Today’s «do it
yourself» and «maker» movement applies tangible control over the exclusive
nature of our commodity culture. The progress
in personal manufacturing technologies such as laser cutters, die cutters or 3d
printers feeds an empowering sentiment toward crafting everyday objects. These
new technologies accompanied by «open» collaboration can transform our current manufactured
material culture which impedes any systemic user-product interaction. The «global
village construction set» is an existing «open source» approach to building
almost anything that offers «makers» or «product hackers» a perceived technical
and political autonomy.
In architecture,
«do it yourself» or «self-build» has and continues to constitute a
marginal segment of production. The «self-build» posture evolved from individuals’
visceral need to fashion shelter from branches, bones and stones. This direct
relationship between man and milieu still defines architecture’s greatest specificity:
context.
The
industrialisation of architecture linked to commodity culture in the 20th
century erased a portion of architecture’s specificity as production techniques
and post war building programs organised repetitive building patterns.
Prefabrication often bears the blame for the resulting impersonal
architecture, however only 5 - 10% of our building stock was factory produced.
Promoters, land use planners, and builders are the true stakeholders of a
cookie cutter building stock; factory produced components lend themselves
to beautiful as well as ugly architecture.
The «self-build» segment
in architecture has had its proponents from Charles Eames’ use of off the rack components
in Case Study House 8 to Ken Isaac’s living structures. Representative of the
self-build lineage in architecture, Swiss Architect Walter Segal conceived a method
for wood frame buildings and their procurement. Developed during the 1970’s
Segal proposed a lucid modular assembly of skeletal and panel components.
Derived form the
traditional English box frame, the wood structure akin to the 2x4 balloon frame
was organized on a stringent grid devised to reduce material waste and minimize
wet building techniques. The basic concrete pad foundations were the only
subcontracted elements of the building process. Related to wattle and daub
construction, the traditional straw and mud infill was replaced by coordinated
building panels. Segal sought to simplify investment, educate would be
builders, and optimize adaptability within a simple skeletal open frame.
Complemented by a precise bill of materials and detailed assembly guide, Segal established
a «self-build» process that inspired a grass roots movement of collaborative
building.
Walter Segal - self-build construction methodology |
Hi there. Are you able to provide a source for this image - walter segal self build construction methodology? I'm curious to know where it came from, as I would like to use it in a book I am writing and would need copyright permission. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHello Bo Tang,
ReplyDeleteThe image was scanned from the following book.
Introduction to Architectural Technology by Pete Silver / Will McLean / Dason Whitsett published by Laurence King publishing (2008) on page 154.
Hope it helps !
Carlo
Thank you for the prompt reply, Carlo!
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