Points to Ponder

Your Name
Aisha Olasewere
Submitted For
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?

When designing a project...

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

I believe that the building should be adapted to fit the slopes and elements of the terrain. On a broader scale of discussing how structures should relate to their environment, I believe the same goes for climate-specific questions, in which physically constructed spaces should face alterations that best fit the climate of the surrounding environment. For a home to sustain itself, and also prove to be a sustainable facet of the environment, it’s design must align with the environmental needs of the local region.

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?

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?

It is important that stairs follow specific vertical and horizontal proportions because it provides a smoother experience physically for users of the space. It allows for a necessary degree of comfort and ease as it properly aligns with the motions used to climb stairs. And, when visually represented by images on revit, the design appears more realistic.

Describe a case when it would be worthwhile to create a new custom component in Revit… How do you decide when customize versus using readily available components?

When designing structures with unique elements and non-traditional shapes, I find bringing in custom components to be helpful because they are better tailored to the specific shape of the space. Regarding areas with a traditional shape (simple squares or rectangles with average window and door placements) such as bedrooms and bathrooms, I generally found using readily available components easier and more efficient. Also, for spaces like the kitchen where a lot of features were required, I found it easiest to import a whole kitchen-set component rather than constructing one from scratch with many smaller pieces as it was more efficient and visibly accurate.