The Expansion of My Horizon

            Throughout this project I have learned a lot, not only about what I thought I was going to learn, but also a multitude of unpredicted things as well! I researched a variety of concepts and acquired a comprehensive knowledge in a broad range of categories. I focused on researching Intermodal Steel Building Units (ISBU) or shipping containers, and the application of these components as housing accommodations; as well as, architectural principles, such as insulation, foundation, and component clearance. I soon found though, the more I learned the more I needed to research in different areas. Insulation research turned into extensive research on insulation types, wall composition, heat transfer and thermal resistance, and so on! Then the foundation was not simply deciding the foundation type, it involved research into the region’s soil properties and load calculations. And with the component clearance, I had to integrated math and physics principles in the application of spatial design—let me just say, this is no piece of cake! I even learned about the military! Seeing as I WAS designing for the military it only made since I knew how many personnel made a squad and that four squads make a platoon! Not to mention, the military actually has a program, JOCOTAS (The Joint Committee on Tactical Shelters), that calls for housing reform—which is exactly what my project provides! But these are only the concepts I learned from the research alone, there was SO much more to this project than just research!

            I designed in a whole new software I had never used before—Autodesk Revit, a Building Information Modeling software. This presented its own set of challenges and knowledge base. I learned the software from the ground up, and even learned how to do some pretty advanced things—as I was designing in shipping containers, which the software interpreted as components not buildings and therefore they worked differently and had to be treated as such. I also worked with designing components I needed but could not find.  I established software communication by designing these components in Autodesk Inventor, and exporting them and importing them into my Revit project. In doing this, I learned how to identify components that have been imported into Revit from another software—as, in the transfer the component becomes a single mass, and usually design materials are lost. In working with imported components, I have not found a way to alter material types, though there is most likely some way that I have yet to discover.  But that is what the software is about—you play around with it enough and there is that “AH HA” moment when you figure out how something is done.

            Project RHEMIDI has been a great experience for me, I not only gained knowledge and insight into the field of architecture, but now I am sure, civil engineering with an architectural back, is definitely the career I want to pursue in college! 

Part Two - The 3D Site Plan

Technical Manufacturing with Mr. Reece

The 3D Site Plan features all of my designed units with doors, windows, and footings, as well as a mess hall model and power house models featuring solar technology. Due to the way Revit works, the Site Plan models have been created as separate models, and are only outside representation.  Though it was necessary to create the original models for the architectural plans as Project files, these cannot be imported as components in other Project files.  For this reason, the creation of new models as Family files was required to create this Site Plan.

            The mess hall unit was designed using four forty foot ISBU units in total. The units are in two stacks, two containers high, and are forty feet apart; this design allows a roof to be put in the middle and will serve as a dining area. The bottom containers are intended to be kitchen and food units and the top containers intended for the housing of staff or supplies. The power house containers are designed with solar panels of varying heights facing true South organized around the container. Inside, the container houses large batteries to store this power and electric generators for assistant purposes.  Also located in different areas around the base are back-up generators for specific amenities such as the SCHEMA units and the mess hall.

 

The Container Housing Project

Many shipping containers are retired to landfills each year to rust, a waste of materials and space.  A growing trend in Europe is re-purposing these old shipping containers as homes, both economical and green use, and I plan to bring this idea to the U.S. 

For my Senior Project, I plan to research and design container housing for military purposes to reach the most efficient use of materials, both economically and environmentally.  Container housing is beneficial to the military as it is efficient to transport with limited assembly and can either be used as storage or lived in on the way to the destination.  The project is a collaboration of three class projects in which each will bring a different element to produce a larger project, with three distinct products: floor plans, a site plan, and a physical model.  To pull off a proficient and useful model will require close attention to detail in the design, organization of space, and introspection of concepts such as insulation and foundation.

Designing container housing for the military not only coincides with my academic studies and career goals, but is an environmentally and economically better way to house troops overseas.  I plan to study Civil Engineering in college and this project will help give me a holistic prospective of this field and the architecture behind it.

The Product Breakdown

Architectural Plans: For my senior project product, I am designing the floor plan of a staff officer’s quarters and the general housing for a squad inside of shipping containers, to maximize function space and minimize cost.  The final design will be created/drawn in Autodesk Revit 2013.

3D Site Plan: In my Technical Manufacturing class with Mr. Reece I am designing a 3D representation of the layout of the military base housing built from the shipping containers in the Revit software.

Physical Model: In my Research Design class with Professor Williams I will build a model of the Site Plan I have created in the previous class.

I am very excited about this project and am looking forward to getting started.  This blog will be a way that not only my teachers, but I, myself, can track my progress throughout this semester and project.