In reading 2, the important idea is safety, in Ching’s book A10-A11 is talking about egress. Egress is an important way of building. In emergence, an egress should be provided sufficient time for the occupants of a building to exit safely. The egress should be fire protection, should be as direct as possible to exit, the exits should be clearly identified. In the egress one important element to consider in the design is stairs, which must be ensured to safety by the stairs.
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The relationships between structure, material, and design are important to me because it comes down to how is one go about making a good performing structure while also making the building look aesthetically pleasing with construction materials. Achieving this tells us that one knows the characteristics of the materials and how they work well with each other in a structural system. I would implement this into design studio by taking into account all the qualities of a material and their functionality with other materials, and see how good they would work together in a system.
I think that the variety of materials we can use in systems is very helpful and can be used for any situation. For instance, steel can be coated to be resistive against corrosion when left exposed giving the structural steel framing another purpose. The use of brick to make the appearance of the building look good and also prevent water from entering the building and I also appreciate how you can use them in different types of bonds to create patterns with the bricks.
It is important to understand the way exterior walls are constructed because it can help us design good performing walls, where the wall system keeps the water outside the building, and help keep the interior temperature inside. It is also important because it we can get a better understanding on how water effects the performance of the building like how it deals with water, the transferring of loads, and maintains interior temperature. There is complexity with the different components in the wall system because all the members of the system as an important role, for instance the lintel has to distribute the compressive loads into the sides of the opening such as a window or door its above.
Masonry is an appealing material in architecture because it is a reusable construction material since there is a finite source of it, masonry is also qualifies as a fire resistive material that can be used in varieties of construction. It is also appealing because of way it can handle compressive forces when used as columns. Masonry can be used as many different types of structural members such as lintels, columns, and concrete walls. Masonry can be used in a variety of ways and its appearance also influences where they are used in.
How I will implement egress into my design work, would be making it easy for the occupants to locate the emergency exit and having the path way to safety simple and fire resistive as possible for everyone to come out. The important elements that consist in a safe egress would be ventilation in the staircase have enough fresh air during a fire, signs and making it visible for everyone, have the walls of that incase the staircase fire proof and built with fire resistive materials like cmu, and having an exit discharge so people would be able to safely exit the building into a refugee area or public space.
Masonry is a noncombustible material. It is also one of the most durable, strongest and weather resistant materials. Being that it is such a resistant and durable material, it lasts a long time. Being that this material lasts, expenses on repairs aren’t a big worry. Lastly, masonry is also aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
Masonry is an appealing material due to its classifications such as resistance to fire, some are water-resistant, weathering, insulation, and erodes slowly over time. Masonry is appealing due to its characteristics such as the simplicity of concrete or creating a feeling of heaviness like a huge stone. Masonry can have an effect on the structure which makes masonry appealing as well.
We can appreciate different materials and their different aspects that can help us determine which material is best for resisting force. Such as steel that is very good at tension and it is fire resistance although it is very expensive. The timber on the other side is a combustible unless it is heavy timber. Concrete is not combustible but should be reinforced because of little tension force. This helps us determine what’s best for structural systems.
The relationship between materials, structure, and design is depending on the design, we should know what structural element the design consists of and what material will best suit the structural element. I will implement this relationship in my design studio by understanding what materials are best that adapt to the location or what structural element could best reflect concepts given in our design studios. This will help us come up with an efficient design with the knowledge of materials and structural elements.