Technology is timeless, not trendy
“Hope for Architecture” is Clay Chapman’s call, which he describes as “an architectural initiative to meet the challenges of an uncertain future.” In fact, “Hope for Architecture” is masonry and wood technology, reinvented and adapted from antiquity for this moment. Clay and his young family moved to Carlton Landing, Oklahoma 15 years ago. It has fulfilled its mission to create a community and explore its technology.
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Chapman describes his mission as follows: After field testing in Columbus, Georgia and a joint thermomass study with the National Brick Research Center at Clemson University. We also work with the University of Notre Dame to offer internships and workshops to architecture students. “
Chapman describes the foundation of his technique as “inserting a masswall envelope” into the way a building is conceived – a “high agency mass” in which structures are “repeatedly reduced to a masonry superstructure”. This “high agency” technique uses “triple wythe, general bonding, structural, load-bearing, masonry of clay bricks. The reclaimed bricks are slightly larger. In the design, all It is based on a modulus of elasticity of 4 inches.
Mass creation is followed by traditional concerns. “Low agency” rigs, essentially “everything is put on top and massed… nothing embedded in the walls, either horizontally or vertically. Penetration passes vertically Often these passages are drilled, notched, or drilled after the fact. Conduits are rudely wall-mounted.”
This work has won the Barranco Award and the Urban Guild Award for Excellence in Exploration, and his building has received multiple awards from the National Brick Industry Association.
Beyond the obvious long-term economics and resilience, there is a basic energy conservation reality where buildings perform significantly better than the code requires. “The walls are 12 inches thick,” Chapman said. Let your instincts take over. For standard ‘nrg’ modeling, our technology performs much better than your code requires. The standard ‘nrg’ modeling is for R, and there’s really no incentive for the industry to come up with an exact U version. “
In this timeless new look, Chapman simply states: I vehemently disagree. clearly. Progress has greatly improved our lives, but it has not been proven to do a better job than massive masonry when it comes to lifecycles, resource management, ancestral connections, resilience and integrity. What we build is built specifically for cost-effective renovations and constructed in such a way as to prevent the masonry from being damaged in the process. “
“A building that can last five to ten times longer than a typical new construction life will become very cheap over time, both economically and environmentally. Be it the price per square foot. , “dilution” is the word of choice, whether it’s price per carbon foot. From a long-term cost standpoint, it doesn’t get any cheaper than this. “
Technology can be a blind agent of change, or it can reflect and communicate value. Chapman’s life’s work clearly reflects that answer.
“New” is not innovation, it’s what’s happening now. Technology can change everything but human nature. We can be dazzled by what we discover, but nurtured by what we value. As Clay Chapman puts it, “This applies to any innovation, whether it’s Tesla or legacy architecture.”
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