Module 3 - Points to Ponder

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It is important to accurately model the land features of your project site with a toposurface to be able to design the structure exactly the way you want it to fit into the landscape. In my opinion architecture should add to its environment and not simply be placed on top of it, so this is an important step in rendering 3d models. It is also important to understand the way that the structure will interact with its surroundings and design it in a way to best fit its site.

The building should adapt to the terrain. I think it is extremely important for architecture to not take away from its environment and rather should actually add to the site it is created on. It is possible to adapt the terrain to fit the architecture, but I think there is a special kind of beauty that is added to a project when it adapts to the terrain. There will always be a need for excavation and changing the terrain slightly in order for a structure to be built but it is important for a structure to take into account the many things around it, such as hills, trees, sun patterns, etc.

A major advantage of stacking the levels of a multi-story building vertically is to take full advantage of the space given to a project. Stacking stories vertically allows for more tenants to live in high rise apartment buildings, more offices and meeting rooms in office buildings, etc. However, this is not always the most pleasant to look at as a viewer from the outside.
An example of a building that does not stack levels vertically is The Interlace by RSP Architect Planners Engineers and OMA in Singapore, Singapore. This building has many different layers stacked in different angles and some advantages to doing so is that the building is much more interesting to look at from the outside and it allows the floors to be much longer and wider. This is an extremely interesting building and I highly recommend everyone to take a look at it!