The zollverein school of design marjan sarab 2011

Ar c hi t ec t ur a l engi neer i ng( pr oduc t i on&pa r t s ) -7X500 As s i gnment1

T heZol l v er ei nS c hool ofDes i gn BySANAA E s s en Ger ma ny Det a i l : Wi ndowF r a mea ndConc r et eWa l l At t a c hment, Wi ndowPr ol ea ndF a l s eF l oor i ng T ut or : J a nS c hev er s

Aut or s : L i daHa s s a nz a de-S 0684725 Ma r j a nMoha mma dz a dehS a r a b-S 105199

4/ 14/ 2011

For this assignment instead of going through the Architects list that was given, we thought what detail always been interesting for us that we would like to work on it the detail that caught our eyes was the window frame within a concrete wall which the frame is not visible from outside.

Specially how they are attached to each other. So, we started to search through the given architects; however, the mentioned detail could not be found in the project of given list. Therefore, we started searching in architectural magazines to find such a challenging detail.

We encountered one which had the characteristics of the detail that we had in mind: “Design school” in “Essen” by “SANAA” (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa)

“Our aim was to achieve transparency in the concrete structure.”SANAA1 The cubical structural shell design picks up the basic functional and effective idea used by the original Zollverein architects Schupp and Kremmer. The oversized cube, which measures 35 meters by 35 meters and is 35 meters high, reflects the dimensions of the Zollverein Mine. The seemingly coincidental organization of the openings and windows in three different sizes, create an unusual interaction with the surroundings and the interior. Windows On the exterior walls and appropriately distributed lighting will guarantee daylight and visual connections for all workplaces.2

1 2

www.arcspace.com www.arcspace.com

1

SANAA (Sejima and Nishizawa and Associates) is an architectural firm located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1995 by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. In 2010, Sejima and Nishizawa were awarded the Pritzker Prize; architecture's highest honor.

SANAA , Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, won the international competition in 2002. The Master Plan for the redevelopment work was designed by Rem Koolhaas (OMA).

As a starting point, the process of making the model began to simplify the given detail in magazine. This picture indicates some information about the detail; the way window frame is embedded within the concrete wall.

Detail 13 However there are two ambiguous points: First, the detail shows a drainage system within the lower part of concrete wall, which not clear how it works exactly.

Second, the way which window frame is installed is not clear, since the frame cannot attached to concrete directly.

3

el croquis , 139

2

It needs an insulation system so that rain water cannot penetrate inside the building; though, the found detail did not contain any information about that.

Next, the photos of construction phase were investigated; in which actually we encountered more questions and doubts of the detail.

- The construction photos shows one layer of the concrete wall construction system, which cannot be matched with detail section.

-

No supply and support could be detected to make it possible to attach the window frame to concrete wall.

Since there is no other information, the existing documents including construction photos and section detail were reinvestigated with more attention to details. The picture below reveals its section detail completely. We could conclude that the concrete wall was poured in just one layer.

3

So, the only possibility of the drainage system shown in the section detail is a hollow pipe within the concrete wall. In this case, the window frame was completely invisible embedded in the concrete wall.

Having all found information, it was assumed that the detail must be according to following drawing:

Detail 2 So, modeling was started according to preceding detail.

However, the system in which the joint between window frame and concrete wall is insulated was a little unclear, since gluing, or using mastic by itself, could not be enough.

There is the possibility of moisture penetration through that joint. The real challenge came when we started the window profile.

While working on the window profile, we received some photos from a colleague. The new photos showed that, the lower part of window frame was completely different from other sides. Actually there are two different profiles, upper part and sides are completely hidden in the concrete wall, while the lower part is about 3 cm visible.

4

The first idea came to mind was that, the lower part of window frame in 3 cm higher than other parts : 6*8cm.

But when the interior photos were searched, it showed that the window frame has an equal width in all sides: 3*8cm.

So, we came up with another detail for lower part of window frame;

Derail 3 This photo also explains the isolation problem. And we solved the problem that we had in the beginning with mastic, because in the picture the mastic is visible.

This time we are sure we have everything right. Everything is working nicely together now. We change the concrete wall and frames, made the final form of the profiles.

This is how the detail works; - A wooden frame is placed in the frame work of the concrete wall, in the place of window frame.

The prepared place for window frame is 6*8 cm in upper part and two other sides.

The prepared place for window frame is 3*8 cm in lower part.

5

-

Also to take into consideration that, there are heating piping system within the concrete wall before pouring the concrete into the frameworks.

-

Where the window frame is going to be attached, metal anchors are placed every 50 cm.

-

Two metal straps are placed over the anchors to make it possible to attach the window frame.

-

The window frame is screwed to metal strap and all joints are filled with mastic.

Detail 4 Note*: in the model the place of whole which is considered to lead out the rain water toward drainage pipe, is made in reverse position (close to window frame) meanwhile it should be according to shown detail toward outside of window sill.

During the process, the information we found of flooring was interesting; the flooring was added to the detail in the end.

6

This is how the detail works; - One layer network of reinforcing bars is placed in the upper part of ceiling (in a way that there would be at least 5 cm of concrete cover over reinforcing bars).

- These reinforcing bars must be bent into concrete wall and overlap with reinforcing bars of concrete wall.

- Beneath reinforcing bars hallo balls are places to decrease the amount of needed concrete and lower the weight of the structure.

- Finally, concrete is poured within the frame work and vibrated.

Detail 5

7

References: 1. el croquis , 139 , SANAA , 2004 – 2008 2. http://www.arcspace.com/architects/sejima_nishiza wa/zollverein_school/zollverein_school.html Photos: 1. http://thomasmayerarchive.de/categories.php?cat_id =2207&l=English

8