Article Review - 'Em-Breuer-Ed', On The Road To Throwing Away A Landmark Skyscraper

I came across this aptly entitled article, 'Em-Breuer-Ed', on the FreeTimes website a few days ago. Whilst not directly relevant to our construction studies, it is nevertheless a very sobering read on the politics and associated controversy that architecture and construction can create within a community.

Whilst the Marcel Breuer Tower is considered relatively significant, it is not quite old enough to be of great historical importance, but on the same note, this is far from a new building.

The future of the currently redundant reinforced concrete building, the only Breuer-designed skyscraper, is being heavily contested by the rash local planning commision and a number of concerned architects.

It is likely that the iconic building will be demolished, as a majority of the county commisioners see the building as inoperative with its smaller-than-usual floor plate. The associated cost of demolishing the structure and clearing the site, and replacing it with a more 'functional', modern building runs into the hundreds of millions of US dollars.


Economic issues aside, I find it hard to believe how some people, coincidently those of a local council, are willing to sacrifice beautiful, significant architecture in the name of gaining a few extra square-metres per floor level. Just astonishing..

(..reiterates my interpretation of councils as being a quite unique collection of rather senseless individuals.)

Site Visit #3

Small residential building comprising light steel framework. The steelwork is non-galvanised, which may lead to rusting.


Good example of a combination of onsite weldings and prefabricated bolt connections.


Detail of steel column's endplate being bolted to slab.


Reinforced concrete wall and rendered blockwork creating a garden bed / retaining walls.


Hot-dip galvanised circular hollow setion. Most likely to an external column.


Starter bars for garden bed.


Example of onsite welding for connection of beams. Bolts may yet to be secured, or perhaps they will not be used if the bolt openings on the adjacent beam are not aligned.

Major Project Research

After exploring Alvar Aalto’s oeuvre of work more thoroughly, I have come to admire, above all, his aforementioned Sports Hall at Otaniemi, near Helsinki, Finland. Well, this is perhaps not entirely true. But for the sake of this construction exercise, I feel that the gymnasium exemplifies all of the structural qualities needed for warehouse design. The common ground between the two buildings is of course the open, long span nature of both.

The building utilizes truss-like beams and columns (Swedish patented HB beam system) to create these rather sizable timber frames capable of spanning, in this case, 58 odd metres. The roof is not made from sheet roofing, but rather quaint tongue-and-groove timber panels with double bitumen felt for water proofing.

Whilst I have been unable to source any working drawings of the building, as the photographs suggest, the actual structure of the building is rather palpably expressed, and I believe, with a little bit of research into this particular truss / HB beam design, I will be able to extract all the information I need from photographs alone.

On this note, I have decided to construct a physical model for presentation as opposed to a 3D CAD model. I feel that for this exercise actually executing a physical, 1:10 model with my own two hands will put me in better stead as to actually understanding the structural composition of the section. Computers can be a little mind-numbing at the best of times :)

Site Visit #2

This is a two storey residential apartment block, comprising of 20 units from memory, that I visited in Hampton. Whilst I was taking photographs of the building from outside the security fence, I was fortunate enough to be spotted by the construction manager, who got out of his car and happily showed me through the building.


Drainage pipes and tanking to sub-basement structure.


Workmen's scaffolding platforms.


Heavy precast panels that frame the main entrance to the building. Adjacent walls showing rebated lines on precast panels for ornamentation.


Acro props working to temporariliy support the curing slab above.


High density/strength reinforced precast concrete beams holding the weight of the above bondeck and slab. Reduces the required space for the floor/ceiling cavity.


Services penetration through bondeck slab. Most likely for smoke detectors.


Steel connection plates welded to adjoining concrete precast panels. Combined with the insitu floor slab this creates ample rigidity between the wall panels. Also, caulking between panels is evident, working as a membrane against moisture penetration.

Major Project

As an architecture student, the project brief outlined that I must choose an eminent architect and an associated material that the architect was known to have used extensively in their oeuvre.

After initially deciding to select the famed Australian architect Harry Seidler (and his associated love for reinforced concrete), I decided to expand my horizons by choosing an equally fascinating architect, but one with which I was not as familiar with.

Ultimately, I decided to choose the Finnish modernist, Alvar Aalto. To me, his stunning austerity and harmonious compositions remain utterly seductive. A distinct set of personal design principles allowed Aalto to generate a style devoid of romantic excess, creating functional yet non-reductionist buildings.

Whilst Aalto explored a number of diverse materials, a favourite of his was the masonry; in particular, the plain but honest brick. Consequently, I have selected the brick as the main material element in my investigation.

Additionally, I will perhaps explore the nailed timber trusses that Aalto had been known to use in some of his longer spanning buildings such as the Sports Hall in Otaniemi (1952).

Site Visit #1

This construction site is located on the corner of Bay St. and Cochrane St. in Brighton (South-east Melbourne). It is a small/medium sized commercial buildilng, with both office and retail spaces spread over three levels, in addition to a two level basement. A number of precast concrete panels have been elevated in the last few days, and the overall form of the building is starting to take shape.



This is a graphic interpretation of the proposed building.



Here we can view some external precast concrete tilt-up panels with temporary props. The photo also shows some shade cloth which helps reduce the flow of dust and debris off site. Safety railing is also present.



Scaffold props and temporary support beams are ready for the bondeck formwork to be placed upon.



This photographs shows a steel reinforcing cage for a concrete column. It is awaiting the application of some formwork to shape the concrete pour about the rio. Note that starter rods from the previous pour are connected to the new cage to help produce a level of structural homogeneity.



Here we can see the proposed lift shaft made from prefabricated concrete panels, with its temporary props.

Portal Frames - Detail Sections

Detail (sheet roofing / concrete panel)
Box Gutter Section

Gutter Section
Gutter Section