Week 1 1. Construction Overview by Clare Newton Key idea of the subject: How do design ideas get translated into the built form. -Structure principles: the way the building are supported how loads are transported to the ground -Material properties: the price how to construct the building (different in different cities and climates) -Labour: who to do what Learn through -experimentation -observation 2. Introduction to Materials by Clare Newton -Strength: strong - steel weak - timber -Stiffness: stiff, flexible, stretchy or floppy -Shape: mono-dimensional (linear), bi-dimensional (planar) or tridimensional (volumetric) -Material Behaviours: isotopic or anisotropic -Economy -Sustainability 3. Basic structure forces According to Clare Newton A FORCE is any influence that produces a change in the shape or movement of a body -Tension Forces When an external load pulls on a structural member,the particles composing the material move apart and undergo tension.Tension forces stretch and elongate the material. -Compression Forces

A compression force produces the opposite effect of a tension force. When an external load pushes on a structural member, the particles of the material compact together.

4. Melbourne's Bluestone According to Dr Margaret Grose 'Walking the constructed City' Natural environment to Cultural environment Blue stone = basalt (from volcanos north and northwest to Melbourne) Sydney = sandstone Perth = clay bricks and limestone Damage to the bluestones (lava, wheels, modern vehicles) The road level changes because people need use modern vehicles Bluestone is hard - be used to build a foundation of a building Marble of the State Library - from other places Landscape is the fundamental background to the constructed city. 5. Loads path diagrams According to Clare Newton Dead loads: permanent loads Live loads: loads which could move Tutorial Task 1.Build a tower as high as possible by using little bricks 2.The tower should be able to accommodate a little toy deer.

At first we build the foundation like a square and there is no spare space between bricks. To improve the efficiency of the materials. We decide leave a half-brick space between each bricks. As we need to create a 'gate'. We make the tower more circled when it gets taller. We need to close the top of the tower. So we put bricks on bricks more and more front from two sides and finally connected them. Compared with other students's works. We find that we have two points that could be improved: First, we could make the tower be more symmetrical to make it more stable. Second, to create a 'gate', we do not need to connect on the top, we could build a tower then pull some bricks out from the bottom. Knowledge Map:

Week 2 1. Structural Systems According to Clare Newton -Solid structure - pyramids, the Great Wall (mostly compression,arches efficient) -Surface structure - Sydney opera house -Skeletal(frame) structure - Eiffel Tower -Membrane structure - efficient and cheap -Hybrid structure - Swimming Cube, Bird's Nest (New in history,efficiently,economically and quickly) 2. Construction Systems According to Clare Newton -Enclosure Systems -Structural Systems -Service Systems To differentiate the systems and structure -Performance requirements -Aesthetic qualities -Economic efficiencies -Environmental impacts 3. Environmentally Sustainable Design Consideration

4. Structural Joints Roller joints

Pin joint Fixed joints Tutorial Task Use thin pieces of balsa wood to build a tower as high as possible. The tower need to be able to support a Tape.

Firstly, We made a cross with two short sticks as a foundation. We cut grooves on both the two sticks and connect them. So the foundation would be stable. Later we stick 4 long sticks on the 4 ends of the cross and put another cross on the top to make it more stable. Compared with other groups' works, ours didn't use short sticks but long ones. So our tower looks simple and due to there is no curve but straight sticks, our tower could be higher with the same amount of materials. Knowledge Map: