ARTI 350 Materials and Construction I

The Physical Makeup

of the

Built Environment

Interior ArchitectureCan Be

Compartmentalized

• The built environment is often compartmentalized, broken up into smaller, manageable parts, in large part for convenience.

• There are three primary methods of doing this:• 1. By materials• 2. By function• 3. By location

Materials

• Materials:

• the built world is described in terms of the materials that makeup the specific elements involved.

• wood glass metal• brick plastic water• stone soil clay

These are general descriptors. There are many types of wood, metal,

plastic, et cetera.

Function

• Function:

• the built world is described in terms of the function, the task, that the element performs.

• door window ceiling signage• alarm stair wall floor• trim partition screen duct

Location

• Location• the built world is described in terms of the location (or orientation) of

the element.• • rafter header column beam• transom pediment attic clerestory

• riser tread landing

A word about ‘Function’

• Designers think about ‘function’ as a multi-dimensional characteristic.

• Designers often view ‘function’ as consisting of:

• Use: Does it work?

• Ink bottles should not tip over.

• Shoes should not hurt feet.

• Need: Needs vary, as individuals vary. Beauty and pleasure can be needs.

Function

• Telesis: "The deliberate, purposeful utilization of the processes of nature and society to obtain particular goals." Dictionary”

• The telesic content of a design must reflect the times and conditions that have given rise to it, and must fit in with the general human socio-economic order in which it is to operate." Victor Papanek, “Design for the Real World”, p 34-51

• Association: Our psychological conditioning, often going back to earliest childhood memories, comes into play and predisposes us to or against certain values. Designers must recognize that conditioning and work with it.

Function

• Aesthetics: "A theory of the beautiful in the area of taste and art.”

• "It is a tool, one of the most important in the repertory of the designer. A tool that helps in shaping forms and colors into entities that move us, please us, and are beautiful, exciting, filled with delight, meaningful.”

• Method: The interaction of tools, processes and materials.

• An honest use of materials.• Never making one thing look like another.• Integrity.

• The text book, “Sustainable Building Systems and Construction for Designers” provides “a holistic overview of the building construction process with an emphasis on the design and construction of sustainable interiors for interior designers.”

• Chapter 1 addresses how designers work within a team structure, groups and agencies that are involved with energy, environment, and sustainability, and some of the foundation principles of the environmental movement.

• Class lectures will not re-present material in the readings. As a university student it is your obligation to read the book, keep a list of questions, and ask them in class. My lectures will often present material that is different from what the textbook presents.

• structural terms

• it is important to have a clear and accurate understanding of commonly used structural terminology. the terms apply to all construction technology--from furniture design to parking garages

• force

• in mechanics, the physical quantity which, when it acts on a body, either causes it to change its state of motion [acceleration] or tends to deform it [elastic strain]. forces are vector quantities with direction as well as magnitude.

• compression: the force which tends to shorten a structural member

• tension : the force which tends to lengthen a structural member

• shear: parallel forces acting in opposite directions

Forces: compression, tension, shear

• span: the distance between the supports of a structural member

• simple beam: a beam resting on two supports

• cantilever beam: a beam which projects from a single support

span

simple beam

cantilever beam

• bending moment : the tendency of forces, compression and tension, to cause rotation in different parts of a beam.

• Considerations•

• because structures enclose and determine the configurations of spaces, their design is of great importance to an interior designer. some of the structural decisions which have great impact on interior space planning are:

• the distances between support walls and/or columns

• the ratio of openings to solids in exterior walls

• the locations of openings in exterior walls

• the amount of building volume consumed by structure

• the interference of the structure with building systems, such as mechanical and electrical services

• the amount of deflection in floor and ceiling surfaces

• locations where the structure may be safely punctured for vertical mechanical, electrical, and plumbing risers

• the character of the structural system as it is perceived and experienced from interior spaces

• the flexibility of the structural system with regard to future changes in interior planning.

• column: a vertical supporting element• beam: a horizontal element

• Note: the terminology used in design is largely descriptive of HOW an element is used

• (a piece of wood 2 x 4 used in a horizontal orientation is a 'beam', while the very same piece of wood 2 x 4 used in a vertical orientation is then a column)

Columns: doric, ionic, corinthian

Beams

• The built interior environment has changed• dramatically as human needs have expanded/increased

in response to new technologies.

• Try to imagine living without: • heating systems (a furnace with duct work)• cooling systems (refrigerators, air conditioning)• lighting systems (overhead lighting, track lights) • communication systems (telephones)• transportation systems (elevators, escalators)

• Each of these areas of need/desire, have

• had huge impacts on the character of the interior/architectural environment.

• Elevators did not exist before 1830, central air conditioning did not exist before the early 1900’s.