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Full-Text Articles in Architecture
Umass Dartmouth Science And Engineering (Seng) Building Systems Upgrades Project, Jillian Cornelius
Umass Dartmouth Science And Engineering (Seng) Building Systems Upgrades Project, Jillian Cornelius
UMassBRUT Community
Although UMass Dartmouth's Science and Engineering Building has long been viewed as an architectural treasure, its aging interior and structure have presented some challenges to users nearly 50 years after it opened. This talk examines Ellenzweig's extensive retrofitting of the UMass Dartmouth SENG building for accessibility, a new envelope, updated MEP, and fire-safety measures. After looking at the design phase and interactions with the Mass Historic Commission, the talk ends with an examination of the replacement of windows in the building.
Brutalist Structures – Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Theresa Wolejko
Brutalist Structures – Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Theresa Wolejko
UMassBRUT Community
Until they were banned by the Federal Government in 1978, Polychlorinated Biphenyls or PCBs, were used extensively as sealants in Brutalist structures across the United States. As a result, these hazardous chemical compounds still reside in concrete buildings and present a danger to those looking to clean or renovate Brutalist structures. This talk explains the problems the University of Massachusetts Amherst has faced in dealing with PCBs over the last couple of decades and recommends some best practices for owners, designers, builders working on midcentury buildings which are suspected to contain these dangerous chemicals.
Concrete Deterioration And Diagnosis, Matthew B. Bronski
Concrete Deterioration And Diagnosis, Matthew B. Bronski
UMassBRUT Community
Built primarily in the 1960’s, mid-century modernist concrete buildings are now at the age when we regard many as historic or architecturally significant (and thus as deserving of careful restoration and stewardship), but also at an age where many now exhibit significant deterioration. In this presentation, Matthew Bronski describes the most common maladies and deterioration mechanisms that can befall exposed concrete facades, outlines investigative and diagnostic approaches, and discuss the pros and cons of different rehabilitation treatment options, and the importance of tailoring the treatment to the malady.
Umass Amherst Case Studies – Campus Center Plaza & Lederle Graduate Research Center, Elliott Hambrook
Umass Amherst Case Studies – Campus Center Plaza & Lederle Graduate Research Center, Elliott Hambrook
UMassBRUT Community
This presentation discusses Gale’s recent experience with repair projects at two (2) brutalist structures on the Amherst Campus at UMass. A board-formed concrete retaining wall at the base of the Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center (Marcel Breuer, 1970) was tastefully modified, but retained, as part of a waterproofing replacement project, addressing water infiltration and improving sight lines across the Campus Center Plaza. The panelized precast concrete façades of the John W. Lederle Graduate Research Center (Campbell, Aldrich, & Nulty, 1969) received new exterior sealants, enlarged panel joints, PCB removal and encapsulation, supplemental panel anchorage, and a waterproof coating.
Concrete Diagnostics & Assessment, Michael Schuller
Concrete Diagnostics & Assessment, Michael Schuller
UMassBRUT Community
The process of repairing Brutalist architecture begins with diagnosis and assessment of the material conditions of these buildings. This talk focuses on the processes that engineers undertake in order to document and access historic concrete before conservators and designers can form a plan to save such buildings. The speaker gives insight into the diagnostic techniques, such a visual assessment, nondestructive evaluation, sounding, moisture and metal detection, and chemical analysis.
Concrete Conservation Strategies And Repair, Paul Gaudette
Concrete Conservation Strategies And Repair, Paul Gaudette
UMassBRUT Community
Drawing on the speaker's many years in the field, this talk gives a comprehensive overview of concrete conservation. Beginning with the goals and approaches to conserving concrete, the talk then covers common protection systems, petrographic and chemical studies, and the design of mixes used in repairs. In order to demonstrate these techniques, two case studies are examined, including a Brutalist building and building with architectural precast. The talk ends with some recommendations on how to best approach cleaning and conservation of historic concrete buildings.
Campus Sustainability, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham
Campus Sustainability, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham
UMassBRUT Community
Sustainability at the UMass Amherst Campus is part of a long tradition of Sustainable Development and is driven by a century of policy, culminating in the latest efforts of the Massachusetts Commonwealth to plan for climate change and carbon neutrality. This presentation provides a summary of current initiatives and processes that are underway to reduce the UMass Amherst carbon footprint and to plan for a transition to renewable energy. It gives an overview of the sustainability and campus engagement resources that Campus Planning makes available to the public and its community of faculty and students, so that they can understand …
Approaches To Renewing Brutalist-Era Lab Buildings, Jean Caroon
Approaches To Renewing Brutalist-Era Lab Buildings, Jean Caroon
UMassBRUT Community
Given the immense amount of embodied carbon that mid-century Brutalist structures represent, we must redirect our focus from demolishing these concrete structures to renovating them to fit our needs in the 21st century. Higher education laboratory buildings from the 1960s and 1970s are a particularly challenging type of facility. This talk describes the work that Boston architecture firm Goody Clancy has recently undertaken in renovating over 1 million square feet of lab building space. The talk not only covers specific retrofits and envelope improvements to science buildings, such as the Gant Science Complex at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, …
Modern Heritage: Why It Matters, And What Gci Is Doing To Help Conserve It, Chandler Mccoy
Modern Heritage: Why It Matters, And What Gci Is Doing To Help Conserve It, Chandler Mccoy
UMassBRUT Community
The Getty Conservation Institute entered the field of conserving modern heritage in 2013, with the establishment of its Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative (CMAI). The CMAI aims to advance the practice of conserving modern heritage and feels that the best way to retain and reuse modern buildings is by knowing how to maintain, repair and upgrade them, and does this by providing useful tools, case studies, and training to help promote this effort. There has recently been a wave of notable demolition cases which raises the question about the environmental impact of replacing existing buildings with new ones, with many concerned …