C.E.S. Office – Martinez House: Construction experiment of octagonal freestanding concrete columns, with low-cost formwork, shot in gunite

1979

Construction System, Sprayed Concrete

Construction technique for concrete columns, with base, capital and an elegant flare where the shaft meets the base, shot in gunite into a low-cost open form. The corners of the column shaft, with a flare where it meets the base, were created by the cut two-by-two on the corners of the form, where shaft meets base. A jig was made to enable cutting compound curves on a two-by-two to create the flares.

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, Harissos Tsiringas

Content of

Project

C.E.S. Office - Martinez House 1977 to 1984

4207 Arthur Road, 94553, Martinez, CA, U.S.A.

Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1984

Client:

Center for Environmetal Structure - C.E.S. Directors

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Jonathan Fefferman, Harissos Tsiringas, Gary Black, David Dacus, Olasheni Agbabiaka

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure

Project cost:

$120,000

Project stages:

Layout on the site by C.E.S. Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout Direct construction management and on-site design decisions Users involved in the construction Innovative construction methods

The second building completed on the Martinez site, was a 2,000 square feet house. A gunite all-concrete building as well, it was the first sizable and fully functional project in which C.E.S. used gunite, while applying all permit and specification ...

Contents

Records

C.E.S. Office - Martinez House: Octagonal freestanding concrete columns construction, with low-cost formwork 01/01/1981

Construction Works, Construction Process

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Includes “Summary of Operation” chart, detailed drawings and description of the Octagonal Freestanding Column, in three variations. Used in the C.E.S. Office Construction Manual draft.

Photographs

SEE ALL Photographs

References

Scientific Research

Books

The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe. Book Three - A Vision of a Living World 2005

Authors:

Christopher Alexander

Publisher:

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

No of pages:

697 pp

“A Vision of a Living World”, the third volume of “The Nature of Order” series, presents, for the first time, a full spectrum of Alexander’s and CES built and unbuilt works. The book describes hundreds of buildings, plans, neighborhoods, drawings, ...

Book Chapters

Course Material

The Architect's Responsibility and the Process of Building "The Martinez Experiment" 12/05/1985

Academic, Student Work, M.Arch Thesis

Authors:

Jonathan Fefferman, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

The Master of Architecture thesis presents in its 312 pages the theory behind the development of the Sprayed Concrete Building System, and a detailed documentation of the system as recorded during the construction of the Martinez House, between Fall 1981 ...