Week 10 : Lecture Review

[ no lecture this week ]

We were told to further our progress on our building, by doing our research at the library. I've found specific information which relates to my building, which is the Church of Light by Tadao Ando.

[ d r a w i n g      1 ]

Week 8 - [ G L A S S ]

Compared to other materials, glass is the most fragile of its nature. However, it is extremely malleable, and is perfect for the purpose of decoration and functionality. In actual fact, glass does not actually decay, but in a shorter period of time, it would be destroyed through the extreme weather or other factors. Glass would erode through the constant exposure towards heat. The only form of destruction glass would face is shattering due to extreme forces, melting due to the temperature (very high temperature) or crystallizing. In general, the glass materials in buildings would be shattered through the winds or natural destruction.

Week 8 - [ T I M B E R ]

Timber is a very strong material used for construction, and depending on its quality, in rare occasions timber constructed buildings has been built to last as long as buildings built with concrete. Timber could also withstand extreme weather, and timber has been used for traditional construction since. However, due to timber being a natural product, its characteristics would allow rotting and decaying to happen due to the exposure towards moisture. However, in general, timber buildings would fall apart due to the long period of exposure towards the environment, as it is a natural product after all.

Week 8 - [ C O N C R E T E ]

Cement is a composite material, which is mainly made up of : [ water, aggregate and cement ]. However, reinforced concrete is usually used for the construction of building elements. Reinforced concrete is a composite material, in which the inclusion of a reinforcement such as steel bars which have higher tensile strength, to counteract the concrete's lower tensile strength. However, over the long period of time, the steel reinforcements would begin to rust, and through expansion and flaking, this causes the concrete to crack, destroying the bond between the concrete and the steel bars. Furthermore, the cracks contributes towards the exposure of its material to the surroundings, causing moisture to enter, and lead to further rusting and decay. Over time, the concrete is taken down layer by layer through exposure. 

Materials in 3DS Max

[ 2 1 s t c e n t u r y m u s e u m o f c o n t e m p o r a r y a r t ]

The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art was designed by SANAA. This building is primarily constructed of glass  and concrete walls. Surrounding most of its facades, the glass material would be the first to be destroyed overtime, exposing the interior of the building to natural elements. The primary structure would be tough to break down over the years of exposure, however, due to the long period of exposure, the interior walls would decay and then bring down the entire structure as a whole.

[ s a o p a u l o m u s e u m ]

The Sao Paulo Museum of Art, by Lina Bo Bardi is a primarily glass and concrete constructed building. The main silhouette of this building is a longitudinal structure, supported by two columns on each of its side. These columns provides the main building structure with an elevation off the ground. However, over time, the columns would lose its ability to hold the building, and would collapse due to its exposure to the natural elements. Furthermore, the glass would all be destroyed first, followed by its concrete structure. 

[ t h e c h u r c h o f l i g h t ]

The Church of Light was designed by Tadao Ando. This building was built in 1989, in the city of Ibaraki, Osaka. The Church of Light is a rather small structure, with the major construction of concrete and glass. The concrete panels on the sides covers majority of the walls, however there are gaps in between each corner to provide light into the space of the church. Furthermore, there is a large cross located on the far side of the building's wall, which would eventually break down over time, and it is the perfect exposure to the natural elements. When the concrete walls break down, vegetation would start growing in due to the strong exposure, and then across the timber floor which results in rotting. 

Week 7 : Lecture Review

Lecture this week was based on the list of buildings for Experiment 2. The next project was to study the decaying of the structure/building over time when humans no longer have the capability to provide maintenance,  buildings would decay over time. Several video clips were shown to show the conditions of buildings when left exposed to then natural elements from the surroundings after years to come. We began to take inspiration from the TV series, 'Life After Humans', and began to think about how we would like to take our idea of decay on the buildings we have chosen for our project.