Case Studies & Lectures

Case Study 1 : KL Tower
- highest concrete building - 421 metre in height
- 3 phases
- 1st phase : widening Jalan Puncak in Oct'91
- 2nd phase : construction of foundation & basement of the tower
- escavate ( pour in the soil )
- 3rd phase : 'superstructure' by May 1992
* the construction of the building need to consider the wind pressure, etc.

Concrete Finishes
Finishes : touch up for final work ( pedestrian walkway, flooring, wall )

*Engraving
> using special tools & equipments to cut patterns and designs
> permanent
> can be enhanced by staining

*Stamped Concrete
> pattern resembles bricks, slate, flagstone, stone, tiles & wood
>> Overlay revamps, pool decks

*Polished Concrete
> new product, no-wax flooring material
> grind the concrete floor surfaces into a high-gloss finishes
>> Driveway, house flooring

Case Study 2 : Petronas Twin Towers ( SkyBridge )
-established in 28 August 1999
-Cesar Pelli & Associates
-1483 feet ( 452 metres )
-glass & steel construction
-geometric principles - Islamic architecture
> to symbolise grace, strength, unity, harmony, stability
and rationality
-depth ( foundation ) > 21 metres
-skybridge ( double-storey) > linking, facilitating movement between two towers
* in case of fire
-location : levels 41 & 42
-height : 170 metres above street level
-weight : about 750 tonnes
-stainless steel cladding : 65,000 square metres
-steel used : 36910 tonnes of beams, trusses and reinforcement
-two hinge arch supporting the bridge
* Cladding : one type of finishes, applying on the building's skin
-railings
-2 mian joints : beam to column
: beam to ceiling
`> support the building
-beam to ceiling : connection : bolting ( like screwing )
-both block ends are welded to the towers, sunshade joint
-the two-hinge arch supporting the bridge has rotational pins ( spherical bearings ) at the
`> allow bridge legs to flex by wind movement
~end of each leg

>Foundation of KLCC
-friction piles
-concrete usage :- 13200 cubic metres of concrete ( enough to build 130 double-storey link houses )
-original plan - soil is watery, with soft soil, limestone soil.
-switch to the other plan - somewehere far from the soft soil.
*Tower 1 & 2 are built by different contractors.
*Tower 1 started to build first.
Both contractors compete among themselves to build the mega structures.
*Tower 1 leads the game, but suddenly it builds slightly slanted ( not vertical )
However, problem solved.
*Sky bridge - fixing : had encountered 3 thunderstorm when the fixing part was going on.

Built Environment

Lecture 1
Built Environment : man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity from largest scale civic surroundings to the smallest personal place.

Components:-
-Architect
-Town Planner
-Quantity Surveyor
-Landscape Architect
-Interior Architect
-Land Surveyor
-M&E Engineer
-C&S Engineer

Design & Construction Team
Client
l---------- Project Manager
Architect
l
l------------l------------l----------l---------l--------------l
Quantity Landscape Town Interior Land C&S Engineer
Surveyor Architect Planner Architect Surveyor M&E Engineer
l------------l-----------l-----------l----------l-------------l
_____________l
l Main Contractor
Nominated l
Sub-Contractor l-------------------l
Sub Supplier
Contractor


Conceptual Diagram : Bubble Diagram

Design Stages
1. Design Brief
Conceptual ideas ( basic sketches )
Discussion between Architect & Client

2. Preliminary Design
Approval from client
Presentation session by design, Architect ( Landscape Architect & Interior Designers ) to client.

3. Finalized Design
Estimate cost by Quantity Surveyor
Changes on design may occur
Working drawings prepared by consultants ( details, technical )

4.Construction Commencement
Construction drawings prepared by respective consultants. ( Architect, ME Engineers, C&S Engineers )

Architecture ( Greek )
- the art and science of designing buildings and structures.
-having qualities of :-
- beauty
- geometry
- emotional and spiritual power
- intellectual content and complexity
- soundness of construction
- convenient planning
- etc ( essetra )

Art : expression of creativity or imagination, or both.

