Search This Blog

20110425

WTF Angle Bar

I remember I did a report in my Environmental Economics class about four years ago. Topic was: Standards. Unfortunately my report could not have prepared me for things I've yet to see in the construction trade.

Does somebody give a shit about standards in this country? I buy a 1-1/2" by 1-1/2" by 3/16" angle bar and I expect not a hairline smaller. But no, I get something half as thick and 1/8" shorter on either leg. Thickness is not consistent, with legs almost twice as thick in the edge, just in case somebody bothers to measure the damn thing. The butt end looks like it's been hammered in order to appear it's thrice as thick than it actually is.

This a display of our building culture and our culture as a people. This is a physical manifestation of a culture of dishonesty, corruption, theft, deception, and greed—all seen in a solid piece of steel. This is a refuse amidst a nation's building blocks, and it's saying "I'm here, whatcha gonna do?"

Lo and behold the WTF angle bar.

Space Factors and Floor Area Estimates

Use the following space factors when project-costing/estimating using the area method:

Typical floor — 1.00
Auditorium — 1.50
Balcony — 0.40
Canopy entrance — 0.45
Lobby/lofty room — 1.50
Basement — 1.00
On-stilt — 0.55
Covered/partially walled — 0.60
Stairs — 1.25
Toilets — 2.00
Kitchen — 1.50
Media agua — 0.25
AHU — 0.70
Deck — 0.35
Terrace [no roof] — 0.30
Interstitial space > 1.50m — 0.35
Interstitial space < 1.50m — 0.70
Garage — 0.60
Carport — 0.50

Book Excerpt: Flat Roof Construction Manual

Disclaimer: This excerpt is for those Internet users without a readily available connection and not an attempt at re-distribution of copyrighted material. The same material is available in Adobe Flash. The downloadable, image-based PDF is formatted at A4 whereas the original format is a wider 230 mm x 297 mm.

FLAT CONSTRUCTION MANUAL is one of a series of construction manuals published by Germany-based architecture magazine DETAIL. The book features case studies of various projects by renowned architectural practice including:

• Gallery in Spain by Elisa Valero Ramos
• Kindergarten in Tokyo by Tezuka Architects
• St. Dominic Centre in Munich by meck architekten

Download the excerpt. HERE.

Flat Roof Construction Manual excerpt: 10.4 megabytes/PDF











Kindergarten in Tokyo by Tezuka Architects

20110423

In Detail Excerpt: Building Skins

Disclaimer: This downloadable PDF is for those Internet users with slow connections and not an attempt at re-distribution of copyrighted material.

In Detail is a series of books published by Germany-based architecture magazine Detail. One of the books in the series, Building Skins, features the following projects:

• House in Zurndorf by Vienna-based PPAG Architekten
• Administration Building in Kronberg by Frankfurt-/Main-based Schneider + Schumacher
• Federal Environment Agency in Dessau by Berlin-based sauerbruch hutton

Download the excerpt here.

In Detail Building Skins excerpt: 9.7 megabytes/PDF

20110422

[AD201101-02] Typological Urbanism: Projective Cities

It was a pain to download and stitch the files. I hope you enjoy. Here are some of the highlights of the year's first issue:

• Lucio Costa's Superquadra in Brazil
• Toyo Ito's Buona Vista Masterplan in Singapore
• UN Studio's Arnheim Central in the Netherlands
• Kazuyo Sejima's and Ryue Nishizawa's [SANAA] 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Japan
• OMA's Penang Tropical City in Malaysia

Download the complete issue here.

AD 201101-02: 71.1 megabytes/PDF

[AD200603-04] Techniques and Technologies in Morphogenetic Design

The following is the editorial from Helen Castle:

"The cover title of this issue, Techniques and Technologies in Morphogenetic Design, provides it with a very wide frame: morphogenesis pertains not only to the development of form and structure in an organism, but also to an organism's evolutionary development over time. It is, in effect, a substantial signpost that in a broad brushstroke takes in the whole gamut of natural systems, both current and in evolution. It is indicative of the not inconsiderable, some might say infinite, project that guest-editors Michael Hensel, Achim Menges and Michael Weinstock have taken on through their activities in the Emergence and Design Group and their teaching and research at the Architectural Association (AA) in London. By studying the complex and dynamic exchange between organisms and their environment, they have sought out a new model for architecture–one that through the application of biochemical processes and the functionality of life is in empathy rather than at odds with natural ecology. By keeping their eye on this higher goal, the group is providing a prescient new ecological paradigm for architecture that seeks, through new scientific advances in the visualisation and understanding of natural processes and systems, to leave behind the known structural and material building blocks of architecture."

