The coordinated assembly of systems method
of building progressed during the first half of the 20th century and was
influenced, in part, by the research of the Albert Bemis Foundation. Bemis examined
the idea of modular coordination in the early 2Os. The module as the smallest
unit of repetitive measure was used in the composition of buildings since
Antiquity. The golden section or the Japanese Ken are examples of a module
being used as a proportioning system. Bemis proposed modular thinking as an
opportunity to rationalize the meeting of disparate elements in construction.
This «modular coordination» was a major step in systems thinking in
architecture.
Modular coordination as a tool for
rationalisation still contributes to the way building construction is
organized. The architect’s role as coordinator of disparate systems is a legacy
of the systems thinking imbedded in modular coordination. Each building system
can be related to an overall harmonious, conceptual and dimensional integration
strategy.
The School construction systems
development (SCSD) initiative undertaken in California in the late fifties was
an ambitious project that proposed the use of modular coordination to
rationalize school construction. Supported and funded by the Ford foundation,
the Educational Facilities Laboratories, in reaction to the baby boom’s
pressure on housing and education, initiated the SCSD. Architect and professor Ezra
Ehrenkrantz was the director of this bold undertaking.
The program’s objective was to
propose an open and flexible system for the construction of high quality
schools. In response to the idea that better education came from better schools
and that schools should adapt to changing needs, the open systems approach
of the SCSD would allow for adaptability and resilience. Except for the
building envelope every component of the schools strategy, including structure,
mechanical systems, lighting and interior partitions, was envisioned as a
modularly coordinated kit of parts for easy assembly, disassembly and
reconfiguration of parts.
Articulated to a building module of
60 inches or 5’ (1.5m) this grid approach to modularity organized spaces
of 10’(3m) 20’(6m) and 30’(9m). Each building system imbedded
the necessary intelligence to comply with the whole. Many schools were
built in California using this systems approach and many other School districts
in Canada and The United States articulated their own systems approach to school
building.
Interior perspective of the SCSD systems |
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ReplyDeleteMy father, Joseph C. White, was involved in this project. His papers are at the Milwaukee Historical Society.
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