Week 3 & 4 rolled into one post!

Week 3

(12/10/15 – 18/10/15)

Allocation

Starting the week we were divided up into teams to work on specific parts of the project.  These teams were

Architecture

Interiors

Environmental

Communications

Project management and logistics

We Then decided amongst each other to select a certain group that you would be interested in.

I was particularly interested in the Project management and logistics area having had some experience in this before.  We then discussed what each of these tasks were going to be and how they were going to be executed.

I am in a group with Nick Stone and Laura.  We had a slightly different introduction to the tasks as we were then immediately introduced to the live project as nearly all the fifth years who had been working on the project last year were leaving for Colombia very soon.

We started by being introuduced to the filing system on google drive, we then got started on some small tasks like costing up parts of the project and working out areas of plywood and weights etc.

This has been and is proving to be a very fast learning process as I feel I am picking up parts of the project that I have never dealt with but need to be very familiar with.

At the start of the week we also had our group photographs taken, and individual head shots that are going to be used for the website.  They were taken by Katrina.

We then had an exam to test if we were ready to be on the Live project and everyone passed it which was good.  We then had lengthy discussions about health and safety and I put myself forward for doing the health and safety course so that I can become a health and safety officer for the site.

The afternoon was then filled up with getting flights sorted for some of the 5th year students.  After this we then spoke with Price and Meyers about the structural aspects of the building.  This was useful as it opened up many questions that were un resolved.  Matt suggested having an I beam structure that would span diagonally, this would then open up the oppurtunity to have a slightly lighter spanning material between the main diagonal structure.  However this would not be visually inspiring and would look quite clunky, we were mainly looking for something that is going to be lightweight and looks like it hovers over the adaptable space below.

The students mainly working on this part of the course are the Masters in Digital Architecture and manufacturing  (MADAM) course.  They were present in these conversations and were able to give a good insight into the problems we faced.

The main problem was joining the plywood and trying to get it to be structurally sound.  Pete suggested a core sqaure structure that would then have the arch shaped pieces lent up against it.  This is a great idea however this would mean losing the openings on the side of the structure, as the forces would be too great to not have some form of stud walling between the corners.

Nick and I then met with Jonas to discuss the BIM model I have some experince in this, but will need to learn quite a bit to be able to produce the correct amount of drawings that are required.  We discussed how we are going to condense the current file system so it becomes easier for each team to input directly into the live model.  We were going to try and do that this week end but havent managed to get round to doing it.

I spoke with Laura, she is in Colombia, the agenda was as follows ;

Site Operation – Thursday tutorial update

Site Operation – w/c 19th October

Communication – bi-weekly Skype meeting – set up

PM

I am now working on putting together the Inside and outside logistics this takes a bit of time as you need to know exactly what is arriving, how you are going to move it around the site and in what order you will be constructing the structure.

We had a BIM workshop also on Saturday that helped us learn some new concepts with Eva on solid modelling and placing elements that you are able to edit later on in the process.

I also went and purchased a load of construction equipment, hopefully it will be good quality and will last the test of time in Colombia!

Week 4

(19/10/15 – 25/10/15)

Organising

This week began by having tutorials with Andrew, this was mainly to confirm our part of the brief, I have mainly been working on the inside site logistic of the Project manual this  has been challenging as I am not fully aware of what the building is going to be constructed out of but it feels that I am learning all different ideas of site operations. Tuesday Nick and I spoke to the rest of the team in Colombia, we discussed what we were going to try and get done during the week,  these tasks were to sort out the BIM model which Nick was mainly going to do and I was to work on sorting out parts of the project manual and starting to get everyone working on the drawings that they needed to produce for the deliverable.  This was a challenge as I couldn’t find exactly the correct google sheet document, I created my own sheet but was later to find out there was already a sheet set up.  I printed the correct sheets off and allocated what each team had to achieve for the deliverable, this coming week.

We then issued a BIM manual with diagrams and instructions on how to use the model correctly as this was a relatively new way of working for most members of the team.

Wednesday we mainly worked on putting the correct drawing list together, we also went climbing as a team activity. I then started doing some sketch drawings to see if parts of the design would work and fit together logistically on site. An area that needs current work on in the project manual and some of the drawings is the Engineering and construction section of the project manual.

Thursday we had group tutorials after speaking with Jonas about the BIM model and making it live for everyone to work on, we then introduced everyone to the main google drive (SOLID Master) and the current way of working with the BIM model.  I went through how the file structure works and mentioned how it was very important not to delete anything.

I then worked on a sketch up model showing a quick method of construction whilst referencing drawings sent from Colombia with material references.

Nick and I then minuted every meeting with all members of the team and the relevant groups.  The work was progressing well and the teams had managed to get nearly all of their work together,  however they had come out with different alternatives and they were then encouraged to develop three ideas to then show to the other team members in Colombia.

The current site for assembly before the competition is in a university in Bogota.  This would be a perfect place to assemble the pavilion for the first time as they have access to workshops and good facilities for us to be able to build the prototype.

We are often getting sent photographs on the flickr page that include information for the competition.