Designed by Bimal Patel; completed 1987 Near Ahmedabad, India
Commended by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (1992) for the “confident use of
formal elements growing out of the Indo-Islamic architectural heritage,” the
Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, designed by Bimal Patel, can be
conceived as a series of open courtyards and transitional arcade spaces that provide a
primary organizational framework for various scattered buildings. Situated on the
outskirts of Ahmedabad near the Bhat village, this institute is the outcome of an enterpris
ing collaboration between its director, Dr. V.G.Patel, and the architect.
The institute is formally organized as fragmented buildings that are laid out in an L
shape and unified by a system of corridors. It is entered through a plaza that is shaded
with trees. The entrance kiosk, with its green pyramidal roof, is the pivot from which two
axes extend. The first axis has the administrative offices and training and research centers
and ends in the library. The second axis has two sets of residential quarters, a kitchen,
and a dining hall and ends at the water tower.
The first axis proceeds straight ahead as one enters the kiosk. It has a reception area
off to one side and shows glimpses of the major courtyard, which sets off an austere yet
monumental looking residential building that has a gateway flanked by squat circular
towers at a distance. One is drawn through this axis that has alternating courtyards
extending from it on one side; these courtyards house the administrative part of the
complex, with research and training areas on the opposite side. It ends with a poetic view
of a plain exposed-brick wall that has a window set in it, framing the trees outside. The
library sits adjacent to this space. Staircases off this axis lead to the upper level, which
has a low corridor that follows the lower one on one side and is connected across to offer
views of the lower corridor and courtyards. The second axis, which leads to the
residential quarters, is interspersed with circular areas that look like squat towers from the
exterior and that are used for various activities, including indoor games such as table
tennis, and as sitting areas.
The buildings are constructed of exposed load-bearing brick and have reinforcedconcrete
lintels and frames, with flat concrete and corrugated galvanized-steel roofs—all
materials that are associated with low-cost building. These materials have been
meticulously detailed with great refinement. The buildings are low, two-story structures
that are connected through corridors and walkways, which also surround the various
courtyards. The smaller courtyards are paved and have water bodies and trees that help
create shade and enhance the natural ventilation system, and the large courtyard between
buildings is landscaped with grass and has trees surrounding it. This project has been
extolled for its low maintenance, easy replicability, and concern for saving energy
through the use of courtyards for natural ventilation.
Although formally there is an aspect of monumentality that is emphasized by the
circular tower-like forms, by the framed views, and by the uniformity of courtyards (as
Entries A–F 771
well as the materials used), this aspect is reversed in terms of the scale, as the buildings
are quite low in comparison with the scale of the courtyards they surround. In addition,
stepping-down devices on the roof accentuate the low scale. The formal alignment and
deflections that frame particular vistas are geared toward underscoring special areas of
the institute. The corridors that unify the institute contribute to the visual delight by
alternating between light and shade, with courtyards opening on the sides. In addition to
these corridors are alternate views of flat and arched lintels spanning adjoining courts,
staircases leading up to the walkways at the upper level, a variety of framed views at both
the upper and the lower level, and a rhythm in the arcades.
The project is greatly indebted to the vocabulary used by Louis Kahn in
the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and can ultimately be
summarized as encompassing a restrained and refined monumentality. It is noteworthy that this was the architect’s first
major commission.
ENGINEERED LUMBER
The most influential engineered wood products of the 20th cen-tury may be classified
quite simply as wood composites—recombinations of wood and wood fibers that
overcome many of wood’s natural limitations and extend its usefulness. Surpris-ingly,
however, in this century of rapid scientific progress, most of the notable new lumber
products have been rather modest steps forward—chemical improvements on essentially
mechani-cal 19th-century inventions.
Plywood, the trade name adopted by the Veneers Manufac-turers Association in 1919,
is a perfect example of a product that became truly viable only in the 20th century. The
industrial process of cutting thin layers of wood veneer by either peeling logs or slicing
them, along with the concept of adhering layers of veneer together, was first introduced
in France around 1830. Furniture makers such as Thomas Sheraton and the Steinway
company began using laminated wood veneers in the mid-19th century, and in 1884 a
factory in Reval, Estonia, began manufac-turing three-ply birch seats for bentwood
chairs. By 1870, a practical version of the rotary veneer lathe had been developed in the
United States. However, the development of a structural wood veneer panel that could be
used in everything from air-plane fuselages to wall sheathing depended on the discovery
of reliable, waterproof adhesives. That did not take place until after 1933, when German
Encyclopedia of 20th-century architecture 768
companies began manufacturing a new type of synthetic, heat-activated resin glue.
Previous to the 1930s, plywood had been manufactured with a variety of other types of
adhesives, such as blood albumin glue, casein glue (made from milk curd), and soybean
glue, but its application was rather limited by its adhesives’ vulnerability to moisture and
light. Once these limitations were removed, plywood quickly replaced dimensional
lumber as the most efficient material for flooring, wall sheathing, roofing, and concrete
forms.
