1CHAPTER TITLE

ARCHITECTURE

PRINCIPLES

RUTH SLAVID

CHAPTER NUMBER2

3CHAPTER TITLE

PRINCIPLE 3FORM & FLEXIBILITY

PRINCIPLE 3FORM & FLEXIBILITY

The fundamental difference between a building and a piece of sculpture is that a building has a function – it is a place in which certain activities take place. It is therefore essential that the building is fit for purpose – a concept that sounds simple, but is actually quite complex.

Meeting tomorrow’s needsThe difficulty arises because of the long life-spans of buildings. Most of us find it hard to imagine how we will be living our lives in 20 or even five years’ time, yet our buildings are designed to last for 30 to 50 years – and, as we know from looking around us, many last much longer than that. A well-designed building should be able to serve these unknown future users as well as the users of today. But it is worth starting with today. After all, if a building is not fit for its current purpose, it is highly unlikely that it will suit the users of tomorrow. The first important point is that its fabric should be sound. This means that the structure must be good enough to hold the building up, and it must perform the principal function of buildings in most climates – to keep the weather out. A primary requirement, therefore, is that the building must not leak. With centuries of building experience, it may seem surprising that we have not solved this problem once and for all. Unfortunately a combination of poor understanding, poor detailing, poor execution and poor maintenance results in too many buildings that require a bucket in a near permanent position to catch the drips.

Buildings such as this old warehouse have great flexibility. Here it has been adapted to become the Manchester Science & Industry Museum.

Formerly a Ming Temple (Beijing, China), it has been converted into a residence and gallery.

Without new uses, buildings become derelict.

Coping with the elementsBuilding elements will expand and contract with heat and exposure to sunlight, and if the design does not take this into account, the result can be leaks. If water is allowed to build up, and particularly to freeze and thaw, this will be another potential source of trouble. Buildings must be designed so that they will throw off water. Timber buildings, which can be very durable, are able to resist rain but cannot cope with being permanently soaked. In a damp climate, a timber building needs ‘a hat and a good pair of boots’ – that is, a generous overhanging roof as well as protection from rising or standing water at ground level, or from splashing. Most building elements are now factory made – windows, cladding panels, elements of structure – and the greatest problems arise at the junctions between the different elements. If these have not been well-considered or well made, then they may not come together properly, letting in air if not water. And it certainly has been known for bits of the fabric of a building to fall off – for instance, sheets of glass or elements of cladding to come crashing to the ground.

This building, which is now a designer’s home, used to be a hospital gatehouse.

Another potential problem is with ‘cold bridging’. Buildings are increasingly highly insulated, to minimise the amount of heating or cooling that is needed to bring them to an acceptable temperature. But much of this effort can be negated if there are elements that allow heat to travel from the inside to the outside, or vice versa. This can happen where two metal elements touch, or one goes right through the building. Even non-metallic elements, such as excess pieces of mortar, can form a cold bridge.

Abundant space and good ceiling heights make finding new uses easy.

CHAPTER NUMBER8

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Checklists

PlaceStructureFunction & flexibilityComfortSustainabilityLegibilityLightSoundSurfaceDetails

Specifications 245 x 190 mm (7 1/2 x 9 5/8 in)192 pages with 150 illustrationsPaperbackRecommended retail price: £ 19.95 | € 24.95 | US$ 29.9518,000 wordsISBN 978-1-908126-30-6September 2012

Key features• Clear explanations of each principle• Useful checklists for each chapter

In the same series:10 Principles of Good Interior Design10 Principles of Good Advertising

10 PRINCIPLES of ARChItECtuRERuTh SLavId

The rules of architecture have been discussed since the Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius coined the trilogy firmitas, utilitas and venustas, most commonly translated as firmness, commodity and delight. Put simply, this means that a building should stand up and endure, that it should serve its function, and that it should give pleasure to its users and the wider community.

Great buildings, like great art, contain something that is impossible to define or pin down. But that greatness, in almost all cases, overlays the principles set out in this book. While one cannot guarantee that a building will be great, if all the principles are followed, you will avoid the pitfalls to which too many are subject.

This new title in our 10 Principles series provides clear explanations of each tenet along with useful illustrations to help the reader visualize what is being discussed. The author assumes no background on the subject, but an interest in learning more about what goes into making a building work. An experienced writer on this subject, Ruth Slavid provides a useful and illuminating primer to the field that is accessible to students of architecture, architects or architectural historians or anyone interested in the principles behind the buildings that surround them.

the AuthorRuth Slavid is an author and freelance journalist specialising in architecture and construction. For many years, she worked at The Architect’s Journal. She is the author of Wood Architecture, Extreme Architecture and Micro: Very Small Buildings.

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