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

01/01/1979

Construction Experiment & Mock-up

View of the jig used as a templete for cutting the compound curves on a two-by-two, used to build the corners of the form, for building the column. This curve, cut off the plane of the diagonal, allows a flare to be created at the four corners of the column shaft, where they meet the base.

Photographer:

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

Source:

Digital

Characteristics:

B&W

Content of

Construction Innovation

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

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, Harissos Tsiringas

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, ...

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

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 ...

Photographs

C.E.S. Office - Martinez House: Construction of octagonal freestanding concrete columns, with low-cost formwork, shot in gunite - Photographs of mock-up 01/01/1979

Construction Innovation, Construction Experiment & Mock-up

Photographer:

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

Source:

Digital, Negative, Contact Sheet

Characteristics:

4"x5", 35mm, Color, B&W

Eight photographs of a constuction experiment, for testing the detailing of the concrete column, as well as the sequence of operations required for building it in sprayed concrete; they include the mock-ups of the experimental column, as well as its ...