Like plywood, the origins of glue-laminated timber lie in the 19th century. First used
in 1893 in Basel, Switzerland, glu-lam timbers are composed of many small, dry boards,
laminated together with glue and/or metal fasteners, to form extremely deep, long, stable
timbers. At first, glu-lam timbers could be used only indoors, where they would not be
exposed to harmful moisture or radiation. After the 1930s, however, new adhesives made
it possible to use glu-lam timbers practically anywhere. Glu-lam timbers have several
advantages over long single timbers cut from old-growth logs. First, they can be made
from much smaller logs grown in rotation. Second, because they are made from smaller
selected planks, their composition is highly predict-able. Third, they can be manufactured
to practically any size or shape. Glu-lam timbers have many architectural applications,
but their one weakness is their reliance on the strength and longevity of the adhesive.
Numerous new products have been developed on the plywood and glu-lam themes
since the 1970s. One is a composite wood joist manufactured in an I-beam cross section.
The web-bing is usually made from long sheets of plywood or oriented strand board, and
the flanges are made either from a parallellaminated plywood product called micro-lam
or from a material called Para-lam. The joists are much stronger and more stable than
traditional wood joists and are perfectly uniform. Naturally, they rely completely on the
strength of their glue bonds. Paralam is a type of glu-lam timber, but rather than being
made up of 2-by lumber, it is made of thousands of long, thin strips of wood
approximately one-eighth by one-half inch in cross section and up to a few feet in length.
In the manufacture of a Para-lam timber, a long bundle of spaghetti-like strands is coated
in glue, compressed as it is squeezed through gigantic rollers, dried by microwave, and
chopped off to convenient lengths. It can be manufactured to virtually any length or cross
section. In the United States, Para-lam is superseding traditional glu-lam beams in many
applications.
Not all engineered lumber requires chemical adhesives for its manufacture. One
product in particular, which was an essential part of America’s war arsenal during World
War II, was a com-pressed particle or fiber panel, often called Masonite or Hardbord. It
was manufactured throughout the 20th century out of many types of agricultural and
lumber waste and by many differ-ent processes. Ordinarily, sawdust or wood chips were
finely ground, boiled into a slurry, and then strained, pressed, and dried into hard sheets.
Fiberboard relied on the natural bonds between the wood fibers themselves for its
strength. Because it could be manufactured in practically limitless quantities out of
extremely low cost materials, it became popular for housing projects of all types both
before and after World War II. Partly for this reason, fiberboard has come to be
synonymous with temporary, cheap construction. Its extremely limited insulating
properties have also been far exceeded by fiberglass and rigidfoam insulation, and as an
interior finish it has been superseded in both cost and simplicity by gypsum wallboard.
Entries A–F 769
Oriented strand board (OSB) is a recent variation on the fiberboard-panel theme and
has been on the market since the 1980s. In OSB, small, flat chips of softwood
approximately one to four inches in size are gouged out of waste scraps from saw-mills
and low-quality logs. The chips are mixed into a gooey resin and then are laid and
pressed flat in a hard matrix of resin and wood chips. Sheets of OSB are ordinarily cut to
four- by eight-foot panels and come in a variety of thicknesses. Particle-board is
manufactured in a very similar way out of sawdust. Both of these products are finding
wider use. Oriented strand board is an extremely inexpensive sheathing material,
although it is weaker and more moisture sensitive than plywood, and painted
particleboard takes an extremely hard, smooth finish for interior detailing and exterior
siding.
The engineered lumber products described here have been designed to decrease the
cost of housing and the use of scarce timber resources while increasing the reliability of
structural designs and the palette of architectural options. Unfortunately, many
“innovative” products, such as finger-jointed studs, cobble together pieces of poor-quality
lumber to create flimsy replacements for an already cheap existing product. Many
engineered wood products also require careful handling and can maximize their strength
and efficiency only if they are installed perfectly. Because the engineered timbers of the
20th century are composites designed to combine small, cheap, plentiful strips, scraps,
and planks into larger units, nearly all of them also rely on chemical adhesives, which can
release toxic gases and deteriorate under certain conditions. Despite these drawbacks,
there is no doubt that engineered lumber is the rational, ingenious, and optimal solution to
many of the environmental, economic, and political dilemmas that Western nations faced
throughout the 20th century and will certainly face in the 21st.
quite simply as wood composites—recombinations of wood and wood fibers that
overcome many of wood’s natural limitations and extend its usefulness. Surpris-ingly,
however, in this century of rapid scientific progress, most of the notable new lumber
products have been rather modest steps forward—chemical improvements on essentially
mechani-cal 19th-century inventions.
Plywood, the trade name adopted by the Veneers Manufac-turers Association in 1919,
is a perfect example of a product that became truly viable only in the 20th century. The
industrial process of cutting thin layers of wood veneer by either peeling logs or slicing
them, along with the concept of adhering layers of veneer together, was first introduced
in France around 1830. Furniture makers such as Thomas Sheraton and the Steinway
company began using laminated wood veneers in the mid-19th century, and in 1884 a
factory in Reval, Estonia, began manufac-turing three-ply birch seats for bentwood
chairs. By 1870, a practical version of the rotary veneer lathe had been developed in the
United States. However, the development of a structural wood veneer panel that could be
used in everything from air-plane fuselages to wall sheathing depended on the discovery
of reliable, waterproof adhesives. That did not take place until after 1933, when German
Encyclopedia of 20th-century architecture 768
companies began manufacturing a new type of synthetic, heat-activated resin glue.
