> Unfortunately he tended to take the concept too far. The "organic"
> processes are a known problem eating away some of his structures. Too
> much artist and not enough engineer.
I think one of the greatest sins in architectural training is the
failure to adequately focus on water intrusion and material failure.
Practical common sense is thrown out the window when the subject of
snow/ice is involved. I've seen my share of disaster roof designs
where it snows a lot. The snow/ice buildup causes huge amounts of
water intrusion. The place might look good for the first few months,
but then the roof starts leaking.
FLW was particularly bad in this regard.
Material failure? Typically seen with cantilevered concrete decks. The
concept that steel structures sagging over time is lost on people.
After a few years, the deck gets buttressed from below with some
unsightly steel adjustable post.
Another area which FLW's thinking was flawed was in the subject of
"carrying temperature". The CT of his houses tended to be about 10
degrees cooler than what most people like to keep it at today. His
thinking was that in the wintertime, it should be normal to sit in
your living room covered up with thick sweaters and an afghan wrapped
around you. If you don't like it cold, that's why Phoenix exists.
AG
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
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