Vers Pont du Gard,

France

c. 19 BC - 50 AD

Built by the ancient

Romans to deliver

water to Nîmes,

France

Problem:  To deliver water

from Uzès to Nîmes (the ancient

city of Nemausus) a distance of

approximately 50 kilometers

(31 miles). 

    and steep valleys

    over the entire length)    

    entire length of 50 km

Do the math:  What is the rate of the gradient? 

Note: 1 meter = 39.37 inches

   1 kilometer = 1000 meters

   1 meter = 100 centimeters

   1 mile = 5280 feet

Do the math:  What is the rate of the gradient?   Determine cm/km

17 m    ~  x m

50 km      1 km    17 ÷ 50 = .34m/km = 34 cm/km

17 m x 39.37 in/m = 669.29 in = 55.774 feet

55.774 ft drop  = 1.8 ft/mi = 1’- 9  19/32  in/mile

    31     miles

Dimensions:

Lower level:  6 arches, 22 meters high, with road    

Middle level:  11 arches, 20 meters high

Upper level:  47 arches, 7 meters high with water channel 1.8 meters high and 1.2 meters wide

Longest span: 24 m 52 cm

Shortest span: 4 m 80 cm (consistent)

Delivered 5 million gallons of water daily to Nîmes

Dimensions:

Lower level:  6 arches, 22 meters high, with road    

Middle level:  11 arches, 20 meters high

Upper level:  47 arches, 7 meters high with water channel 1.8 meters high and 1.2 meters wide

Longest span: 24 m 52 cm

Shortest span: 4 m 80 cm (consistent)

Delivered 5 million gallons of water daily to Nîmes

A masonry arch

1. Keystone

2. Voussoir

3. Extrados

4. Impost

5. Intrados

6. Rise

7. Clear span

8. Abutment 

Engineers created the first  reinforced

concrete structures 

Reinforced concrete grain elevators, Buffalo, New York

Design and Engineering

Is about “figuring things out”, from

the grandest to the every day.

Sapporo Beer Can: in house

Design by Sapporo Brewery,

Tokyo, Japan 1977

Formed from aluminum with multi-

faceted sides and “S” curve profile

Ask yourself how you would make

this object.  How did the factory do

It?

Albert Kahn (1869-1942), Detroit, MI

Known for the Fisher Building, he is overlooked as a genius of modern industrial architecture

He had a vision for the American factory.  He wanted larger spans, more height and natural light.  He worked

closely with structural engineers to achieve this.

Albert Kahn kept refining his concept, adding more height and clerestory windows.

         Automobile plant from the 1920’s.  Structural

         Engineering was a key element in the design solution.

Albert Kahn 

masterpiece

Masterpiece: He reached the pinnacle of his concept with the Dodge Truck Plan, Warren, MI., 1938

Exterior view showing extensive use of

glass and unusual clerestory roof/window.

Unusual beams follow roof line.

Form and Function

Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) 

An amateur botanist, and close

observer of nature, he noted: “Form

(ever) follows function”.

He was hired by Dankmar Adler,

an engineer and became his

business partner.

This phrase seems to hold most

true for objects in nature, and man

made objects that express how they

were made and/or which are designed

to perform in extreme conditions.

Guaranty Building,

Louis Sullivan, Architect

Buffalo, New York, 1894

With this early steel frame

“high rise”building, he sought

to express columns at exterior

walls and to emphasize height.

The building’s terra cotta panels

exhibit elaborate ornamental

designs based on plant life. It

could be argued this is an

expressive “function”.  A poetic

architect’s striving to convey

the notion his building is a

natural object.

Function, Project Description:

Store large quantities of water above grade to ensure

a steady supply under pressure.  Solutions…

Reinforced concrete        cantilevered funnel shape       

Function, Project Description:

Store large quantities of water above grade to ensure

a steady supply under pressure.  Solutions…

        Steel, oblate sphere with

       steel and concrete columns

Airship Hanger, 1916, Orly, France

Eugene Freyssinet, Engineer

Cast, reinforced concrete, parabolic sections joined

1930 (bombed by Nazis)

Pier Luigi Nervi, Architect and Engineer

Constructed of “Ferro Cemento” a technique invented

by Nervi.  Concrete is sprayed over “chicken wire” over 

wood forms to yield repeatable shapes.  

Structure as a design determinant

Municipal Stadium,1932              

Florence, Italy    

Pier Luigi Nervi, Architect/Engineer         

Bold designs use extreme cantilevers to give drama to a common building type.  Municipal Stadium uses cast, reinforced concrete, repeated elements.

Structure as a design determinant

             Race Course Grandstand, 1935            

La Zarzuela, Spain

         Eduardo Torroja, Architect/Engineer

Bold designs use extreme cantilevers to give drama to a common building type.  Municipal Stadium uses cast, reinforced concrete, repeated elements.

Race Course uses thin concrete “shell” structure that gets its strength from 

curved, scalloped “fold”.  Sometimes called “folded plate” structure.          

Spanning Space

  Firth of Forth Bridge

  Scotland, 1890

  Sir John Folwer

  Sir Benjamin Baker

  Steel truss, cantilever

  of 680 feet

Salginatobel Bridge

Swiss Alps, 1930

Robert Maillart

Before equations existed to study,

he used models and mock-ups to test

his original shapes.

