An Article on Duplex

Felt I should share this...about Duplex Design as all...

"In urban planning, the term duplex is used more specifically. Major Canadian cities sometimes use the term duplex to refer specifically to a building with one unit built above another. Edmonton defines Duplex Housing as "development consisting of a building containing only two Dwellings, with one Dwelling placed over the other in whole or in part with individual and separate access to each Dwelling".[5] Calgary defines Duplex Dwelling as "a building which contains two Dwelling Units, one located above the other, with each having a separate entrance".[6] Toronto proposes in their new Zoning Bylaw to define Duplex Building as a building that has only two dwelling units, and one dwelling unit is entirely or partially on top of the other dwelling unit.[7] Halifax defines Duplex Dwelling as "the whole of a dwelling that is divided horizontally into two separate dwelling units, each of which has an independent entrance".[8]

Other major cities use the term duplex, but for dwelling units. Dallas defines the term duplex as "two dwelling units located on a lot".[9] Philadelphia defines a duplex dwelling as "a dwelling occupied as the home or residence of two (2) families, under one (1) roof, each family occupying a single unit".[10]

Other major cities do not use the term duplex in their zoning or land-use bylaws. San Francisco and Vancouver use the term Two-family dwelling.[11][12] Winnipeg uses the term Dwelling, two-family.[13] The definitions of these terms do not specify the physical relationship between the two dwelling units in the building. In cities such as Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago the term Two-flat is used and defines it as a "residential building that contains 2 dwelling units located on a single lot. The dwelling units must share a common wall or common floor/ceiling."[14]

Where cities do not define the relationship of the dwelling units to one another, units may be built one on top of the other, or one beside the other. The latter arrangement is more specifically referred to as a semi-detached building."

Courtesy: Duplex (en.wikipedia.org)

In Summary, a duplex are two Dwelling units laid side by side or one on another on a single Lot,i.e a Parcel of Land.

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Dealing With Frustrations In Architecture

Ever been Frustrated? Ever had that moment when you even start to doubt whether Architecture is your calling due to the level of 'difficulty' of assignment you have to Accomplish?

Think I have a simple solution for you...

I remember when I started my First Year in Architectural School, I wanted to quit just few weeks in. The 'Stress' and many-many Frustrations was almost becoming unbearable, but what changed everything (aside God) was the Advise of one of my Course mates; he said and I quote: 

"Architecture is a Thing of The Mind"

This statement is however Broad and can be applied in different Architectural Aspects but in this regards it means that it is the Architect's Mind that determines his productivity as not his physical strength. And the interesting thing is, any Architect that can take charge of his mind will surely become a good architect.

My CourseMates made that statement because of I told him that am tired of Architecture(can't really remember how I put it)...but anyways, that Advice changed everything...well,almost everything.

One thing is for sure tho'-TEMPTATIONS TO BE FRUSTRATED  WILL COME, but it's how you deal with it that matters. 

The Reasons for The many Frustrations of the Architecture Student is not much:

The Commonest reason is when the student is genuinely trying to come up with a Concept for a Design and it seems it's not working out. That scenario can really blow anyone's mind, make you start thinking of all the random negative things that might have happened to you and so on...

But it might interest you that there is a very easy way out of Frustration...well, aside praying...and that way out is DOING NOTHING!

You probably find that hard to believe right? But that's the best solution.

This is due to the fact that anything you do during that moment of frustration will either amount to very little or even nothing at all!!!

So when next you start to encounter difficulties in Architectural Designs and all, just take a break: play FIFA, COD or find something interesting to do...it will calm you down am make you think straight,

But make sure your Break is not for too long tho'...

 

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Industrial Design Or Architecture

I recall when a Friend of mine told me he'd like to Study Industrial Design, the first thing that came to my mind was 'what the hell is that?' Funny enough, he didn't even know what it meant, but because the term 'Design' was there, that was why he wanted to study it.

I had to do a lil Research from Wikopedia to find out the meaning and I discovered that they are very Creative  but 'Inconsiderate' People. Erm, don't get me wrong, industrial design is one  Very Great Course for the Very Creative Person: infact, Industrial Design sometimes, require a higher level of Creativity than Architecture.

