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| Architecture student Matthew Kennedy with his scale model. (Nick Pearce Photo) |
Over the last four days, the lawn of the Ralph M. Medjuck Building聽 on Spring Garden Road has looked like an abstract art聽gallery. Second-year architecture students are building structures with the purpose of destroying them.
The students were given a community building project for a large space as part of the Building Systems Integration course. They erected 1-to-5 scale replicas of structures spanning distances of at least 25 metres. 鈥淭his is one of the advantages of having a summer semester,鈥� says Professor Steven Mannell. 鈥淭hese are things you can鈥檛 do during the rest of the year.鈥�
About 55 students in seven groups researched and planned different models for two weeks leading up to construction. Stephanie Barronnier鈥檚 group built a hyperbolic paraboloid, similar to the design used on the Calgary Saddledome. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very cool to try something different, not just your standard post and beam structure鈥� says Ms. Barronnier, 23.
Although they鈥檙e smaller replicas, being outdoors gives the students the opportunity to make accurate replicas of each model and understand the materials used. Mark Erickson鈥檚 group constructed a cable-net structure, like that used on many stadiums. 鈥淚nside, we can鈥檛 make large physical structures, only ones that don鈥檛 portray the real structural capability of the model,鈥� says Mr. Erickson, 24. 鈥淏eing outdoors means they can be large enough to understand the materials and how they act.鈥�
At the end of the week, students will begin to destroy their creations. 鈥淭he students will add weight in small pieces akin to what would happen in the real world,鈥� explains Prof. Mannell. 鈥淭hey have to understand how each structure works well enough to destroy it properly.鈥澛�
What each group uses for the demolition is up to them. 鈥淲e may drape wet sleeping bags over it until it gives,鈥� says Ms. Barronnier.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 decided, but we could use something like water balloons,鈥� adds Mr. Erickson.
The project has also been a good opportunity for the community to see what the students do and interact with them. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been good for everyone and there has been a lot of casual interpretation and explanation,鈥� says Prof. Mannell. 鈥淪ome people have even been architects and engineers not associated with Dal who have come asking questions and being a bit skeptical, which gives the students an opportunity to explain their projects.鈥�
In addition to planning and constructing the structures, Prof. Mannell says there are many parallel lessons for students through these projects. 鈥淭hings like group work, logistics, budgets, skeptics, and so on are all aspects of real world projects.鈥�
The students will begin the destruction of their structures on Friday, June 13 at 2 p.m. There will also be a fundraising ice cream sale, 鈥淚ce Cream Dreams,鈥� put on by the Urban Planning students. All are welcome to attend.聽