Spanning Space

  Golden Gate Bridge

  San Francisco, CA 1937

  Joseph Strauss, Engineer in Charge

  Irving Morran, Architect

  Charles Alton Ellis, calculations

  Art Deco masterpiece

  4,200 feet center span

George Washington Bridge

New York City, 1931

Othmar Amman, Engineer

Cass Gilbert, Architect

2 decks, 14 lanes, one of

busiest in the world.

Streamline Design, the look of speed

  New York Central modern Hudson

  locomotive, 1938

  Designed by industrial designer

  Henry Dreyfuss

  Gray and silver scheme

Heavy running during World War II

took its toll.  Design didn’t wear its

grime well.  Soon the modern shrouds

came off for easy repair, ruining

design.

Aircraft Design

      SR-71 Blackbird, 1964

        Lockheed “Skunkworks”

        Designer: Clarence Kelly Johnson

        2,193 MPH

        L.A. to Washington D.C.,1 hr.4 min.

        At extreme conditions, the design

        has to follows laws of nature with

        no elements “just for affect”.

         Plane is mostly titanium.  Fuel

         is circulated through skin for

         cooling.  Has to account for

         extreme expansion/contraction

         Fuselage has shape of wing.

Pruitt Igoe

St. Louis

Minoru Yamasaki

Levittown  Long Island, New York

First mass-produced suburb, built  1947 – 1951

Habitat 67  Montreal, Canada

Designed by Moshe Safdie, 1967     

Frank Gehry’s House

Santa Monica, California, 1920 pink colonial

Remodeled in 1977 and 1991   

Maison à Bordeaux

 Rem Koolhaas

 Bordeaux, France 

 1998

Palladio

Andrea Palladio  (1508 – 1580)

Andrea Palladio  (1508 – 1580)

Symmetrical & Asymmetrical compositions

Type       Contrast  Resulting Attributes

____________________________________________

Asymmetrical         Maximum  Emotionally Active
  Aesthetically dynamic

  Spatially in depth

  Sense of vitality

_____________________________________________________

Symmetrical         Minimum  Emotionally passive
  Aesthetically decorative
  Spatially static

  Sense of order

_____________________________________________________

Villa Rotonda

Vicenza, Italy

Built 1569

Facade

Villa Barbaro

Maser, Italy

Built 1560

Villa Foscari

Mira, Italy

Built 1563

Front

Facade

Winslow House 1893

By Frank Lloyd Wright; River Forest, Illinois

Vanna Venturi House 1959 - 1964

By Robert Venturi; Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania 

Guild House 1961

By Robert Venturi; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

Dream House 1998

By Hugh Newell Jacobsen, Virginia

Hill House (House for an Art Lover) 1901

By Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scotland

Gropius House 1937

By Walter Gropius; Lincoln, Massachusetts

Douglas House 1973

By Richard Meier; Harbor Springs, Michigan

Rachofsky House 1996

By Richard Meier; Dallas, Texas

Paris History:

    Settled by the Celts

    Romans take control

    Gothic Period

     intellectual center of

     Europe

     Black Death kills

     one-third of Europe

    Ruled 1643 – 1715

    Ruled 1715 - 1774

    Ruled 1774 – 1792

    Guillotined 1793

    Marie Antoinette,

    his wife, guillotined

    later

    French Revolution 

    Ruled 1804 – 1814

    First Empire

    Ruled 1852 - 1870

    Second Empire

    modernized Paris

    1852 - 1870

    1914 – 1919

    1939 - 1945

:  Haussmannization

      1.  Urban Planning

2.  Lighting

3.  Sewers

4.  Uniformity of Buildings

5.  Wide Boulevards

6.  Monuments at

     Hubs/Nodes

Notre Dame

Cathedral

1163 - 1345

Gothic Architecture

Jardin des Tuileries:  1660 - 1664

Designed by André le Nôtre, gardener of King Louis XIV

Museé du Louvre:  Opened in 1793

Designed by Pierre Lescot, Pyramid designed by I.M. Pei

Previously a Royal Palace for the monarchy

Arc de Triomphe:  1806 – 1836

Designed by Pierre Chalgrin

Commission by Napoleon Bonaparte to commemorate his victories

Place de la

Bastille:  Colonne

De Juillet

Commemorates the

1830 Revolution

Built on the site of the

original Bastille Prison where

The Revolution first started on

July 14, 1789 

Opéra Garnier:  1862 - 1875

Designed by Charles Garnier as part of the Haussmannization of Paris under Napoleon III

Tour Eiffel:  1889

Designed by Gustave Eiffel

Commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the French Revolution

Washington D.C.

Urban Plan for

Washington, D.C.

By

Pierre L’Enfant

Designed in 1791

at request of

President

George Washington

Musée d’Orsay:  Completed in 1900

Designed as a railway station for the Exposition Universelle

1939:  No longer used for trains.

1961 to 1977:  Sat vacant

1977 – 1986:  Converted to an art museum 

La Défense :  1982 – 1989

Designed by Otto van Spreckelsen

Commission by President Mitterand as a 20th C Arc de Triomphe

Commemorates the 200th Anniversary of French Revolution

Detroit

Urban Plan for

Detroit by

Augustus B. Woodward

Designed in 1807

After the fire of 1805