Architectural Design and Optimization
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$300.00
$300.00
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In this 36 week course, the student will design a building for a particular occupant for a particular purpose. They will then optimize it for structural integrity, efficiency, acoustics, aesthetics, functionality, and cost. They will create a 3D animated "virtual tour" video of their building, as part of a larger "pitch package" designed to convince their prospective tenant to buy/occupy their building. They will produce a blueprint for the building as well that could be handed off to a contractor. While this will not license them as architects, it will give them actual experience in communicating with the stakeholders in designing physical space for a purpose. Please scroll down for more information.
"The Lord said to him, 'I have heard your prayer and your supplication which you have made before me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually." -- I Kings 9:3
Additional resources required:
- Access to 3D CAD programs (commercial or open source) (We will discuss these during the pre-start materials for the course)
So, what's the story?
I am a little obsessed with castles.
It is my intent to eventually have my own castle, with towers, a wall, a moat with crocodiles and a drawbridge to go over it. My wife says that I can have the crocodiles when she can have chickens, to which I pointed out that our goals may actually converge nicely on that point, but I digress.
This course came from a question that rang in my head as I was living in, and traveling around, Europe: “With all these beautiful buildings that people built so long ago, why did we quit?”
When I was traveling in Russia and Ukraine, I saw the Orthodox churches, and even with the ones that had been turned into museums, the people still functioned as if it were “sacred space.” How does this happen, and more importantly, why have we lost it?
When I was working in Egypt, I visited Alexandria and saw a Roman amphitheater with a one meter diameter stone circle. The acoustics were designed such that if you stood on that circle, you could talk in a normal tone of voice, and everyone could hear you. I saw the same thing in Machu Picchu, with an even bigger amphitheater.
Such extravagant efficiency inspired me, and I decided that it would be a good idea to have the students design more beautiful and functional spaces for the future.
Is it possible to live in more austere environments, if the structured space was more efficient in terms of flow, waste, and energy?
Is it possible to design cities that are modern, beautiful, and functional? These are the questions that you will help me answer with Architectural Design and Optimization!
Another benefit that I realized for this course is that, with all of the other business concepts that the students are developing in our other courses, being able to design space to optimally houses those organizations would also be beneficial.
It is my intent to eventually have my own castle, with towers, a wall, a moat with crocodiles and a drawbridge to go over it. My wife says that I can have the crocodiles when she can have chickens, to which I pointed out that our goals may actually converge nicely on that point, but I digress.
This course came from a question that rang in my head as I was living in, and traveling around, Europe: “With all these beautiful buildings that people built so long ago, why did we quit?”
When I was traveling in Russia and Ukraine, I saw the Orthodox churches, and even with the ones that had been turned into museums, the people still functioned as if it were “sacred space.” How does this happen, and more importantly, why have we lost it?
When I was working in Egypt, I visited Alexandria and saw a Roman amphitheater with a one meter diameter stone circle. The acoustics were designed such that if you stood on that circle, you could talk in a normal tone of voice, and everyone could hear you. I saw the same thing in Machu Picchu, with an even bigger amphitheater.
Such extravagant efficiency inspired me, and I decided that it would be a good idea to have the students design more beautiful and functional spaces for the future.
Is it possible to live in more austere environments, if the structured space was more efficient in terms of flow, waste, and energy?
Is it possible to design cities that are modern, beautiful, and functional? These are the questions that you will help me answer with Architectural Design and Optimization!
Another benefit that I realized for this course is that, with all of the other business concepts that the students are developing in our other courses, being able to design space to optimally houses those organizations would also be beneficial.
Adult accomplishments
- Designed and optimized building (blueprint)
- Bill of materials for building the building
- Virtual tour video of the "completed" building
- Marketing packet to sell the building to its buyer/tenant for its intended purpose
Transferable Skills
- Ability to design space for a purpose
- Ability to use architectural design software
- Ability to market your concepts to potential stakeholders
- Ability to estimate real costs of building space
- Ability to evaluate building space value
What careers will this course give me a leg up on?
