Upham House: Concrete wall shape and detailing

1990

Construction System, Structural Wall

The main structural wall of the house, details of the technique, shape and figure were developed from the mockups for the wall construction elements. A detailed, full-size cardboard mockup of a complete bay of the wall was built on site, as well as several mock-ups using concrete blocks, tiles and concrete for studying relationships, sizes and proportions of its basic elements and ornaments.

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, Randall Schmidt, Gary Black, James Maguire, Carl Lindberg

Content of

Project

House for Chris Upham and Stephanie Upham 1989 to 1994

37 Poppy Lane, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1994

Client:

Mr. & Mrs. Christopher and Stephanie Upham

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Randall Schmidt, Carl Lindberg, Gary Black, James Maguire

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure

Project cost:

$439,000

Project stages:

Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout Direct construction management and on-site design decisions

Two-story family house, with 2,400 square feet floor area, designed with the participation of the clients. The construction of a massive 15 high foot high retaining wall and sewer reconstruction caused by unusual hill condition added $96,000 to the house ...

Contents

Photographs

References

Scientific Research

Design and Construction is one Integrated Making Process

Areas of focus:

Design and Building Process

Guiding idea:

Construction Process

The design process of a project and its construction process are united into one continuous and intertwined making process, unfolding in a step-by-step sequence. Design ends together with the completion of the construction process. "Making" is a conception of the ...

Books

The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe. Book Two - The Process of Creating Life 2002

Authors:

Christopher Alexander

Publisher:

The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

No of pages:

636 pp

“The Process of Creating Life”, the second volume of “The Nature of Order” series presents a dynamic theory of living structure. It begins with an analysis of transformations, which occur in nature, and the distinction between structure-preserving transformations, responsible for ...

Book Chapters

Appendix. A Small Example of a Living Process, 16 / Concrete Wall Details

Publication,

Book title:

The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Two – The Process of Creating Life

Pages:

588-590

Visual & Audio Materials

Lecture on "The Nature of Order", given during Fall 1991 24/10/1991

Academic, Audio, Tape

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Cassette tape of the sixteenth Fall semester lecture by Christopher Alexander on “First Example of Building Process”, explaining the importance of a dynamic step by step process used in a specific building from its initial conception and through continuous corrections, ...