Switch House

Yale School of Architecture
Spring 2018 Building Technology
Critics Adam Hopfner and Alan Organschi
Partners Cristina Anastase, Michelle Badr and Seth Thompson

The course examined the role of material and procedure in the formation of architecture and the physical, logistical, and environmental constraints and demands that shape the processes of construction. The Tate Modern Switch House by Herzog and de Meuron was used as a case study for the duration of the course, and the group examined conceptual concerns and technological factors of building, the origin and processing of the major classes of building materials; their physical properties, capacities, and vulnerabilities to physical and environmental stressors; the techniques used to work those materials; and the principles, procedures, and details of building assembly.