How Buildings Learn

[jackiew]

Got a really fascinating book out of the library - its by a guy called Steward Brand and its called "How Buildings Learn" subtitle What happens after they're built

ISBN No 0 75380 0500

Its full of pictures of buildings changing over the ages and discussions of what makes a successful building for the long term ( i.e. one that people can adapt as their needs change ).

Jackie

PS if you are an architect you may need to go for a calm down walk round the block after reading some of the chapters.

[journeyman Mick]

PS if you are an architect you may need to go for a calm down walk round the block after reading some of the chapters.

Don't tell me it's less that complimentry in its descriptions of some of their blithering idiocy!!! , sounds like my kind of book!

Mick

[craigb]

( i.e. one that people can adapt as their needs change ).

.

So that would mean swaping masonite for gyproc?

[bitingmidge]

So that would mean swaping masonite for gyproc?

And knocking holes in brick walls...would tend to make you wish the bricky hadn't used so much cement in the mortar at that stage I guess??


P

[jackiew]

One of the things he discusses in the book are a whole group of S's - site, Skin ( i.e. cladding ), Structure ( the framework of the building whether it be wood, steal, metal ), Services ( cabling, water pipes etc ), Space ( the room layout ), Scenery ( the internal decoration - including the masonite and plasterboard walls) and Stuff ( the things which fill the rooms ).

Scenery and Stuff we can and do change on a regular basis, the Skin is changed less often but does get changed - sometimes wholesale when a commerical building is given a revamp, sometimes partially - when we take off a board and repair it. The Site we're stuck with ( unless of course we move our building somewhere else ). The Services and the Structure ( and hence the Space ) are the things which we change less often and decisions made up front can make a big difference to the useability of the building when the needs of the occupants change.

He has observations on designing buildings for future maintenance which I have to agree with from my own experience. I've lived in a house where if the inside hot water tank had needed replacement ( and they have a limited life expectancy ) you would basically have needed to demolish the bathroom to get the old one out and the new one in. As I was renovating the bathroom I made the cupboard surrounding the tank capable of being dismantled which was just as well as the cylinder sprang a leak several years later. Just imagine if you'd spent thousands of dollars on your flash new bathroom and had to rip it all out :eek: . I have to say the Australian practice of burying the pipes behind the internal walls rather than running them externally and boxing them in makes me cringe.

The book examines older buildings in both uk and america ( the author lives in the us ) and has heaps of photos. Some of them from the 1860s or so you look at two buildings and think ... is that the same building? because it has had a couple of stories or wings added. It has interesting discussions on commerial buildings and evolutions in their designs - and anyone who works in an office will know that mostly they haven't been built to be maintained after the event and often have been built with total disregard to the needs of the people working there ... often because when the buildings were designed they made assumptions about how the occupants would work and what there needs would be which were totally wrong ... and didn't consider how useable the building might be to anyone else.

[bitingmidge]

I have to say the Australian practice of burying the pipes behind the internal walls rather than running them externally and boxing them in makes me cringe.

Jackie,
You must spend a lot of time cringing!!

Actually it's not that much of a problem, at least not for the first hundred years or so, particularly with modern materials. If there is a failure with a pipe, the gyprock will dissolve, so you don't have to look too far!

Because we (generally) don't have conditions that cause pipes to freeze, apart from the odd dry joint, or obscure galvanic problem, once a building has been commissioned leaks from pipework are quite rare.

It really isn't too hard to replace piping in stud or cavity walls these days using HP plastics either.

On the other hand, pipes buried in concrete where galvanic forces WILL cause problems are a real worry. (Wrapped in insulation and in conduit please, so they can be replaced when the blowout occurs)

Cheers,

P (Whose seen a few wet walls and dripping ceilings)