Materials & Methods Case Studies

Soils - Lascaux IV

-Montignac-Lascaux, France

-completed 2017

-designed by Snohetta

-90,000 sf

-displays hyper-realistic scans of Lascaux cave system and cave painting

-much of the museum sits below grade of hillside, stepped ceiling allows for greater span heights

Soils - Ricola Krauterzentrum

-Laufen, Switzerland

-completed 2014

-designed by Herzog & de Meuron

-51,000 sf

-industrial herb processing plant for Ricola company

-rammed earth from surrounding area used as exterior facade for factory, regulates

Foundations - Balancing Barn

-Suffolk, England

-completed 2010

-designed by MVRDV

-2,260 sf

-home for the general public to stay in and gain familiarity with modern architecture

-foundation provides structure to cantilever half the building over the edge of a hill

Foundations - 150 N Riverside

-Chicago, IL

-completed 2017

-designed by Goettsch Partners

-1,464,000 sf

-office building and commercial at the ground floor

-foundation allows building to inhabit the very small amount of usable area on the site and then accommodate floor slabs that widen out as the building rises, allowing for a more typical office layout on the higher floors

Concrete - SESC Pompeia

-Sao Paulo, Brazil

-completed 1986

-designed by Lina Bo Bardi

-237,000 sf

-leisure center for commercial sector employees - healthcare, cultural and sporting facilities

-exposed concrete featured throughout the building to give the impression of “poor architecture”

Concrete - Sydney Opera House

-Sydney, Australia

-completed 1973

-designed by Jorn Utzon

-191,664 sf

-performance center with 6 main venues, restaurants & center for creativity

-2,194 precast concrete roof panels supported by concrete ribs to serve as the roof for the opera house

Masonry + Stone - Gando Primary School

-Gando, Burkina Faso

-completed 2001

-designed by Francis Kere

-5,597 sf

-low cost, passively cooled primary school with 3 classrooms and outdoor learning zones that use local materials and natural interior lighting to provide education to the community

-locally extracted clay makes up the exterior walls, acts as a thermal mass to absorb heat during day and release at night

Masonry + Stone - San Giovanni Battista Church

-Mogno, Switzerland

-completed 1996

-designed by Mario Botta

-1,324 sf

-church designed to replace one that was destroyed in an avalanche

-constructed out of masonry sourced from local valleys in alternating bands of Riveo granite & Peccia marble to create a massive wall

Metals - Neue Nationalgalerie

-Berlin, Germany

-completed 1968

-designed by Mies van der Rohe

-107,600 sf

-gallery where 8 columns at perimeter support entire weight of roof, removing columns within the space

-steel structure used to create cantilever

Metals - Royal Ontario Museum

-Toronto, Canada

-completed 2007

-designed by Daniel Libeskind

-182,000 sf

-museum expansion

-expansion designed similar to crystals from geological exhibit, steel structure made this non orthogonal structure

Wood - Writers Theatre

-Glencoe, Illinois

-completed 2016

-designed by Studio Gang

-36,000 sf

-performing arts center with rooftop pavilion and green roof

-glu-lam vierendeel truss + cat’s paw lattice top allow for interior roof system and elongated overhangs

Wood - Richmond Olympic Oval

-Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

-completed 2010

-designed by Cannon Design + Structure Craft

-510,000 sf

-performance center for olympic speed skating and converted to host many other sports

-mass timber building that uses glulam steel arches to freespan the performance area

Wood Framing - Children’s Village

-Formoso de Araguaia, Brazil

-completed 2017

-designed by Alpha Zero, Rosenbaum

-269,000 sf

-social housing & school

-glulam eucalyptus used in timber foundations and roof structure

Wood Framing - Centennial Park Pavilion

-Fayetteville, Arkansas

-completed 2022

-designed by Modus Studio

-2,064 sf

-public pavilion for Centennial Park

-expressive wood-framed structure references vernacular buildings like chicken house structures, gable, shed, combination, monitor and semi-monitor roofs

Roofing - Museum der Kulturen

-Basel, Switzerland

-completed 2010

-designed by Herzog & de Meuron

-68,350 sf

-museum expansion housing expanded collection

-roof becomes an occupiable space in the museum, allow for a column-free interior with irregular folds

Roofing - Amager Bakke / Copenhill

-Copenhagen, Denmark

-completed 2019

-designed by Bjarke Ingels Group

-441,320 sf

-waste to energy plant that replaces an older plant

-organization of machinery creates a sloped roof to allow for a ski hill and hiking trail on the roof

Plastics - Plastic House

-Nakameguro, Japan

-completed 2002

-designed by Kengo Kuma

-1614 sf

-private residence built in a high density residential area

-plastic facade elements make the building lightweight and less monumental

Plastics - Plasencia Auditorium and Congress Center

-Caceres, Spain

-completed 2013

-designed by SelgasCano

-80,729 sf

-auditorium, conference halls, exhibition space

-ETFE skin encloses but does not climatize the building to create a closer relationship with the exterior

Facades - Institut du Monde Arab

-Paris, France

-completed 1987

-designed by Atelier Jean Nouvel

-271,928 sf

-cultural center to promote and share Arabic culture

-exterior panels automatically adjust to manage sun exposure to building, mimicking Arabic architectural element

Facades - Louvre Pyramid Addition

-Paris, France

-completed 1989

-designed by I.M. Pei

-11,000 sf

-new addition to louvre museum serves as main entrance to the space to accommodate the large amount of visitors

-facade elements draw light into the subterranean lobby space