What are Stabilized Mud Blocks? Stabilized Mud Blocks (SMBs) are an alternative green Building that can be used as an alternative to Bricks or ACC blocks. Bricks and ACC blocks used more energy to produce than SMBs. SMBs are made from a mixture of locally available soil, water, and stabilizers such as cement, lime, or fly ash. The exact proportions of each material may vary depending on the type of soil and stabilizer used, as well as the desired properties of the SMBs. However, a general guideline for SMB production is: Soil: The soil used in SMB production should be clayey or silty, with low sand content. The ideal soil should have a plasticity index (PI) between 10 and 20, and a pH value between 6 and 7.5. Water: The water used in SMB production should be clean and free from impurities. Stabilizers: The stabilizers used in SMB production include cement, lime, or fly ash. The amount of stabilizer used will depend on the type of stabilizer and the soil characteristics. Typically, the
The “Death Ray” Buildings
By
Architect Rafael Viñoly Beceiro
(A wrong architecture decision)
Have you seen the movie star wars??
If yes, than you must have seen that
laser beams that kills mortals.
One of the architects has design the
buildings twice by mistake that creates same effects. One is the famous Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas another is “The
walkie talkie” building in London.
Vdara Hotel & Spa is a 16,00,000 sq.ft.
(1,50,000 m2) condo-hotel and spa located within the City Center complex across from Aria Resort &
Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Vdara opened on December 1, 2009 as a joint venture
between MGM Resorts International &
Infinity World Development. It is a 57
storied luxury hotel & also received AAA Four Diamond award in 2011. But we
are not here to discuss about hotel.
The hotel is
designed very beautifully from inside as well as from outside. But architect by
mistakenly didn’t considered the sun!! The design of the building block is
slightly curved as you can see on the picture & have full glazing from top
to bottom of the building. This will result in building acting as concave
mirror. Eventually in day time sun rays gather as mirrors focal point and
produce heating effect about 70-80°c.
In an interview with The Guardian, Mr. Architect admitted his fault. “We made a lot of
mistakes with the building,” he said. But, like a certain president’s
offspring, he couldn’t leave well enough alone, and continued to talk himself
into a corner. “I knew this was going to happen,” he said. He then
claimed that there weren’t any tools or software that could’ve predicted the
death rays, which experts have said is patently false. When the Guardian
brought up the Vegas tower, Vinoly said it was “a totally different
problem.” He then thoroughly confused things by revealing that he’d
designed a solar furnace for a Chinese company, a curved glass building that
would intentionally focus sunlight to create electricity.
Because of
this effect this hotel got its new name “the
death ray building”.
20 Fenchurch
Street is a commercial skyscraper in London
that takes its name from its address on Fenchurch Street, in the historic City of London financial district. It has been nicknamed 'The Walkie-Talkie' because of its distinctive shape. Construction
was completed in spring 2014, and the three-floor 'sky garden' was opened in
January 2015. The 38-storey building is 160 m (525 ft) tall,
making it the sixth-tallest building in the City of London and
the 12th tallest in greater
London. This was his second mistake. Where, the Vdara hotel has its curvature in
horizontal plane. 'The Walkie-Talkie' building has its curvature in vertical plane. As you see
in picture. The building has vertical louvers in its original design but then
they have made change to cut the cost of the building. The heating effect of
the building is tremendous that it melt cars on the streets. You can check it
on NEWS!!
Other than
heating it has one more problem of glare!! Because of glare you face too much
disturbance in driving or even walking on the streets. One cannot see what is
coming from the other side due to glare of the building. But now the solution
for both the problem is submitted by Mr. Architect is installing horizontal
louvers on the façade.
On the ending
note, these two building are the interesting case studies for the students to learn things like how a fancy
building can create troubles for others!!!
Hope this
article will help you learn more.
Please do
comment your views & share the post to others!!!
ayam bangkok adu
ReplyDeleteaym bangkok
ReplyDeleteNice information. Thanks for sharing such an amazing article. For top interior architects please visit our website: Best Architects in Hyderabad
ReplyDeleteVery beautifully planned house. Please mention all sizes in feet so that it can be easily followed to construct a house.
ReplyDeleteArchitecture in Islamabad,
Architecture in Islamabad