BUILDING MATERIALS AS BASIS OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
Pros: easier to acquire, transport, and work
History
Before 19th Century – Stone
After 1800s - Steel & Glass
Late 20th Century - Metallic Surfaces
Present - Smart Materials
Techniques of architecture are methods by which structures
are formed from particular materials. The evolution of
techniques is conditioned by two forces:
•Economic—to maximize stability and durability of
structure with minimum usage of materials and labor
•Expressive—to produce meaningful form
Purpose of building techniques is to create a stable structure.
Technical Functionality 3 ways of supporting weights
depending on materials attributes
1. Compression - resists crushing
2. Tension - resists pulling apart
3. Bending - occurs when one part of a member is in
compression and the other is in tension
Materials
1. Stone - its brittleness makes it strong in compression
but weaker in tension and bending
a. Pros: durability, adaptability to sculptural
treatment, and can be used in modest
structures in its natural state.
b. Cons: difficult to quarry, transport, and cut,
and its weakness in tension limits its use for
beams, lintels, and floor supports.
c. Simplest: Rubble::Complex: Ashlar Masonry
2. Brick - strong only in compression
a. Pros: fire- and weather-resisting qualities and
for the ease of production, transportation, and
laying. The size of bricks is limited by the need
for efficient drying, firing, and handling
b. Cons: used in construction only in conjunction
with mortar, since the unit is too small, too
light, and too irregular to be stabilized by
weight
3. Wood - carries both tensile and compressive loads
due to its organic nature
a.
than other natural materials. All parts of a
building can be efficiently constructed of wood
except foundations
b. Cons: susceptible to fire, mold, and termites
4. Iron, Steel cable & Nylon membrane - High tensile
steel cables with truss-like compression members
supporting a glass reinforced (PTFE) room
membranes. A rubberized nylon membrane
supported by internal pressure.
5. Reinforced concrete - Follows great freedom of
shape delicacy of form. The
materials, a composite of
steel and concrete, carry
tensile, bending, and
compressive forces equally
well.
Aesthetic Functionality - Building materials focuses to touch,
and sight only. The tactile attributes and visual attributes of
materials give the aesthetic characteristics of structure.
Tactile attributes
 Hard: Steel and Glass -Not scratch easily -Accept high
polish -Resist distortion -Durable
 Soft: Rubber and Polymer foam -Defect when handle
– Squashy but when it is released it returned to its
original shape
 Cold: Ceramics, stone and metals are cold and hard;
so is glass
 Warm: Polymer foams and low density wood are
warm and soft; so are balsa and cork
Visual attributes
 Opaque and transparent
o Metals are opaque. Most ceramics are
either opaque or translucent. Glasses, and
single crystals of some ceramics, are
transparent.
 Colour
 Reflectivity
o Diffuse - light strikes rough surfaces. These
surfaces cause the light beams to scatter in
all directions.
o Mirror- light strikes surfaces that are
smooth or glossy. The light reflects off the
surfaces at an equal, but opposite angle to
the source
o Retro - surfaces return a portion of directed
light to its source.