Module 3 - Points to Ponder

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

• Creating the building without the toposurface is like making a cake without the batter. You can't do it because the site is vital to how the design is created.

When designing a project...

• Should the building adapt to the terrain?
• The building should work with the terrain—not against it. We are all subject to mother nature just like this quote: “Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust.” -Sun Tzu
• Or, should you adapt the terrain to the building?
• Any construction project modifies the terrain to some extent, though hopefully we will be more sensitive to the land. Like in Singapore, they have to replant any nature that they removed to keep the balance.

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?
• If the house is in an HOA where there are certain uniform restrictions.
• From a designer's perspective?
• Like FLW compress and release design concept, the ceiling height cant affect the space completely.
• From an engineer's perspective?
• Depending on load bearing sheer walls, or building cores, the ceiling height can impact the amount of load the structural components take. Especially with commercial multistory buildings where they are large.
• From a builder's perspective?
• No matter the design drawing/BIM/concept, humans have to construct the building (though now technology is insane), but mostly builders have to physically construct it which can lead to designs getting the reality check stamped on them.
• From an owner's perspective?
• The owner might want specific attributes in their building that the designers/engineers do not agree with. Thus their input is vital as it is a service industry after all.

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)?
• I can only really think of a lecture hall, where the building is essentially a sloped box. That shares a purpose for lectures though. (Thinking of Hewlett 201).
• What were the advantages or reasons for non-vertical stacking?
• Design aspects that manipulate space to create a feeling of intrigue or just plain different. Using lofts or even creating green outdoor space between levels is interesting.

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?
• If the connection between floors is not long enough, or too long, that adds to construction time. BIM allows us to correctly create the dimensions of construction.

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?