mercredi 30 juillet 2008

# What is wrong with them ? FAR's Wall house

You might know this house built in Santiago de Chile in 2007 by FAR Frohn & Rojas Office (Santiago, Mexico, Köln). I guess a lot of people like it a lot (actually I do) but no matter how much we like it, this architecture office just turned crazy ! In fact, they just created a website called yourwallhouse.net which proposes to sell you three different sets of drawings in order to have exactly the same house constructed any where in the world.
As written:

01 Schematic drawing set
This schematic drawing set contains nine 11”x17” / A3 drawings as pdf files. This includes the actual floor plans, foundation plan, roof plan and sections used by our office in the Schematic Design phase. Due to differences in building codes and other varying local legal constraints, these plans may have to be modified to meet – amongst other aspects - the local building design requirements for wind loads, snow loads, bearing soil pressures and seismic requirements in your area. Under international copyright law these plans cannot be copied and resold to others. You are granted the right to use these plans to construct a single unit. See Terms and Conditions. This option is ideal if you wish to work together with a local architect and builder/contractor, using the document set as a general point of departure for design and construction. This option gives you and/or your local design professionals room for alterations or new design input, material changes to suit local climate differences, etc., in addition to any local requirements, such as included in local building code, or other changes which may need to be implemented or altered.
1499 euros

02 Detailed drawing set
Detailed drawing set of the Wall House project, including the right to use the plans to construct a single unit. This detailed drawing set contains 30 11”x17” / A3 drawings as pdf files. In addition to the actual plans and sections developed by our office as schematic documents this set shows key construction details. Due to differences in building codes and other varying local legal constraints these plans may have to be modified to meet – amongst other aspects - the local building design requirements for wind loads, snow loads, bearing soil pressures and seismic requirements in your area. Under international copyright law these plans cannot be copied and resold to others. You are granted the right to use these plans to construct a single unit. See Terms and Conditions. This option offers a greatly detailed technical basis for the actual construction of the house, for use by a local builder/contractor. The details might, however, have to be adjusted based on local requirements such as local building code, or other changes, which may need to be implemented. Contracting of a local architect and/or structural engineer might be necessary and is recommended.
4999 euros

03 Detailed drawing set with Custum climate concept
Detailed drawing set of the Wall House project together with climate simulation for the location of your choice with recommendations and custom material specifications. The set also includes the right to use the plans to construct a single unit. This detailed drawing set with custom climate concept contains 30 11”x17” / A3 architectural drawings as pdf files. In addition to the actual plans and sections developed by our office as schematic documents this set shows key construction details. Additionally the set contains documentation of climate simulation and list of recommendations and custom material specifications in the form of a pdf file. The climate simulation is being developed specifically for your proposed location for the Wall House by Integral Ingenieure, Aachen, Germany. Due to differences in building codes and other varying local legal constraints these plans may have to be modified to meet – amongst other aspects - the local building design requirements for wind loads, snow loads, bearing soil pressures and seismic requirements in your area. Under international copyright law these plans cannot be copied and resold to others. You are granted the right to use these plans to construct a single unit. See Terms and Conditions. This option offers a greatly detailed technical basis for the actual construction of the house, for use by a local builder/contractor. The details might, however, have to be adjusted based on local requirements such as local building code, or other changes, which may need to be implemented. Contracting of a local architect and/or structural engineer might be necessary and is recommended. This option is recommended for those who want their Wall House adapt to their specific local climate conditions. This option contains concrete material suggestions for you, as studied and suggested by our collaborating climate engineering firm Integral Ingenieure.
7999 euros

This is a total violation of code of ethics and this sentence "This option is recommended for those who want their Wall House adapt to their specific local climate conditions" is really representative of how a lot of architects are using sustainability as a commercial logo without really caring for it. I sent an email to them to give them a chance to explain and it could have been interested to discuss about it (esspecially if they are completely broke), but they even did not answer it.




2 commentaires:

turgo24 a dit…

je trouve ca interessant

p. a dit…

moi aussi, comme des maison prefab non ?