image ARCH 366/666 The Tectonic Articulation of Structure
Reading: Fall 2004
Jonathan Ochshorn: contact | office hours | homepage | index for ARCH 366/666
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Questions for Week 5
Briefly answer each question (1-3 sentences should do in most cases). Please type (or print neatly) and submit at the end of class on the date due.
To find readings online:

1. Go to Cornell Library Catalog.

2. Click "Course Reserve."

3. Click on the drop-down menu at "course" to find ARCH 366 (students registered for ARCH 666 should use ARCH 366 to obtain readings). Then click "Search" to display available course readings.

Note: check course reading list or assignment handout to confirm which readings are required.

Due: September 27, 2004

5a. Jonathan Ochshorn, "Curtain-wall Systems in 20th-Century Architecture"
also available at http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/jo24/comments/curtainwall.html

1. Metal and glass curtain walls seem to embody various aesthetic themes: "metal (as industrialized, mass-produced, streamlined panel); glass (as transparent or reflective surface, crystalline solid, or harbinger of an enlightened culture); or metal and glass combined (as woven "fabric," or abstract grid)." Select one or more of these themes and discuss whether the curtain wall is more effective as a tectonic element in and of itself, or as a transparent screen revealing other tectonic forms to which it is attached.

5b. Richard D. Rush, "Testing the Limits of Transparency with Point-Supported Glass," The Construction Specifier

1. What is the danger of using catenary truss cables to support "structural glass," and why does the premature failure of the the glass in a fire make cable fire-proofing unnecessary?

5c. Peter Rice and Hugh Dutton, Structural Glass

1. How are the reflective and transparent properties of glass exploited to achieve various design objectives in the Serres project?

2. According to Rice and Dutton, how can designers achieve a better integration between aesthetic and functional (e.g., structural) objectives?