Science : -knowledge / system, covering general truths or the operation of general laws ( obtained and tested through scientific method )
- relies heavily upon forms of LOGIC.

* Vitruvius ( Roman Empire )
Architecture- multi-disciplinary field ( fold mathematics, science, art, technology, social science, politics, history, philosophy, and so on )

* Swiss Re Tower by Sir Norman Foster
* Lyon Airport Railway Station by Santiago Calatrava

What Influences Architecture ?
- Economic
- Socio Culture
- Politics
- Artistic
- Technology

Historical Timeline
~Ancient ( Pyramid )
-Gods, Demons, Spirits

~Classical ( Colleseum- Roman Empire )
-Public buildings / Gathering Area

~ Electicism ( Cathedral, Church )
- Spiritual & Religious Value, Sculptural Value )
- detailing on the ornaments.

~ Form follows functions, international style
~ Arts movement, art nouveau...etc
~ High tech

Main Purpose of Architecture
- to fulfill human needs, sensory, delight
- to capture the greatest achievement of man at a particular time ( evidence for future generation )

Role of Architect
- responsible to client
- as a leader in a particular project
- responsible to the society

Shape

Definition: the characteristic outline or surface configuration of a particular form.
* By having shapes, we can identify and categorizes forms.
* Non geometrical shapes : organic shape

Lines are used to define shapes.

-A line connects two points or two dots.
-A series of dots placed together forms a line.
-A line can be straight or curvy.
-A shape- made by ending a line.
-A silhouette- outline of a shape.
Shape is conceived by xontour or silhouette ; not by DETAIL.

Shape refers to the configuration of shapes and edges of a 2 or 3 dimensional object.

*Mechanical shapes- made with straight lines, circles angd/ or part of circles - the shape that can make with ruler or compass, technical tools.

*Man-made shape~ geometrical shapes

Geometrical shapes: straight with straight sides/ regularlly shaped curves
Organic shapes: shapes that are not regular or free-form.

Primary shapes : Circle, Triangle, Rectangle.

! John Gero and Han Jun
" Drawn shapes play a critical role not only in representing a design concept but also in allowing the designer to reinterpret them to develop new ideas."

-The figure and ground relationship is one of the most important principles in design( must be considered by designer).
-The figure- what you notice ; ground is everything else.
-Shape is a vital design element used as a visual tool.
-The area- composition takes place in is called-- format( defined by its shape and size).
-Shape preferences based on cultural, personal memory and conventional.
-Architects convey motion through Architecture.
*Dancing House, moving shape.
* Front of the building, term : facade ( ''fesat'')

PLANE
Horizontal planes (4)
1. Overhead plane
* Farnsworth House ( Meis Van der Rohe)
* Glass House, Connecticut

2. Base plane

3. Depressed plane
* Rockafeller Center, New York

4. Elevated plane
* Acropolis, Rome
*Izumo Shrine
* Pavilion of Supreme Harmony, Beijing

Vertical planes
1. L-shaped plane

2. Parallel plane

3.U-shaped plane

4.Four planes : Closure

5. Single vertical plane
* S. Agostino, Rome

The Guy that Should be Let Go

Today, by some chances, I'd managed to have a view of my past posts in my blog. I saw that I'm writing about my trip to Cameron Highland. A guy crossed in my mind, it's him, Nigel Chin. I think most of my friends would think Natalie, here you go, you're falling so easily for a guy again, so irresistable to the temptation? Lol. This is not the big deal. Some might say I'm ''flower-hearted'', but if you really know me well, you should know that I'm those people who don't give up so easily on relationship and I can be very loyal. There's the story goes. I'd got to know this guy in ICQ ( some might say it's dangerous again...XD . Somehow, nothing about this ham me yet.. Thank God ). We started chatting by July 2009..last year( I'm not sure about the months, it's around July/ August). Through the chatting, everything seems fine for me, just chatting, sharing the experiences of our lives, no big deal. By the starting, we are netfriends, then he became my brother and he dated me out, then the relationships started to go tangle like a telephone wire wiring all around you. It's in between friendship and love. Somehow, we still strive on the border line, friends to almost couple, couple to friends and back and forth like that. Two word to describe all this--- It's Complicated. Frankly speaking, most of the girls will not like this feeling like hanging in the atmosphere, the feeling of unstable and unsure, this feeling comes to me. Rising my inner bravery, I asked him a few times about this and tell him what I feel through sms. However, there's no exact answers from him. The story just goes on like that and I'd made up my mind to end all this up. Here, he told me he has a girlfriend. No big deal, I told him I'm leaving this relationship and for them to be together.. Just go ahead. Both of us struggle for the friendship. Now, everything ended just like that, no regrets, no harm, nothing. Life goes on. I have my lessons to attend, I have my assignments to do, I have my newly-met friends to chat with, I have my spacious library(resource centre) to hang around, the varieties in my life is colouring my life beautifully. No one should ever refrain me from my tiring yet enjoyable life of study. Bye to the guy that should be let go! Happy ending with your lovely girlfriend. X)