"What the generic quality of the 'morphogenetic design' tag belies is the specificity and focus that Hensel, Menges and Weinstock have brought to their subject in this volume. This issue is the sequel to AD Emergence: Morphogenetic Design Strategies, published two years ago. It is, however, no Emergence II. Whereas in the first issue, the potential of the project was broadly being asserted through an understanding of what emergence could bring to architecture [emergence insinuating the complexity that is acquired through the evolution of organisms over time, where the sum is more than the parts], the stress on self-organisation in this issue isolates a particular aspect. The content spirals outwards, as outlined by Hensel in his introduction opposite, clarifying first what self-organisation can mean in the natural world and then discussing its application  for material sciences and engineering. There is also further investigation of morphogenetic techniques and technologies, as illustrated by the group's own research and the network they have built up among fellow-minded practitioners in aligning disciplines. While the group's approach is becoming more established and they are boring down effectively into it, their influence is also widening. All three proponents are regularly invited to teach in venerable institutions abroad, with Menges having recently been awarded a professorship of form generation and materialisation in Germany. In 2004, the focus of the group's activities was largely concentrated in the recent establishment of the Masters programme at the AA, but two years later its first few years of graduates are working and spreading the word as practitioners in key firms and other international institutions are buying into this approach and recognising its inherent potential." 


AD 200603-04: 13.4 megabytes/PDF

20110406

Useful Codes for Special Characters

Sometimes the characters you see in the keyboard just ain't enough. My search for a symbol led me to the following geeky stuff. Good to memorize some of them. Sorry, no hearts and cutesy stuff.

[Useful for Filipino or Hiligaynon]

Type Alt+0192 to write À in DUPLÀ.
Type Alt+0224 to write à in duplà.
Type Alt+0200 to write È.
Type Alt+0232 to write è.
Type Alt+0236 to write Ì in BASÌ.
Type Alt+0236 to write ì in basì.
Type Alt+0210 to write Ò in GIN-AKÒ.
Type Alt+0242 to write ò in gin-akò.
Type Alt+0217 to write Ù in SIKYÙ.
Type Alt+0249 to write ù in sikyù.

[More]

Type Alt+0193 to write Á in LABUTÁW.
Type Alt+0225 to write á in labutáw.
Type Alt+0201 to wiite É in PAPÉL.
Type Alt+0233 to write é in papél.
Type Alt+0205 to write Í in SIKÍ.
Type Alt+0237 to write í in sikí.
Type Alt+0211 to write Ó in HABÓY.
Type Alt+0243 to write ó in habóy.
Type Alt+0218 to write Ú in BADÚY.
Type Alt+0250 to write ú in badúy.

[I'm not cursing]

Type Alt+0194 to write  in TANGÂ.
Type Alt+0226 to write â in tangâ.
Type Alt+0202 to write Ê.
Type Alt+0234 to write ê.
Type Alt+0206 to write Î in AGÎ.
Type Alt+0238 to write î in agî.
Type Alt+0212 to write Ô in UNGÔ.
Type Alt+0244 to write ô in ungô.
Type Alt+0219 to write Û.
Type Alt+0251 to write û.

[My favorite]

Type Alt+0209 to write Ñ in BAÑO.
Type Alt+0241 to write ñ in baño.

[Architects love this]

Type Alt+0216 to write Ø.
Type Alt+0248 to write ø.

[Money]

Type Alt+0162 to write ¢.
Type Alt+0163 to write £.
Type Alt+0165 to write ¥.
Type Alt+8364 to write €.

[I ought to try this in AutoCAD]

Type Alt+0176 to write °.
Type Alt+0177 to write ±.
Type Alt+0181 to write µ.
Type Alt+8800 to write ≠.
Type Alt+8776 to write ≈.
Type Alt+8730 to write √.
Type Alt+8734 to write ∞.
Type Alt+8721 to write ∑.
Type Alt+8719 to write ∏.
Type Alt+8801 to write ≡.

[Other graphics stuff]

Type Alt+0174 to write ®.
Type Alt+0169 to write ©.
Type Alt+0153 to write ™.
Type Alt+0149 to write •.
Type Alt+0183 to write ·.
Type Alt+0150 to write –.
Type Alt+0151 to write —.

20110404

If You're Beat

This song reminds me of my father. Aging. Struggling. Beat.


Popular Posts

Beat Blog List

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...