A very obvious Relationship exist between Industrial Design and Architecture: this is the Application of Creativity in design.

For the Records, DESIGN is the creation of objects and places having practical functions which are intended to be looked at or used.

CREATIVITY can be defined as the development of ORIGINal Ideas to solve practical problems.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN can be defined as the use of both applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, functionality, and/or usability of a product, and it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and even production. Wikipedia.org

Back to the issue, the Industrial Designer is one who takes into consideration issues we Architects also consider, but the differnence between we and them is the ORDER at which those considerations are taken.

Let me explain, the Basic Issues that MUST be put into consideration before any work is designed are:

-Economics

-Functionalty and

-Aesthetics

 

Both Careers do put into use these Factors but where they differ is in the Order to which they are applied.

For instance, we Architects consider in this order:

-Economics: this comes first because we Architects design for people-most of which are not extra Rich,therefore we need to put into consideration the Budget we are given an Make the best of it.

-Function: lemme put it this way, guys,who will you prefer for a Wife:a beautiful girl with that's not Smart or a 'Not so beautiful' but smart Girl?

The answer is obvious!

So in the same vein, a beautiful building or design that is not Functional is "(@@#%>"<<whatever that means!

-Aesthetics: If Aesthetics wasn't a requirement for Architecture, then Engineers would have more rights to believe that they are better than we Architects.

Aesthetics is Beauty,Full stop! This however dwells on some Boring things tho' known as Principles of Architecture.

So, every Design MuSt be Beautiful, or it's just some other Engineers' work!

For Industrial Design on the other hand, the Order they make use of is:

-Aesthetics

-Function

-Economics

They make use of this order because most of the time, Industrial Designers (obviously) design for Industries, so there is not much of a Money issue.

They design products to be sold, so first, it has to be beautiful so as to attract Customers/Consumers, it then has to be Functional before the issue of Price comes in.

More so, Industrial Designers just design! The effects of their design is the Headache of the Developers. For example, an Industrial Designer can design a Car, but the Mechanical Engineers will them have to Brain storm do as to see how the Engines and the rest fits into that design.

So if you have industrial Design in mind as your Career Choice, I'd say you should go ahead-if you're sure it's you're calling.

...and yeah,you're Welcome.

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The Blog Is Open!

So you think you know a thing or two about Architecture? Feel free to share it.

The Whole idea of the Blog is to make it 100% interactive; that way, it won't just be The Editor that will be posting, you too will...you'll just have to be Authorized.

Simple Steps To Authorization

-You'll need a Google Account

-You Must possess a good Style of Writing

-...a Lil sense of Humour will be a Plus-an Official Letter for Authorization should be sent to archbassey@gmail.com; attached to it should be two Architectural  Articles(with or without images) which will be sent to the same Gmail address.

-Pending your Approval, at least 1 comment on each of the Post would be needed;

Active Participation in the Group Chat Forum will be a Plus.

-When you are approved, a comfirmation mail will be sent to you to accept an invitation from us, accept this, then you're good to go!

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The Usefulness Of CAD

Computer Aided Designs (CAD) refers to the use of Softwares in a computer to produce drawings / designs.

Before the Advent of CAD, Good Architects have been making good drawings, but the problem was that it took a pretty long time to have that drawing completed especially if it's a work that involves a lot of Details.

This posed a challenge as no Construction work can start except he architect is done with his design. More so, the use of Repetitive patterns can cause a problem because there is a high possibility of Inconsistency being revealed as such patterns if being drawn.

So, Generally, there have been Limitations in Hand drawings; for I instance, if an Oil Rig is to be designed, how in the World does the Architect want to archives that-hand drawn??? It will take 'Forever' before he will be done with it.

The advent of CAD however, has brought a drastic Change to the World of design on its own: instead of one having to waste 2-3 days working on a Design for a Residential Building, he can have it completed in a day with a 3-D Rendering image of the Design to Complement!!'

That came out recently tho', because it can be said for CAD or any other thing whatsoever that hasn't undergone improvements before reaching the level of development and Flexibility when it comes to human use that it is now.

