My architectural design skills are important in most of my architectural classes, but specifically in ARCH462 I focus on the skills of research, collaboration and detail-orientation. After having taken this class for a whole semester, I feel pretty confident about my ability to use and understand professional terminology. I feel that I know enough to use inferences or ask questions to clarify that which I have not yet grasped. It is much easier to ask questions if I have a strong basis. That professional terminology includes types of materials, construction techniques, production methods, and histories.
On top of that , I am also able to dive deep into the materiality of certain building assemblies. After learning about their backgrounds, applications and precedents, I can better understand how they can function in a structural system (both on their own and also in combination with the other systems involved). This in-depth analysis encourages me to think about the building on a more detailed level, creating a more comprehensive project.
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Figure 7: Construction Detail, van der Rohe
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I have also learned to recognize and appreciate that materials do more for a building than just provide appearance; sustainability, cultural traditions, and operating systems are all areas that inform the properties of a material. For example, the use of the I-beam system (Figure 7) allowed van de Rohe to utilize new supports for larger windows in skyscrapers and create ornamentation.
Figures 8-9: Edward St. John Center Cladding Systems
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I got a 100/100 on this Take-Home portion so I did not need to revise. This assignment shows the two types of cladding systems used in UMD's ESJ building. I created diagrams to show assembly, explained the methods, as well as advantage and disadvantages for each.
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Lastly, I feel that I would be able to list the benefits and disadvantages of certain assemblies. In fact, one of the methods of learning that helped me learn in my classes this semester was using comparison and contrast to learn about different building systems. This is especially helpful because it goes off on the idea that materials and construction systems don’t exist in a bubble, but are instead informed by the other context around them too. Using this approach to understanding and deciding what system to utilize in a building presses me to do research and learn about materials themselves rather than just choosing them for aesthetic purposes. This idea of comparison is echoed in the cladding system informational sheets in Figures 8-9, as I discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each, which helped me to understand them better. Going forward in my schooling and my career, I will always try to retain my knowledge about construction, if not grow it, so that I can be of more use during projects.