New

I'd got used to the word of new these couple of weeks. New learning spaces, new friends, new course I'm going on, new library, new knowledge and a new path of my life journey. I can say that almost everyday I'm meeting new faces around me, I have to meet my new lecturers everyday, everything is like ever-changing, spinning around like the Earth evolving around the Sun, and also as regular as the clockwise. There's only some of the constant thing on me that stays the same, I bet my gang or my close friends know what it is. I'm still eating bread on a daily-basis. Lol. One thing about the food is I like biscuits and bread, most of the confectionery stuff that will raise my appetite. Sweet food. XD. Back on the new life I'm having lately, I found that myself are getting closer to architecture as day passes by( If I'm going to measure the distance, or even the speed... Speed = Distance/ Time. Then I shall count it 100 metre per day). I really couldn't explain the invisible bond between architecture and me. Somehow, I feel like I'm not totally dislike about this subject, that's good. Maybe as I'm digging in deeper to the ground of the architecture, it will not be as boring as it should be. It's really like visualising what's in the mind to be built in the actual building.More or less, it will be similar to interior design as well. Architecture will be learning about the basic elements of a building, of a house for example. Soon, I'll be learning about the piping system, the ventilation system, electrical supply, and so on. By getting in touch with a little knowledge about architecture, we will actually know how houses are built, the materials, the important criterias the facilities. We are not anticipated to become well-known or top architects around the world, but at least we are well-informed by the knowledge of Architecture. I think I'll be meeting my old friends again-- Physics as I saw them in the Visual Dictionary of Architecture( I'll be getting them by tomorrow's lesson....
XD). I bought 3 books in a package, that costs me RM 380.00. I think the package is far more cheaper then the outside bookstores, I'd made the best decision, a Visual Dictionary of Architecture, the textbook for Architecture also,and a Drawing and Design book). As I mentioned earlier, everything will be new as my new journey leads me ahead. And also my newly-met friends and classmates in the campus. Thanks for the help, guys!

Study Journey~

I'd started my first lesson by yesterday. I shall call it a drawing class, I knew that this week is probably just the introduction of our course. The time where lecturers tell us the rules and regulations to be obeyed, lecturers even share the modules and scopes that they're going to teach. For me, this study journey will be different from the past education systems. No customized uniform to wear, no specific classroom like primary and secondary schools( teachers are not attending to our class, we are the one who is responsible to seek them for lessons, in this case, we are really grown ups, capable to be independent). What's that bothers me is that we don't have tuition classes to depend on... that's bad). That's why our lecturers are our ''dependable'' tuition teachers, and our new tuition centre is our resource centre(both library and the compute lab). The new fact: We Are On Our Own!!! About the reason why I'd decided to choose Foundation in Architecture & Built Environment, it's because I like interior designs much. After this one-year programme, I'll be pursuing a 3-year degree course of Interior Architecture. Why not fashion design, some might say. I had been informed of the competitive atmosphere in the fashion industry. I'm not ready for the peer pressure ahead in this field. We must really bend over backwards to achieve the fame in the circle of designers. There's so must to fight: fame, your label, even for the fabrics... By the way, I'd made up my mind for this journey,just enjoy because there'll be no turning back. Gambate, Natalie!