Parking Garage 03-04-2010

Quick observations on the Parking Garage.

Above: Site Progress as of 2:30 pm

I noticed waterproofing had begun two weeks ago then abruptly stopped. After paying closer attention to the area that had been completed (below left) I came up with a possible reason why work had stopped. The waterproofing had been added to the precast wall and beam members from the ground floor to the top. I thought it was odd that they would coat the architectural grade precast, but pushed the thought out of my mind and figured they were running exterior stone to the top.

Today the waterproofing resumed on the other precast wall, only it remained only on the precast concrete walls and NOT on the architectural precast. Hence, lesson learned. Confirm area to be waterproofed before allowing sub to execute work. The waterproofing was delayed at least two weeks, which could be due to inclement weather, or due to the error in coverage which led to time being used to find a solution. Notice the waterproofing on either side of the precast wall at the lower-right. I think there was some sort of chemical product used to remove the waterproofing. I would be interested to learn how the issue was trully resolved.

Above: Bituminous waterproofing error

Containerized Disaster Relief Housing

A couple of years ago I did a competition for emergency housing relief. The central idea was What if a Katrina-like storm surged on the coast of New York City. I put this small proposal together after work and on weekends, submitting it just for fun. A couple of weeks later I got an email that I had gotten an honorable mention for my proposal. In light of the current situation in Haiti, I think this proposal is even appropriate for any disaster relief situation.

The structure is composed of a variety of functional containers. A commercial or community space sits at the ground level. The roof level is composed of half-size containers filled with rubble and soil which can provide a small space to raise food.

Above: Isometric View of one unit composed of two containers.
Below: Isometric view of assembled structure.

The rest of my entry, the other honorable mentions and winners can be found at the What If NYC competition site. Look forward to comments or questions.