- Architect - Average Salary: $76,930 (https://www.careeronestop.org)
- Civil Engineer - Average Salary: $83,540 (https://www.careeronestop.org)
- General Contractor - Average Salary: $89,300 (https://www.careeronestop.org)
General Syllabus (Subject to change as needed)
- Course Start: 27 August 2018
- Week 1:
- Computer Aided Design (CAD) intro: build 3 basic buildings with different programs
- Computer Aided Design (CAD) intro: build 3 basic buildings with different programs
- Week 2:
- Initial customer requirements for your building
- Intermediate CAD modeling
- Week 3:
- Initial functional design
- Revised customer requirements
- Initial 2D floorplan
- Initial 3D model
- More intermediate CAD modeling
- Week 4:
- Revised functional design (Prototype #1)
- Week 5:
- Initial structural analysis: Load Diagrams
- Week 6:
- Initial Materials Diagram
- Week7:
- Initial aesthetics analysis
- Week 8:
- Initial cost estimate (materials)
- Week 9:
- Revised structural design and analysis
- Week 10:
- Prototype #2
- Week 11:
- Historical architectural decisions: the historical "why's" of flow
- Week 12:
- Historical architectural decisions: the historical "why's" of acoustics
- Week 13: Thanksgiving Week
- Historical architectural decisions: the historical "why's" of aesthetics
- Week 14:
- Historical architectural decisions: the historical "why's" of structure
- Week 15:
- Prototype #3
- Detailed 2D drawing
- Revised Bill of Materials with associated cost estimates
- Week 16:
- Revised customer requirements
- Revised functional requirements, based on customer requirements
- Christmas Break: 17 December 2018 - 6 January 2019
- Week 17:
- Revised aesthetics
- Week 18:
- Revised structural analysis (load diagrams for each joint)
- Week 19:
- Optimize efficiency and distribution of load bearing (structural optimization)
- Week 20:
- More detailed structural design incorporated into 3D model
- Week 21:
- Revised Bill of Materials with associated cost estimates
- Week 22:
- Initial Marketing Plan
- Week 23:
- Limits Bounding Analysis (LBA) #1
- Revised weighting of customer requirements
- Week 24:
- Prototype #4 (based on revisions and LBA #1)
- Week 25:
- Plumbing diagram
- Week 26:
- Wiring diagram
- Week 27:
- HVAC diagram
- Week 28:
- Revised functional design
- Week 29:
- Revised aesthetic design
- Week 30:
- Revised structural design
- Spring Break: 13 - 21 April 2019
- Week 31:
- Revised Bill of Materials with associated cost estimates
- Week 32:
- Revised Marketing Plan
- Week 33:
- LBA #2 (focused on adding marketable features and optimizing cost)
- Week 34:
- Prototype #5
- Revised blueprint
- Virtual Tour video through the 3D model
- Revised Bill of Materials with associated cost estimates
- Week 35:
- LBA #3 (focused on "beyond the horizon")
- Journey of Learning Narrative (JOLN)
- Final "tour" video
- Final Marketing Plan
- Week 36:
- Socialize (share) your "tour" video and engage with commenters
- Course End: 31 May 2019
Expected Work load
- Typically one or more tasks that you must perform to move your project iteratively "down the road"
- One or more discussion questions from the teacher to answer
- Responding to classmates' answers to the discussion questions
- Ensuring that you go through any of the learning activities for skills where you are not yet proficient to help you in future weeks' tasks
***All of this is designed to take you about 5 focused hours per week, which is less than you would have if you were attending class in a traditional school.
How can I write this course up on a high school transcript?
- As an Applied Physics credit, given all of the force flow diagrams and other material properties analysis that the students will have to accomplish in designing their building
- As a Design Elective, given the requirement to optimize the aesthetics, as well as the efficiency, durability, and cost of the building.
- As a Business/Marketing credit, given the requirement to come up with a marketing "pitch packet" to show to a potential customer, with the associated costs and a professional blueprint
- As an Industrial Arts elective, given all of the building processes that the student is required to design and estimate as part of the building design and optimization process