Roof
The transforming application of a plane.




"We beleive the computer revolution has
leftmost of you behind."

-Dan O’sullivan and Tom Igoe



2004

A roof is better defined as one of the three elementary parts of architecture: points, lines, and planes. In Its basic form the plane can change according to the parameters laid out by the designer. Throughout its transformation it holds many of the characteristics that walls and skins also hold. It is only after its application that the planes orientation defines it as a roof. Through out history the roof has been redefined multiple times in response to culture, climate, economics, welfare, etc. The question we have to ask ourselves is what truly defines the roof of the present and the future. In my opinion it is a mixture of forces driving the design of today’s roof structures. In my opinion the movement for a greener and more sustainable architecture should combine with the innovative technologies offered by computer programs and digital fabrication. Together they would create a freeform roof that responds to the occupant as well as the environment around it.
_gap




References:
Quote- O’Sullivan, Dan, and Tom Igoe Physical Computing (2004)Thompson, Boston, Ma pgXVII
Image- Rafael Vinoly Architects. www.rvatr.com

Walls

The Boundary of our lives.

“But the wall is a good thing” _Don Tomlinson

May 2007

Don Tomlinson said this in a National Geographic article about the new wall being installed at the United States and Mexico after his brother said he felt sorry for the Mexicans. In Webster a wall is defined as many things. First it is a think and tall masonry structure making a protective barrier for the prepuces of defense or a structure that holds back a form of pressure. It is also defined as one side of a room or building connecting floors and ceilings as well as a material enclosed space. The final one is something that resembles a wall especially if it acts as a barrier or defense. To me walls are a protective barrier. In a building they keep the elements like rain, snow, ice, cold out and the inside at a nice dry temperature. Other walls like the bremer wall which is used in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect the bases from blast. Another good example is the wall between the United States and Mexico. The wall was designed to keep immigrants from entering the United States illegally. In a number of areas you cannot get thought the wall which is made of three walls. The first being made of twenty foot high reinforced concrete followed by a steel mesh wall, and finally ten yards later there is a cyclone fence topped with jagged concertina wire. These new walls have slowed illegal immigration greatly at the 1950 mile border. In the end walls do a lot to protect us from a number of things. If it was not for walls we would have a lot of problems. _DCL

References:

Webster

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wall

Where U.S.-Mexico border fence is tall, border crossings fall

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0401/p01s05-usgn.html?page=1

Bremer wall

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremer_wall

National Geographic

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/us-mexican-border/bowden-text/3

Picture

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/us-mexican-border/bowden-text/1