Module 3 - Points to Ponder

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Module 3 - Points to Ponder
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Please share your comments on 3 of the following Points to Ponder questions. (Choose 3 of the questions below.)

Why is it important to accurately model the land features of your project site with a toposurface?

  • What aspects of a building design are most affected by the terrain features?

Its important to model the land features of the project because the site dictates a lot about the building. You want the floors to be level and windows to be above ground, so understanding the height changes in the terrain is essential.

When designing a project...

  • Should the building adapt to the terrain?
  • Or, should you adapt the terrain to the building?

This might be site-specific. It’s probably the most sustainable to adapt a building to its surroundings, but if that impedes the efficiency of the building, that should be avoided.

What are the advantages of stacking the levels of a multi-story building vertically?

  • Can you share an interesting example of a building that doesn’t vertically stack (where the floor plates change their shaped radically between the floor levels)?

The Alberni by Kengo Kuma in Vancouver is a building I had the priviledge of driving by every day of high school. It is a dynamic building with a curvature born from it’s stacking.

  • What were the advantages or reasons for non-vertical stacking?
    • visual appeal
    • to fit the building into it’s surroundings better
    • opportunity for green roofs/multipurpose spaces in the gaps
    • not very economical or efficient though