Previous to the 1930s, plywood had been manufactured with a variety of other types of
adhesives, such as blood albumin glue, casein glue (made from milk curd), and soybean
glue, but its application was rather limited by its adhesives’ vulnerability to moisture and
light. Once these limitations were removed, plywood quickly replaced dimensional
lumber as the most efficient material for flooring, wall sheathing, roofing, and concrete
forms.
Like plywood, the origins of glue-laminated timber lie in the 19th century. First used
in 1893 in Basel, Switzerland, glu-lam timbers are composed of many small, dry boards,
laminated together with glue and/or metal fasteners, to form extremely deep, long, stable
timbers. At first, glu-lam timbers could be used only indoors, where they would not be
exposed to harmful moisture or radiation. After the 1930s, however, new adhesives made
it possible to use glu-lam timbers practically anywhere. Glu-lam timbers have several
advantages over long single timbers cut from old-growth logs. First, they can be made
from much smaller logs grown in rotation. Second, because they are made from smaller
selected planks, their composition is highly predict-able. Third, they can be manufactured
to practically any size or shape. Glu-lam timbers have many architectural applications,
but their one weakness is their reliance on the strength and longevity of the adhesive.
Numerous new products have been developed on the plywood and glu-lam themes
since the 1970s. One is a composite wood joist manufactured in an I-beam cross section.
The web-bing is usually made from long sheets of plywood or oriented strand board, and
the flanges are made either from a parallellaminated plywood product called micro-lam
or from a material called Para-lam. The joists are much stronger and more stable than
traditional wood joists and are perfectly uniform. Naturally, they rely completely on the
strength of their glue bonds. Paralam is a type of glu-lam timber, but rather than being
made up of 2-by lumber, it is made of thousands of long, thin strips of wood
approximately one-eighth by one-half inch in cross section and up to a few feet in length.
In the manufacture of a Para-lam timber, a long bundle of spaghetti-like strands is coated
in glue, compressed as it is squeezed through gigantic rollers, dried by microwave, and
chopped off to convenient lengths. It can be manufactured to virtually any length or cross
section. In the United States, Para-lam is superseding traditional glu-lam beams in many
applications.
Not all engineered lumber requires chemical adhesives for its manufacture. One
product in particular, which was an essential part of America’s war arsenal during World
War II, was a com-pressed particle or fiber panel, often called Masonite or Hardbord. It
was manufactured throughout the 20th century out of many types of agricultural and
lumber waste and by many differ-ent processes. Ordinarily, sawdust or wood chips were
finely ground, boiled into a slurry, and then strained, pressed, and dried into hard sheets.
Fiberboard relied on the natural bonds between the wood fibers themselves for its
strength. Because it could be manufactured in practically limitless quantities out of
extremely low cost materials, it became popular for housing projects of all types both
before and after World War II. Partly for this reason, fiberboard has come to be
synonymous with temporary, cheap construction. Its extremely limited insulating
properties have also been far exceeded by fiberglass and rigidfoam insulation, and as an
interior finish it has been superseded in both cost and simplicity by gypsum wallboard.
Entries A–F 769
Oriented strand board (OSB) is a recent variation on the fiberboard-panel theme and
has been on the market since the 1980s. In OSB, small, flat chips of softwood
approximately one to four inches in size are gouged out of waste scraps from saw-mills
and low-quality logs. The chips are mixed into a gooey resin and then are laid and
pressed flat in a hard matrix of resin and wood chips. Sheets of OSB are ordinarily cut to
four- by eight-foot panels and come in a variety of thicknesses. Particle-board is
manufactured in a very similar way out of sawdust. Both of these products are finding
wider use. Oriented strand board is an extremely inexpensive sheathing material,
although it is weaker and more moisture sensitive than plywood, and painted
particleboard takes an extremely hard, smooth finish for interior detailing and exterior
siding.
The engineered lumber products described here have been designed to decrease the
cost of housing and the use of scarce timber resources while increasing the reliability of
structural designs and the palette of architectural options. Unfortunately, many
“innovative” products, such as finger-jointed studs, cobble together pieces of poor-quality
lumber to create flimsy replacements for an already cheap existing product. Many
engineered wood products also require careful handling and can maximize their strength
and efficiency only if they are installed perfectly. Because the engineered timbers of the
20th century are composites designed to combine small, cheap, plentiful strips, scraps,
and planks into larger units, nearly all of them also rely on chemical adhesives, which can
release toxic gases and deteriorate under certain conditions. Despite these drawbacks,
there is no doubt that engineered lumber is the rational, ingenious, and optimal solution to
many of the environmental, economic, and political dilemmas that Western nations faced
throughout the 20th century and will certainly face in the 21st.
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