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Wrath Of Gnon

@wrathofgnon

17 Sep

Know your bricks. The vertical thickness of a brick wall is measured in wythes. Almost everything gets better with a thicker wall: sound and heat insulation, thermal mass, longevity, etc. Say the words "triple wythe" to a trad architect or a mason and check out the goosebumps.

A single wythe wall can have a structural purpose as well as acting as a wall. However, a single wythe wall that does not have any structural purpose is called a veneer. Two single wythe walls with a cavity in between are called a double brick wall or a cavity wall, as below:

As thicker walls are stronger (and heavier), it is common to reduce the number of wythes the further up you go. This ex-bank and office, now museum, in Tokyo was built in 2004 with an average of six wythes between all floors and the basement. It will be around for awhile.

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Wrath Of Gnon

@wrathofgnon

16 Sep

Recently given UNESCO protection status, the city of Al-Salt in Jordania, famous for its 1890-1920s historic core of Ottoman era townhouses. Built on three hillsides around a central valley by Christians and Muslims with Italian and local labor to a Nazareth-Napolitan vernacular.

Originally funded in 300 B.C. by Greek soldiers the town was razed by Mongolian armies in the 13th c. For centuries it was a Christian-Muslim enclave isolated on an important trade route surrounded by hostile tribes. Cooperation was the only way they could survive.

In the late 19th c. the city grew as the most important way point between the eastern and the western deserts. Prospering trade brought wealth to the townspeople who finally submitted to Ottoman rule. It was supposed to become the capital of Jordan but the honor went to Amman.

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Wrath Of Gnon

@wrathofgnon

31 Aug

701 A.D., first time shop signs are mentioned in Japanese law. It became a legal requirement to display the name of the shop and what kind of items or service it dealt in, with one line of text (on cloth). The entire law itself is merely one line of text: 凡市毎律立標題行名.

Later on the customs regarding store signs evolved gradually, from cloth to simple bamboo sticks with writing to properly carved wooden slabs. We are now at the 17th century and shop signs have peaked in both utility and aesthetics. In wide streets, roofed hanging signs...

...or if you had limited space, the roof mounted wooden sign boards were commonly used. For businesses open after dark, lighted signs were essential. You can see all types of shop signs in this photo of a replica street with a representative collection of period signs.

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Wrath Of Gnon

@wrathofgnon

25 Aug

Adventures in experimental modern construction: two spectacular fires in Scotland involving modular housing tells us we need to look into the fire risks of experimental new modular building technique. bbc.com/news/uk-scotla…

The last thing you want in a building is voids or gaps between two flammable sidings connecting two or more modules where fire gasses can spread fast. One hotel was 106 modules. What are the chances that all of them will set airtight against each other 100% of the time? Zero.

Fire crews who worked on these said they had never seen such large structural fires spread so fast. It is likely that burning gasses had spread around the modules along entire floors before the fire alarm even went off.

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Wrath Of Gnon

@wrathofgnon

23 Aug

This is textbook techno-narcissism. Delhi believes it might be easier to clean the air with giant fans and air filters than to work with reducing pollution at the source. Madness and a huge waste of resources in a country that can ill afford it. indianexpress.com/article/cities…

The trial is based on a Chinese trial smog tower experiment in Xian, which placed in an industrial area has seen some promising results. However, it is still only a trial, and it is an absolute miniature trail. However the full scale model.... scmp.com/news/china/soc…

"To clean the air, polluted smog is drawn in through a series of greenhouses surrounding the base of the tower and heated by the solar energy. The full-sized tower would measure 500 meters tall and 200 meters in diameter, with greenhouses covering nearly 30 square kilometres."

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Wrath Of Gnon

@wrathofgnon

16 Aug

On November 1st 1928 the Japanese government, inspired by the U.S., launched a nationwide campaign to promote calisthenics via public radio. All schools, neighborhood committees, factories, offices, etc. were encouraged to take part in raising the national health profile a notch.

We still do this here in Japan, & it is also popular in China and Taiwan, although the younger generations aren't keen on it. Usually it takes place outdoors, or right by the desk or school assembly halls. It has been proven a cheap and effective method or raising health levels.

In many parks in Japan, China & Taiwan you will find equipment for calisthenics: bars, benches, handles, to make it convenient & fun to keep your body in shape. It is seen as especially valuable in warding off age related problems, both mental & physical. menshealth.com/uk/building-mu…

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