I borrowed a copy of How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand via ILL through my local library. I’m trying to work through the last couple of chapters right now because it’s due back soon at the originating library.
These are a couple of ideas I wanted to jot down before I return the book.
First, the “six S’s” from Chapter 2 (p. 13):
- Site – The … setting … whose boundaries and context outlast generations of ephemeral buildings. …
- Structure – The foundation and load-bearing elements that are perilous and expensive to change, so people don’t. …
- Skin – Exterior surfaces….
- Services – … [T]he working guts of a building….
- Space Plan – The interior layout-where walls, ceilings, floors, and doors go. …
- Stuff – … [A]ll the things that twitch around daily to monthly. …
Second, the strategic building rules of thumb from Chapter 11 (p. 186.):
… [S]pecfic to buildings: overbuild Structure so that heavier floor loads or extra stories can be handled later; provide excess Services capacity; go for oversize (“loose fit”) rather than undersize. Seperate high- and low-volatility areas and design them differently. Work with shapes and materials from near at hand,” advises Massachusetts building John Abrams. “They’ll be easier to match or replace.”