Construction engineering / Architecture

[de Robespierre]

I think this is a important and interesting part of engineering category. Espacially with thinking of bionic architekture / construction engineering. Its impressive what we can built up today with the nature as example.

 

Here is an example of an awesome tower project. I am looking forward to the experiments of bionic with surface! I mean, today the photovoltaik and solar elements are indispensable for architecture. Thats one step of a great way. And how it began? With Nasa experiments für astronomic work

[InigoMontoya]

Here is an example of an awesome tower project.

I'll bite... What makes the tower awesome?

[CaptainPanic]

For the sake of the discussion, I'll play the role of the opponent... (although now that I read back what I just wrote, I fear it may be seen as trolling or flaming - sorry).

 

I think that the tower is not awesome at all. It is much too expensive for what it does (it's just a building after all), and not very efficient. It will not look good in any city, wherever. Cities are square, and such an organic looking monster looks great in a picture... but try to imagine this monster in Manhattan. It will be hideous as soon as you imagine all the other square buildings next to it.

 

also, all the rooms in the building will not be square, but the geometry of our furniture and a lot of other stuff (screens, books, shelves, even our coffee machine) is made of straight lines, which form squares. So, if the room doesn't follow this convention, then the surface area of the room cannot be fully utilized... which reduces the efficiency of the building, and makes it unnecessarily expensive.

 

Then the building materials... Natural materials (like the fly's wings in the top right corner of the tower picture) are grown - and nature simply does it like this. It originates from something very small, and then grows and grows until the final thing is ready. Nature wouldn't be able to make a straight line even if it wanted to.

However, a building is built by men, using materials from factories. a lot of small components must be put together to form a large structure. I bet that this tower uses a lot of unique components, which will make it a logistical nightmare and a financial disaster. The building is also made of 'smart systems' which are utilized in a dumb way... the surfaces are nearly vertical, which reduces the photovoltaic efficiency by 30% or so... this will increase the energetic payback time with more than 1 year! Nature never intended to be so inefficient. It's unnatural to attempt this.

 

If you wish to copy good ideas from nature, then use the idea of repeating the same things over and over again. For example, a tree has many many leaves. All are the same... so, of we make a factory for small elements - the leaves of the tree - we make a lot of the same ones. Only, nature grows leaves on the tree, so although the initial design is the same for all, the actual leaves differ a little from each other. But unless you're a really smart designer, the tolerance for small differences in components is very small... It is easier to keep all the components the same.

 

Finally, I wonder what company would want to be housed in such a mad building.

 

In short, I can see what makes you enthusiastic, but I hope that this kind of building is never built in my region.

[Adams Baker]

Construction Engineering prepares students to practice as professional engineers and managers in the diverse construction industry. This include research and education opportunities in discrete event simulation, 3D animation, virtual reality of construction safety, emerging construction technologies and multimedia development for construction.