Not withstanding, the issue is, one has to first learn the Software before he can make use of it. The good thing however is, the softwares are related to the Architectural field, so all one has to do is to find that tool with the ability to do that job he'd have done with his hands, and use his mouse-instead of his hands- to perform that operation.

I usually told my Students while I was instructing them on the use of AutoCAD, that CAD generally is a 'Lazy Tool'. The Laziest Of them I know of is ArchiCAD.

ArchiCAD is an Architectural Software that aids the production of Architectural Drawings with great ease! Insomuch as you are creating your plan, a Section, Elevation, and 3-D view of your drawing is automatic created for you!

The commonest CAD software is AutoCAD and it is commonly called the Mother Of All CAD Softwares: this is because most users of other CAD softwares ( not restricted to Architectural CAD Softwares)sometimes move their drawings to AutoCAD for Finishing Touches.

In Summary, CAD has generally proven to give a Better end result to our designs than Hand Drawings. This is because it(CAD) eliminates errors in the process of producing your drawings.

It's Obvious: CAD use is Better than Hand a Drawings...You're Welcome.

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Please Comment And Share

Be a part of ArchyLounge. Kindly comment on any Post; and dot forget to share any post(s) you enjoyed reading.

Enjoy!

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Nigerian Comtempoary Architecture-BOI

The Bank Of Industry's Buiding at Abuja is another interesting Structure and it was designed by Seun Oduwole of Brown inQ. 

Sky Scraper City Has This To say which I've modified by eliminating future tenses with present tense since the Building is now Finished:

The building concept was inspired by the shape and dynamism of an eye. Visibility

and vertical connectivity were integral to the idea. a desire to depart from the traditional office configuration of masses of segregated spaces, bad lighting and poor space planning.

The elliptical shape of our floor plan allows the office space to revolve around a very

generous central atrium. The glazed atriumacts as a focus internally for the building & plays a large part in the environmentalstrategy of the building.

Internally, the range, depth and quality of the finishes reflects the identity and integrity of the organisation and meets the aspirations of the client.

 The building has become a statement of Bank of Industry’s position as one of the leading corporate organisations in Nigeria.

Designed by Seun Oduwole of Brown inQ, construction was executed by local firm SDP. 

The building has been standing since June, 2009.

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Nigerian Contemporary Architecture-GT Banks

Anyone who has seen the 'Wonderfulness' of any GT Bank Branches in Nigeria, will JUST have to look again the second time-no matter how much the person claims to hate Architecture.

Am not am exception (I am A Lover of Architecture tho'), but I find myself still looking at the GT Bank branch Building that is closest to my house and still end up finding it as interesting g as the first time I saw it.

It's quite interesting when Architects start to think 'outside the Box'. It's seems the GT Bank Group have just made the design of 'Crazy' Structures as part of their branding.

I'd have loved to know the Architect for the Bank, but when I did my lil research, I found out that it's actually different Archie Companies that take charge of different bank-branch project,and they still come up with the same crazy designs!

Some of the GT Bank Architects include:

-Temidayo David Ogunremi

-Formwork Limited

-Nicolas Tye Architects (foreign Architects)

-Oladapo Abejirine 

-3D World Consultants

-James George

GT Bank, Lawanson Branch

To me, the Lawanson Branch seems to make the most Promulgated of all the GT Bank designs. Sky Scaper City has this to say:

"Architecture has the potential to do much more than just delineate

spaces for human activities, in truth; architecture can create

excitement and bring new energy to a community. That much did the

design sleuthe find out while chatting with James George on his self

styled ‘twist cube’ design for the Guaranty Trust Bank branch in

Lawanson, Surulere, Lagos; which has since completion become a head

turning spectacle in the ever bustling neighbourhood. It is not

always that you encounter a building that makes you look again,

especially in the seediest parts of Lagos, James George tells us why

and how he set out to do what he did with the building."

More Kudos, however, should be given to the Nigerian Architect who came up with the Brand design. 

Tis not only GT Bank tho', that has such crazy structures, a lot of the Buildings on the islands, mainlands, Abuja and other parts of the Country still got some interesting Buildings.

More coming your way soon.

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