Your Name
Ethan Petersen
Submitted For
Module 3 - Points to Ponder
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?
All aspects of the building are effected by the topography. It determines where you are able to place windows and doors, as well as having structural implications. Ideally one takes the surrounding topography into account when designing the overall form of the building, as well.
When designing a project...
- Should the building adapt to the terrain?
- Or, should you adapt the terrain to the building?
Both necessarily happens. This is because the terrain must be deformed somewhat to create a stable building surface, but completely flattening the site is usually not feasible, or even desirable.
What considerations affect a project team's decision-making when deciding the floor-to-floor height to use in a multi-story building?
- From a real estate developer's perspective?
- From a designer's perspective?
- From an engineer's perspective?
- From a builder's perspective?
- From an owner's perspective?
This metric interacts with all aspects of the building’s design. An increase in the floor-to-floor height usually creates a more airy and enjoyable interior space, but also usually means increased construction costs and engineering demands.
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)?
- What were the advantages or reasons for non-vertical stacking?
Why do stairs follow specific proportions with a set relationship between the tread length and riser height?
- How can building modeling help prevent the mistakes that often occur when designing and installing stairs?