Module 3

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?

Accurately modeling a building’s surrounding topography is important because so much of the building’s layout relies on the surrounding terrain. For instance, the location of floors, entrances, windows, and paths, are all related to the surrounding terrain. Even the shape of floor plans is dependent on the layout of the ground. Therefore, it is critical that the topography is correct, so that the building itself can be properly represented.

When designing a project...

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

I believe that both options are possible and selecting the best one depends on the situation. In most cases, it is probably easier to adapt the terrain to the building, by leveling the ground and constructing a building on a level grade. However, there are instances where adapting the building to the terrain could be preferable. First, there are aesthetic benefits, as I believe that adapting buildings to the landscape looks good and requires more creative designing. Secondly, I think adapting buildings can be more practice in some cases, especially when the topography is extreme.

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?

The benefit of vertically stacking levels directly on top of each other is that this design is easy to construct as the walls of the upper floor are directly on top of the walls of the lower floor. However, non-vertically stacked floors can be useful for when the house is on a steep incline, and the structure needs to conform to the topography. This design choice was implemented by Frank Lloyd Wright in Fallingwater with different floor levels varying in shape and placement.

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?

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?