Author: Jonathan

For this reading, Ching once again goes into materials, but talks about what specific purpose each subcategory of material does, along with some general rules of thumb. For masonry arches and lintels, he explains how each structure is made, what its purpose is, how they differ from each other, and what general spans they come in. As for wooden joists, beams, subflooring, decking and planks, he tells us examples of how they are made, showed us the length of them, what each wooden structure means/represents, and tells us how to properly use each and every structure. Ching also goes back to the topic of steel, giving us a sense of how beams and open-web joists work. Open-web joists are joists that form a sort of “web” seen through sections. These webs help join together beams and other supports. Metal decking come in three forms, composite, form and cellular decking. Composite decking is used to balance tensions with concrete slabs that have a ribbed pattern. Form decking is used for formwork on reinforced concrete slabs. Cellular decking is done by welding a corrugated sheet on to a steel sheet, forming spaces for engineering/electrical work.

For these readings, Ching goes in depth on how certain materials is used for construction , as well as their general purpose/rules of thumb. The materials explained in these readings were bricks, steel, wood, concrete, and stone. Wood is identified as softwood or hardwood, and are graded differently depending on how they were cut. Each wood are also considered as yard lumber or factory and shop lumber. Usually yard lumber is used for general building purposes, and factory/shop lumber is used for doors, windows, and mill work. Each piece has a grade-mark that indicates its stress grade,  origin, moisture content, when it was made, and type of lumber. There are many steel shapes,  and the one used frequently for columns are the W-shaped steel. There are other steel shapes, such as a round pipe, rectangular/square tubing, welded plates, and a cruciform. Ching also explains the spacing for various steel tube sizes. The rule of thumb for steel for estimating the depth of steel is span/20 with beams, and span/15 for girders, with a width 1/3-1/2 in. The idea of steel is to use the lightest steel that resists bending/shear forces. For concrete beams, the rule of thumb for depth is span/16, while the beam width is also 1/3-1/2 in. Some concrete parts require reinforced steel to help stability against forces. Concrete columns spacing determines what load could be on top of it. Concrete wall are usually used for loads as well, along with some reinforced steel. Precast concrete beams, and slabs are made with lightweight concrete which makes them better for structural efficiency, with less depth, reduced length and longer spans. Concrete topping is crucial because it increases fire-resistance, and could help out with wiring. The tees, and slabs of concrete varies depending on the load on top. Concrete girders are usually built for bridges or highways, but could be implemented in buildings sometimes. Masonry bricks vary in size, and depending on how they are used, they could be labeled as something different each time. The stretcher is a unit that is horizontally long, a header is a unit that is horizontal but is` laid out parallel  to the surface, a rowlock is a horizontal brick with a longer edge exposed on the face of the wall, and a soldier is a vertical brick with the longer edge face exposed. The way they are laid out each have a specific purpose, and is usually built for that reason. there is a running bend wall, a common bond, a stack bend, a Flemish cross/ diagonal, and many more.

With the fifth reading, Ching explains how certain materials are made, along with how they are used in construction. He first goes in depth with concrete, where he says that concrete is made using a mixture of water, cement, and aggregates (which is small minerals, such as sand or gravel). Depending on what you use, it will change the strength, weight, and resistance to fire when the concrete hardens. You may also add an admixture, which changes some properties on the concrete when it hardens. Steel Reinforcement is used on concrete, because concrete doesn’t handle tension as well as its compression. It is also used to tie vertical and horizontal elements together, strengthen the edges for openings and more. Bricks come in two forms, a building brick, or a face brick. A building brick is used for general building, and a face brick is mad up of clay, making it face a wall and usually used for a color or surface texture. There are different type of face bricks, and using these types changes its size, color, and distortion. Bricks are made of clay molded into a rectangular prism, and hardened by drying in the sun or heating it up. Concrete Masonry is concrete blocks made into various shapes to give it a specific purpose. A couple of examples would be a jamb block, which has a design to fit a jamb of a door within it, a lintel block which have a U shaped block where reinforced steel could fit into it, and many more. Stone comes from three origins: as an igneous metamorphosis, or sedimentary rock. To use a stone as a construction material it must have strength, hardness, durability, work ability, density, appearance. Wood is light, durable and easy to work with.  There are two types of wood, soft and hard wood. Softwood comes from different trees than hardwood, and depending on how the tree grew, it affects the strength, expansion/contraction and how good it is as an  insulator.

In these readings, Ching explains how a structural units has its own use in terms of how big it is, and how much space it creates.. An example is that a two way slab and four columns would usually represent a horizontal layer of space. Ching also introduces spans and patterns, and explains that each has a purpose in design. For example, if there is a large horizontal slab, it usually determines the space of each vertical support, in which they should be related. Patterns in a design usually leads to grids, and grids have a huge meaning in design. Grid lines would usually be beams and load bearing walls, while intersecting lines would indicate a column.  In terms of lateral stability Ching talks about how some structural units depends on each other, due to how much weight it may support. The best example would be two columns and one beam going across them. Another would be a horizontal slab with four columns supporting it, even adding a fifth on in the center if necessary. These structural information is important, because it literally balances anything being built.

In these readings,  Ching explains to us how force and its uses are applied when it comes to architecture. For certain structures, force is extremely important for supporting weight along with other objects that may be above it. He also explains this with physics using vectors, and not only explains how it works, he also explains why it works. For example, he says with newtons third law of motion, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. so, with structures this law is applied, and a good example of this would be a column along a plate.if you put one column under a massive plate, chances are that the column would be crushed, or it will buckle. However, if you distribute the weight equally with lets say four columns, chances are the plate’s force and the columns  force’s would balance, or cancel each other out, which would make you reach the state of equilibrium.  These readings all explain how a plate, column, arch, beam, frame, vaults, domes, and joints work under the use of force.

This reading is about Building elements, which are elements that fill up the interior of a building in terms of definition, scale, proportion, and organization. There is  a certain amount of space required for horizontal and vertical pathways, and should contain certain qualities such as the form, space, light, color, texture, and pattern.  Each building must have a structural system, which is constructed differently depending on the weight of the building. With this, a building must include an enclosure system, which is practically the walls and roof of the building that shields it from the weather and certain exposures. Another element that should be included on a building is the mechanical system, which provides certain services that the people in the building could benefit from. this includes a water supply, waste disposal, transportation of heavy items and a massive amount of people, heating, and electrical systems.

Egress is the ability to leave a building to go to a large area or place in case of emergencies. Egress is defined in three different parts; exit access, exits, and exit discharge. Ching divided all of these into separate parts, giving them each their own definition. An exit access is the passageway leading to the exit, an exit is a corridor that leads to the outside of the building, and an exit discharge is the safe place that is at the end of the exit.
There was also a section on stairs in the chapter, where stairs are made up of treads and risers, which act as the “slope” of each step. The design of each staircase depends on the building code, a set of rules that the building places for constructed objects, whether it could be only a certain size, or a certain material. Stairways also have different designs, such as a spiral staircase, a half and a quarter stairwell, a straight run stairwell, winding stairwell, and a circular stairwell