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Show HONORS COLLEGE db! SPRING 2013 Caitlin Thissen Erin Carraher RECONSIDERING TRADITIONAL DESIGN MATIERALS IN CONTEMPORARY BUILDING Caitlin Thissen (Erin Carraher) School of Architecture + Planning University of Utah A reconsideration of traditional and sustainable construction materials should not only be encouraged in the contemporary age, but should support the establishment of a more engaging spatial experience, culturally and ecologically. Traditional building materials preserve the local character of a place, as well as sustain historical, cultural connections with the landscape. Building with locally gathered materials is also a sustainable means of erecting durable and site adaptive homes. O n a global scale, m a n should begin to take into consideration his impact on the earth, as well as the increasing need for stewardship of the earth's remaining resources. Therefore, sustainable, traditional, and locally available materials will be investigated. The organic design materials of southwestern desert cultures, and how those basic materials can be reconsidered and implemented in Arizona building construction, will be measured. Traditional materials will include local resources available in the region that have a long history of use in local design, dating back to the time of the first Hohokam settlers. Local resources frequently used in textile design, such as Agave and Yucca fibers, will be re-implemented through Grasshopper plugin for Rhino. This digital computation tool will account for the inherent variability of the organic material. Grasshopper will be used to establish computer models written to account for specific material characteristics-such as durability, tensile strength, and resistance. Computer modeling through programs such as Rhino, in combination with the Grasshopper plugin, will begin to balance material variability with building system performance and longevity. |