Architecture of Sukka- the Sukka city contest

This days, Jews around the world celebrate the 8-days festival of Sukkot, a Jewish holiday which revolves around building a Sukka, meaning "temporary shelter" or "temporary hut". The idea is to keep a living memory of the travels of the Jewish people through the desert before arriving to the promised land.
Once it's built, The Sukka stays foot for 8 days, and used for having company, enjoying the cool ottum evenings and of course eating and feasting.
The religious rules that describe how to make a "right" Sukka emphasize the temporal value of it, for example, you should be able to see the stars through the roof of a Sukka; You can't make a Sukka under a tree, but on top of a tree, like a tree-house, is OK.
My childhood memories include raiding constructions site for left over wood beams, putting them togther with nails for the constrictive part; using old bed sheets for walls, and breaches of palm trees for roof.
Here are two examples:

Recently Sukka-DIY-kits became popular, with ready to use metal beams and indusrially decorated curtains:

Sukka City is a contest for design Sukka structures, of which 12 were selected and presented to the public, and out of them on will be built in New York.

All entries to the contest are presented in the Sukka city site, and make a wonderful stock of imaginative and creative structures. One entree caught my eyes- Francois Tenenbaum's Genuine American Sukkah, that links this festival to the traditional native American dwellings.
Have a look in the wonderful entrees, And Happy Sukkut Holiday,

Yours,
The virtual architect

The Kogod courtyard and other turtle's shell- diagonal grid as a roof structure

Let's say you want to design a wide roof, that has a dynamic and lively look.
A good example would be the Kogod courtyard of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, By Foster & partners, Smith group Inc. Buro Happold, Sandy Brown Associates, or the Mediacite by Ron Arad.

I challenged myself to understand this kind of structure, using my modest means and limited time, up to the point of being able to design a diagrid curved roof, as if I indent to order the peaces in a DIY store and put it together. By the way: this proved a tricky process!
Anyway, here are my "findings"-

The basic act to do is to apply a diagrid on a 2-way curved surface.
I began with a simple gird, symmetric in to ways:

Then I used an arc to define the first direction of the roof surface (and allowed myself to skip the question of a curved surface for now).

I used the grid and the arc to define the other direction of the roof plane - a series of profiles made of more arcs:

Now the "problem" is already solved: each member of the roof elements is determined: X & Y values are based on the basic grid, and Z value is determined by interesting the grid point with the arc over it:

The diagrid can be formed in an act of "sewing":

And mirrored on the symmetrical grid.

The final result is, as promised, a diagrid applied on a two- way curved surface- a little like a turtle's shell.

Some more questions emerged while doing this trick:
How to define a surface with curves instead of arches - that's what gives so much beauty to Kogot courtyard and such roofs; What 3D software would you use to design such a roof? and, of course, how to detail this system in order to actually be able to build it?
If you have any ideas or thoughts, please leave a comet!

Until the next time,
Yours truly,
The virtual architect

Dynamic towers

Is it just me or do Towers based on diagonal grid system gaining popularity lately? there's the Hearst headqurters in NY by Foster & partners and Lotte tower hotel in Seoul by Skidmore, Owings and Marrill, to name just two.
Diagonal grid is a grid based on geometry with less then 45 degrees angles (in the "vertical" direction, where most of the load comes from).
Diagonal grids have some very interesting qualities: They are far more efficient as a structural system then the orthogonal (90 degrees) grid; and they are flexible and open for development and manipulation, and so are open to bald and interesting designs.
here is a simple 10 - minuets - model I made to get a firm grasp on this idea.
I started with a simple square on the left, standing for a floor plan. Another type of floor is done with the same square, but with trimmed corners. The floors are placed on top of eac hother, and finally, a diagonal grid connects the two types of floors. Voila.

I hope I made the idea of diagonal grid somewhat clearer for you,
and encourage you to visit again,
Yours,
The Virtual Architect

Why is the chrysler building so Beautiful?

I always loved the chrysler building ..or, to be more hunset, I think I noticed it when it was on sex and the city openning. Anyway it's remarkble enogth to be a landmark and a symbol of New York.

So, what can you learn by 10- minuets-scatch of this building? I guess is the strong vertical lines that meet at the top in an arc. This gives the skyscraper an harmonious "ending" at the top, and makes a your eyes move in a circle, up the front, round through the arc and down again.
That's the first sketch here- I promice to get some more soon.

Until then-
Yours - The Virtual Architect

Beginning

I and thank you for visiting this blog,

I'm opening it in order to commit myself to get ahead with my profession, by posting regularly about different aspects of Architecture.

To be more bald, and more and specific, I intend to use this Blog to search and find tools and methods which will help architects design better buildings, and also, perform better economically by offering new or better services to their clients.

I know that's a big challenge, and right know I don't exactly know how I'm going to do it, but that's the question for me, and it's worth while to state it "out load" here.

The "system" I figured to do this will be making quick sketches and very (very!) rough designs / studies, then pointing out the main things I noticed or learned on the way.

I know I'm going to enjoy this journey, I also know I'm to going to learn a lot on the way; I hope to get in touch with others who find interest in the same things, and even earn a better living through this blog!

I invite you to read and visit here again, and especially to comment and replay what ever comes out of your mind, because that's a journey I can't do it by my own!

Yours Truly,

The Virtual Architect