Final+Project!!!

=Community Art Center =

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Hi everybody! This is my final project of this course and I’m going to talk about a project designed by a friend of mine.
===This project is a community art center located in a residential urban area named Terrazas del Avila here in Caracas. I t’s on a corner next to a small church, in front of a square and there are sports fields at a lower level by the west. Around there are only tall buildings. === ===The art center has a textile workshop with, approximately, 8 textile mills and a workshop of stained glass with counter tops and blast furnaces. The main entrance is located on an upper street, from which you can enter into the reception. T his level also includes the administration, bathrooms and workshops. On each side of the reception area there are stairs to the lower level as in each workshop. === ===You can, also, reach this level through the street below. This place is much more public. Here are the cafeteria, public toilets and the exhibition areas. Through here you can access the auditorium (placed on a cantilever) which is used for conferences, exhibitions, plays and simple concerts. === ===The structure is defined by the roof that does, in one form or another, a reference to the folds of origami. Each side of each triangle on the roof has a beam, and these connect with each other at the vertexes of the triangle, forming a node. Each node holds the other and so on. Space frames were used in certain parts to leave larger roof spans. In the end the result is a less need for columns and a bit more risky cantilevers. === === To support the second level columns, which are thinner at the base and thicker at its top, were used. From the second level to the ceiling columns are thicker at the base and thinner by the top end; this is given by the shape of the roof. === === This type of structure can be made of wood and steel. Steel can be used for its resistance to all stresses (tension, compression and bending) and its elasticity. For these properties, steel can produce greater unsupported spans, which are greatly useful in this design for the characteristics of the roof and its structure. Wood walls will help to maintain the building fresh for its insulating properties, reducing the necessity for air conditioning systems helping the environment. In the café area glass walls can be used so the visitors can have a panoramic vision to other areas of the building and the surroundings. === ===In conclusion this art center will provide a space for healthy cultural recreation in this community. It will be constructed with cheap and resistant materials, and thanks to the location, the shape of the roof and the semi-free plant obtained by the qualities of the structure; this art center does not need artificial lighting or ventilation, so it’s an environment friendly building. ===