Architecture Commons^™

Unilever Head Offices, Solano Benitez

Building Case Studies

The brick is produced locally out of native clay.

Chapel Of Reconciliation In Berlin, Germany, Peter Sassenroth, Rudolf Reitermann

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Stone

Material used: Rammed earth

Properties of Material: The use of rammed earth provides a structural strength similar to concrete. Works as a great humidity barrier and installation. Easily found materials. In this case, materials were collected from within the city and ground down.

Keenan Tower House, Marlon Blackwell

Building Case Studies

Material of interest and material used: White oak

Properties of material: The Tower House was proposed as “a house among the trees”. The structure and exterior facade is clearly defined against the sky and surrounding landscape.

Library Of The Eberswalde Technical School, Herzog & De Meuron

Building Case Studies

The molds used for the precast panels were lined with material which was dot-screened by acid etching, pixle by pixle, to duplicate historical photos from the collection of photographer Thomas Ruff which depict German life. The images are repeated along a band around the building.

Moore Honey House, Marlon Blackwell

Building Case Studies

Material of interest and material used: Steel.

Properties of material: Although the material creates a storage place for honey, it also acts as an interesting façade as a result of the transparent glass wall behind it.

Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center, Rpbw Architects

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Iroko wood

Material used: Laminated wood and natural wood, concrete, coral, aluminum castings, glass panels, tree bark and stainless steel

Properties of material: The iroko (Clorophora excelsa) timber used extensively was imported from Africa (native to tropical Africa, from Sierra Leone to Tanzania); it was decided to use iroko because it was durable, and mostly resistant to attack by insects, fungi and mould.

Mobius House In Het Gooi, The Netherlands, Ben Van Berkel

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Concrete.

Material used: Concrete.

Properties of material: Concrete and glass are used together and both materials move together to exchange positions throughout the project. they use of these materials allows the project to blend into its landscape, as well as blur the lines between interior and exterior.

The Therme Vals, Peter Zumthor

Building Case Studies

The idea was to create a form of cave or quarry like structure. Working with the natural surroundings the bath rooms lay below a grass roof structure half buried into the hillside. The Therme Vals is built from layer upon layer of locally quarried Valser Quarzite slabs. This stone became the driving inspiration for the design, and is used with great dignity and respect.

Thermal Vals For Hotel Thermal Vals In Graubhunden Canton, Switzerland, Peter Zumthor

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Stone

Material used: Valser quartzite slab

Properties of material: Locally quarried Valser quartzite slabs are used on the exterior walls of the building. these slabs create thermal mass for the structure as well as enhancing the aesthetic appeal of the building.

Vals Thermal Baths, Peter Zumthor

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Valser Quartzrite.

Properties of material: This stone unique to the area has an unique blend of quartz and feldspar crystals giving it a green hue.

Paper House, Shigeru Ban Architects

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Reusable light materials Material used: Paper roof & Paper tube Properties of material: Lightweight

Gucklhupf, Hans Peter Wörndl

Building Case Studies

A skeleton of studs and beams constitutes the bearing framework onto which the outer fiber-board cladding is applied. Retractable panels at different height transform the space and enhance the relationship between interior and exterior.

Kunsthal, Office Of Metropolitan Architecture

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Corrugated plastic panels.

Properties of material: Usually used in industrial settings. Allows a soft light to filter to the interior exhibit spaces while also hiding the street views. Creates a watercolor effect.

Louvre Glass Pyramid For The Louvre Museum In Paris, France, I.M. Pei

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Glass.

Material used: Glass.

Properties of material: Glass panels in a Steel Frame form the modern element to this historic building. The two triangles, one interior and one exterior, reflect off the other to form a unique relationship.

Institut Du Monde Arabe, Jean Nouvel

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Metal panel.

Properties of material: A shifting geometric pattern is formed and showcased as both light and void. Squares, circles, and octagonal shapes are produced in a fluid motion as light is modulated

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Maya Lin

Building Case Studies

It is black granite from Bangalore, India, one of only three places in the world (the other countries are Sweden and South Africa) that you could get this amount of black granite in large sizes.

Thorncrown Chapel, Fay Jones

Building Case Studies

elabotate trusses made of local pine

Sears Tower (Willis Tower) In Chicago, Illinois, Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (Som)

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Metal.

Material used: Steel.

Properties of material: This Building as a steel-frame construction. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest building in the world.

Valley Curtain In Rifle, Colorado, Christo And Jeanne-Claude

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Hybrid or composite materials

Material used: Woven nylon fabric

Properties of material: Over 200,000 square feet of woven Nylon Fabric is used to span 1,250 feet in a Colorado mountain valley.

Heineken Wobo For Heineken In Noordwijk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, N. John Habraken

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Recycled materials

Material used: Old Heinken bottles

Properties of material: These bottles were manufactured as not only beer bottles, but also to be re- purposed for affordable housing. The neck of one bottle fits into the bottom of another bottle. Using a mortar the stacked bottles can form affordable housing.

Temppeliaukio Kirkko (Rock Church), Timo And Tuomo Suomalainen

Building Case Studies

Unfinished rock is used as a façade material to fit into the context, but also is used as an interior material for acoustic qualities

Temppeliaukio Kirkko (Rock Church), Timo And Tuomo Suomalainen

Building Case Studies

Unfinished rock is used as a façade material to fit into the context, but also is used as an interior material for acoustic qualities

Sea Ranch Condominium 1, Moore Lyndon Turnbull Whitaker

Building Case Studies

The wood façade is left untreated or given muted stains, to allow the buildings to visually blend into the landscape

Beinecke Rare Book And Manuscript Library, Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (Som)

Building Case Studies

The 1 and 1/4 inch thick marble panes are thin enough to allow light to filter beyond the material and into the library space beyond, to light the space, but to not damge the collections.

Wall Of Oil Barrels - The Iron Curtain In Rue Visconti, Paris, France, Christo And Jeanne-Claude

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Recycled material

Material used: Oil barrels

Properties of material: A wall of re-purposed Oil Barrels was used to create a wall on a narrow Paris Street. This installation was done to protest the Berlin Wall.

Us Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (Som)

Building Case Studies

Material of interest: Custom clear aluminum panels, colored glass in aluminum frame.

Material used: The tetrahedrons are each 75 feet long and weigh five tons. They are enclosed with aluminum panels and spaced a foot apart. The gaps in between these tetrahedrons are filled with colored glass, reflecting the light of the chapel.

Properties of material: Durable

Muuratsalo Experimental House, Alvar Aalto

Building Case Studies

This material allows for exploration of different configurations of the unit, and gives a sense of human scale and a haptic quality. Fifty different types of bricks which are arranged in various patterns as a material exploration.

The Johnson Wax Building, Frank Lloyd Wright

Building Case Studies

The building is a complex that includes labratories. The glass on the façade is pyrex glass tubing, which diffuses the natural light and reduces glare, which is important in a highly functional space, such as labratories.

Maison De Verre, Pierre Chareau, Bernard Bijvoet

Building Case Studies

The glass blocks for this house were custom made, with clear glass featuring an elegant circle

The Millard House, Frank Lloyd Wright

Building Case Studies

Whitish-grey pre-cast concrete block formed with cruciform-imprinted molds. Wright used the block due to its modular characteristic making it cheap to make and easy to customize.