The Upham House: Concrete wall shape and detailing – Photographs of mock-up

01/01/1991

Mock-up, Design Process

Two photographs of a detailed, full-size cardboard mockup of a complete bay of the wall was built on site, on which the final sizes of columns, the offset of the columns in front of the wall, the offset of the beams over the columns and a number of other details were finalized.

Photographer:

Christopher Alexander/C.E.S., Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Source:

Digital

Characteristics:

Color

Content of

Construction Innovation

Upham House: Concrete wall shape and detailing 1990

Construction System, Structural Wall

Created by:

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

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, ...

Contents

Photographs

References

Scientific Research

Innovative Construction Systems, Techniques and Materials

Areas of focus:

Design and Building Process

Guiding idea:

Construction Innovation

One of the main topics of research, included in every building project, was to identify, early on in the design process, the material and techniques of construction. This would re-establish building as an art, and allow rapid shaping and adaptation, ...

Projects

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 ...