture is defined by the vernacular styles of Ancient Greece and Rome, simple triangles and arches, reposeful and well proportioned columns where scale, geometry and symmetry dominate. Over time, the design of many traditional buildings have either been copied or borrowed from the ancient Greeks and Romans. This has resulted in centuries of neo classical design such as Michelangelo’s Capitoline in Rome. Through the centuries, vernacular methods of construction have evolved to make use of indigenous materials in varying geographical regions and climates. With time, this has created the precedence from which we borrow today. Throughout these processes, the disciplines and materials of ancient classical architecture have been conveyed. This has resulted in numerous revivalist adaptations and reinventions in a plethora of buildings and art spanning centuries. Today, all of our speakers have found the classical style to be beneficial and flexible in their modern imitations or adaptations. While transcending time it embraces the many disciplines and professions represented by our speakers including architecture, interior design, painting, construction and urban planning. Classical design is employed in restorations and new homes from Westchester County, NY to Atlanta, GA as well as in beach front villas and mixed use developments on the Florida panhandle to Miami. New materials and methods of construction have even made classical design possible in Katrina ravished Louisiana, proving that classical form and scale are here to stay for many more centuries to come. Part Three As students of design and architecture, are we free to embrace the progressive themes of New Urbanism where density and green space precipitate from zoning overlay districts result in less urban sprawl? Can we borrow from our past to embellish our modern buildings with a rich tradition of style made possible through the study and embrace of classic design values? We can truly have the best of both worlds, as design precedence has shown that classical style transcends both time and place. Traditional design has its deep seated roots in ancient Greece and Rome, but continues to bridge the gap into a post modernist world where change is eminent and welcome. Solar Decathlon Part One In this lecture, the speaker discusses the interdisciplinary project being undertaken by the Ga. Tech colleges of Architecture, Sciences, Engineering and Management. This collaborative effort will result in the construction of a zero energy home that will be entered into an international collegiate competition to take place in Washington DC this October. The competition is sponsored by the U.S Department of Energy’s office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Points will be awarded for design aesthetics, system functionality, energy efficiency and affordable sustainability. Part Two The speaker emphasized the vision of totally integrated solar designed houses. They hypothesized that the power needs of our country could be met within an area of 100 square miles through the use of solar power. The competing houses will be “off the grid”, not reliant on outside power sources derived from the interstate power network. Through the use of additional integrated “green” building practices, such as “structurally insulated panels” for exterior walls and purifying grey and rain water systems, integrated landscape and construction could be more economical and sustainable than conventional building practices. Solar roof panels for energy and water heating are controlled by sophisticated computer programs. These programs have interfacing technologies that maximize efficiency under changing light and seasons. A living wall precipitates O2 while eliminating CO2 from the interior atmosphere and hydroponics and conventional flora purify grey water systems and cool surrounding terrain. These structures maintain an unobtrusive stance amongst their more traditional neighbors. Part Three Collaboration vs. Isolation: Design and creativity are personal endeavors reflective of our individual and unique perspectives. The traditional design studio encourages us to explore our various talents and visions without the hindrances of other viewpoints. We develop new ideas to share with others. Their collaboration and constructive advice will improve on and supplement our own thoughts. It is only through collaboration with other unique and talented individuals that our projects are brought to fruition. Drawing what you see / Building what you draw: To observe, design, draw and ultimately to build are dependent on each other. The scientific process is an asset in the design/build arena as it is in all creative and analytical endeavors. Envisioned theories must be born out by probable and sustainable methods of construction, resulting in safe and beautiful structures. Critically examining the competition: We must learn from our mistakes, as well as those mistakes of others. By recognizing that perfection is seldom achieved on all levels, we can recognize our competitions Achilles’ tendon and seize the victory for our own. I believe the integration of solar design principles and their allied mechanical systems is feasible in contemporary architecture today, and even more so in the future, as technologies improve and systems become less obtrusive. The biggest challenge will be in duplicating or restoring classic and traditional structures with progressive systems and construction methods where stealth and form will stubbornly follow function. In contrast, the modernist arena will allow for more expressive design parameters and spatial and architectural transparency will be accentuated, not encumbered by these new challenges. Digital Design and Manufacturing Part One In this lecture, Alhaddad emphasizes the impact of new computer aided technologies in design and fabrication and analyses their impact on the traditional design/build process. Through the use of computer numeric controlled equipment, we can make material artifacts from computer generated 3d models. Once conceptualized, this linear design process allows the designer to develop, produce and assemble a prototype for testing theories and materials. These processes contrast to the traditional isolationist method of separating design from the manufacturing process. Part Two Through the use of “parametric” or intelligent modeling, we can use algorithms to create and test sophisticated models in the lab. The courtyard installation (as examined in our first assignment) was composed of multi-faceted integrated mullions with both “local” and “global” variations. Each mullion in turn aligned itself along its individual axis in space. The installation was the result of the sum of these parts aligning in their own unique way to create a self-forming module that could only be assembled one way. Part Three How do these new tools and techniques affect design and production? Because we can create and simulate a functional virtual model of our creation, we are able to then dissect the model into each of its parts. The similarities or differences will then determine the complexity and number of pieces required for assembly. The virtual model will serve as the set of directions to accomplish assembly. Diagramming will become increasingly more important as we rely on the integral assembly process where every part of the structure has its own location and orientation. Precision will be inherent from product conception and simulation to production and assembly. How do these new tools and techniques change the relationship between architects and contractors? Out of necessity, the modern architect will become more pragmatic as the design and build process becomes more integrated. Just like the builder, the architect will be held responsible when design does not live up to performance or the budget constraints of their clients. Architects will need to become more aware of the assembly processes in the field, as well as the constraints on the materials they have chosen. How do these technologies influence the 20th century notion of a builder? To make the most efficient use of materials and time, builders will also find it in their best interest to be involved with their architects. This involvement includes planning for offsite fabrications of integrated building components such as SIP’s, trusses, mechanical components and other modular systems. The notion of a “Master Builder” will be reserved for those who practice and teach these new technologies and tools on the job and in the classroom. Mark Reimer B2 Link to this Page
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