Hospital Ca Granda, Milan
Ca'Granda Research
How The Palm House at Kew Gardens Shared Design Similarities with The Titanic.
Sounds crazy right? How did the ill-fated RMS Titanic share anything in common with Palm House at Kew Gardens?
The sweeping metal arches of the Palm House were an engineering and design anomaly in architecture at the time and began to redefine what was possible in construction with an improved understanding of metallurgy. Ironmonger Richard Turner discovered that the shipbuilding technique of rolling iron could be crossed over into construction by flipping the arches of the hull upside down and therefore acting as the structural rafters of the building. By rolling the iron into the shape of an i beam, turner would be able to control the the tensile strength and distribution of the materials across an arch improving the lightness of the structure and enabling the roof of the greenhouse to span 15.2m between columns. And so the Palm House at Kew became the first architectural building to use the rolled wrought iron I-beams, designed originally for ship decks.
For a comparison between implementation of rolled iron at the Palm House and the Titanic, see the photographs below:
Kew Gardens to Help Protect Australias Plant Species as Part of Bushfire Relief
The Palm House at Kew Gardens has been engineered and designed to house tropical and subtropical plant species which would not have been able to survive the English Climate. Kew Gardens has offered Australia in a time of crisis with the bushfires a place to grow rare plant species that could be wiped out unless proactive measures are taken. This article great demonstration how architecture can be used for the betterment of the planet as well as provide an opportunity for governments to make bold political gestures. – Freddie.
Sir David Attenborough – Palm House Royal Botanical Gardens
BZZ
by Lütjens Padmanabhan, Zurich, Switzerland, 2018
The new Building-Trade Vocational College in Zurich is designed as an emblematic public building. The main body of the building, running along the line of the street, ends at the emblematic volume of the Sports Centre, which shines out into the cityscape like an urban lighthouse. As in the complex of Steger and Egender’s Gewerbeschule opposite, here again a pavilion also provides the starting-point for the main body of the building, which is set further back. Its rich gural design pays tribute to the cultural richness of the construction skills that are taught at the College.
The atrium provides a common central point for the College and Sports Centre. This is the location of the main stairway and the glazed collection-rooms, which serve as walk-in showcases and make the storey-by-storey arrangement of the various di erent construction trades visible. A network of visual relations extends between the college, the gyms and the green space of the Klingenanlage park. The exterior space becomes part of the city’s public area. A system of lanes that is open in all directions links the existing buildings with the new one and integrates the heterogeneous city block into a single unit.
The hospital Cá Granda
by Filarete, Milan, Italy, XV Century
Tuscan architect Filarete’s ‘Hospital Ca Granda’ was built in the 15th Century, commissioned by the Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza. The large, rectangular building sustains a symmetrical design, one wing dedicated to men, the other women. During this period, sickness was considered a catastrophe, lacking much medical knowledge. It was believed that a combination of prayer and its surrounding environment was often the only cure. This is widely re ected in the periphery which consisted of many churches that have been bolded in the drawing to display this concept. This notion was particularly interesting to study with the current pandemic that is occurring. The church is centred in the building and today it operates as a home to arts, history and law faculties of the University.
The Palm House – Royal Botanical Gardens- Kew, UK
Built in 1848 and designed by Richard Turner, the Palm house at Royal Botanical Gardens was constructed to grow and display a wide array of tropical palms from around the world that would have otherwise not survived in the English climate. The curved profile of the greenhouse maximises light for the plants with wrought iron rolling techniques, typically used in shipbuilding, were implemented to construct the frame, a first for the English architectural landscape. The building has a specific relation to the site, acting as the metaphorical centre of the park from which the surrounding gardens and pathways sprawl outwards symmetrically. The pathways that extend from the central points of the façade lead to other smaller greenhouses within the gardens confirming this building was to be the focal point in the gardens architecture. The front and back facades of the building stretch 110m in length with the front façade facing East, the cardinal direction in which the sun rises to allow for maximum light and heat during the day. – Freddie.
Group Eleven 