Constructing environment

Week 6 studio journal

Jianpeng Deng, 657598

This week, regarding to the e-learning section, the videos are mainly about the

materials that are used for construction purpose. More specifically, it is about

metals, the nature of which is malleable and ductile, it means that metals can be

made in any shape, and they are ‘elastic’ enough to be bent and they are not

brittle. Of all the metals, iron is widely used in construction industry and this is

because iron is one of commonly seen elements in the world, which turns out it is

a cheap material. Also, we are introduced other metals like aluminum, copper

and zinc; each of them has strengths in different aspects, therefore they are used

in very different ways, for example, copper is cheap and well-conductive and so it

is generally used in electrical wires. Alloys are combinations of different metal

elements so as to achieve certain purpose; for example, bronze that is made of

copper and tin is excellent at sustainability. Moreover, the very downside about

metals is corrosion or rust, therefore, protections are very necessary; there are

few ways to prevent metals from rusting, they are painting/lacquering that cover

a layer of insulation on metals, and electro plating is that one metal is carried by

electrical current to cover the surface of another.

For the in-class section, the four groups take turns to explain the findings about

the building drawings they are assigned to, the buildings are Eastern Student

Centre, Msle building, Queens college extension and Ormond theology center

reception. Msle building is my group’s task, we take notes of the building

structures like primary and secondary structures, walls, roof and the corridor on

first floor, and all this information will be helpful in the following model making.

Primary structure is the main structure that transfers both live and dead loads to

the ground, in this case, it refers to the walls at both sides and the stairs at the

back of the structure. Secondary structure is the sub-structure that the main

purpose of which is not to be load-bearing; however, in some ways it does help to

transfer loads to the ground, in this case, the façade of the structure should be

included in this category, since the load of the roof mostly relies on the walls at

both sides, therefore, the front door is rather individual.

Here are the pictures of the model of Msle building as shown below. This is not

the whole structure of Msle building, but only to the grid 1-2 times A-E in

accordance with the drawings, it clearly shows the corridor in first floor that is

supported by the a “I”-shape beam and “C”-shape purlin, in addition, the roof is

made of plasterboard ceiling at the bottom, and then on the above there are

beams, metal cladding and roof insulation at the very top.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3