John Maze - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by John Maze

Proceedings of the 23th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA)

"My earliest childhood memories are related to a ranch my family owned near the village of Mazami... more "My earliest childhood memories are related to a ranch my family owned near the village of Mazamitla. It was a pueblo with hills, formed by houses with tile roofs and immense eaves to shield passersby from the heavy rains which fall in that area. Even the earth's color was interesting because it was red earth. In this village, the water distribution system consisted of great gutted logs, in the form of troughs, which ran on a support structure of tree forks, five meters high, above the roofs. The aqueduct crossed over the town, reaching the patios, where there were great stone fountains to receive the water. The patios outside the stables, with cows and chickens, all together. Outside, in the street, there were iron rings to tie the horses. The channeled logs, covered with moss, dripped water all over town, of course. It gave this village the ambience of a fairy tale."

Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA), 2002

Learning from the existing landscape is a way of being revolutionary for on orchitea. Not the obv... more Learning from the existing landscape is a way of being revolutionary for on orchitea. Not the obvious way, which is to tear down Paris and begin again, as Le Corbusier suggested in the 1920's, but another; more tolerant way; that is, to question how we look at things.

Eco-Architecture II, 2008

Whether in response to the growing concerns of climate change or born instead of a fascination in... more Whether in response to the growing concerns of climate change or born instead of a fascination in the material advancements of the last decade, the architectural opportunities in sustainability are substantial and plentiful. Arguments run the gamut of professional domains, stretching across the numerous aspects of industry, manufacturing and power generation, which in turn carry the parallel disciplinary interests of architecture, engineering, the social sciences, economics and public policy. Much of the attention garnered by the sustainability movement has highlighted new buildings proper as they provide the greatest visibility. There is however an immense and relatively untapped reservoir of opportunities with the office towers of the postwar era. The earlier considerations to the benefits of natural ventilation were dismissed in favour of the idiomatic environmental control systems, vis-à-vis reliance upon mechanical systems to compensate for the discarded natural techniques, resulting in sealed work environments mapped by the rampant growth of "sick building syndrome" nomenclature. This paper will offer a reconsideration of the otherwise overlooked building type-the postwar high-rise in a zeitgeist of passive and active environmental provisions. By exploring this typology, crafted within the greatest aspirations of its own era, the ideas of re-use and adaptation can be expanded beyond the limits of historic structures to include buildings that were once considered to be icons of technological advancement. Instead of demolishing, the notion of re-articulating the very essence of qualitative lifesupport is of an immediate and ever-present importance.

Digital Architecture and Construction, 2006

The architect is faced with a multifaceted design problem when designing the roof, particularly w... more The architect is faced with a multifaceted design problem when designing the roof, particularly where rain is concerned. The roof must be load bearing, supporting not only its own weight, but also that of any collecting water or snow. In an area with a severe rainy season such as Florida, this problem is magnified exponentially. This project addresses the nature of water as it interacts with a roof form by testing various roof designs and pitches, and helps educate the design students to the essential needs in the design of a roof system. Through the benefit of experience, an architect or educator can use intuition and experience to be able to point to a roof portion and say that water will collect here inappropriately. However, it is something completely different for the architect or student to be able to test their theory and see water actually collect on their architectural model and infiltrate their design through the use of computer animation. This paper outlines the experiment with rain simulation, presents the outcomes, and critiques the interdisciplinary relationship between disparate bodies of researchers and students involved.

Grasping the concept of critical observation is one of the greatest thresholds in the education o... more Grasping the concept of critical observation is one of the greatest thresholds in the education of an architect. Beginning design students often have difficulty honing their abilities to accurately perceive the world around them, resulting in design work that is misplaced or ...

Digital Architecture and Construction, Sep 6, 2006

This abstract and the resulting paper explore the ideas of narrative and context as generative to... more This abstract and the resulting paper explore the ideas of narrative and context as generative tools in the digital design process. This is the initial premise of an interdisciplinary graduate seminar taught at the University of Florida between the Schools of Architecture, Fine Arts, and Computer Science and Engineering. The resulting design narratives will be discussed and evaluated. The different types of narrative-conceptual, plot based, etc.-will be examined and new types of interactivity will be proposed and tested.

Proceedings of the 23th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA)

"My earliest childhood memories are related to a ranch my family owned near the village of Mazami... more "My earliest childhood memories are related to a ranch my family owned near the village of Mazamitla. It was a pueblo with hills, formed by houses with tile roofs and immense eaves to shield passersby from the heavy rains which fall in that area. Even the earth's color was interesting because it was red earth. In this village, the water distribution system consisted of great gutted logs, in the form of troughs, which ran on a support structure of tree forks, five meters high, above the roofs. The aqueduct crossed over the town, reaching the patios, where there were great stone fountains to receive the water. The patios outside the stables, with cows and chickens, all together. Outside, in the street, there were iron rings to tie the horses. The channeled logs, covered with moss, dripped water all over town, of course. It gave this village the ambience of a fairy tale."

Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA), 2002

Learning from the existing landscape is a way of being revolutionary for on orchitea. Not the obv... more Learning from the existing landscape is a way of being revolutionary for on orchitea. Not the obvious way, which is to tear down Paris and begin again, as Le Corbusier suggested in the 1920's, but another; more tolerant way; that is, to question how we look at things.

Eco-Architecture II, 2008

Whether in response to the growing concerns of climate change or born instead of a fascination in... more Whether in response to the growing concerns of climate change or born instead of a fascination in the material advancements of the last decade, the architectural opportunities in sustainability are substantial and plentiful. Arguments run the gamut of professional domains, stretching across the numerous aspects of industry, manufacturing and power generation, which in turn carry the parallel disciplinary interests of architecture, engineering, the social sciences, economics and public policy. Much of the attention garnered by the sustainability movement has highlighted new buildings proper as they provide the greatest visibility. There is however an immense and relatively untapped reservoir of opportunities with the office towers of the postwar era. The earlier considerations to the benefits of natural ventilation were dismissed in favour of the idiomatic environmental control systems, vis-à-vis reliance upon mechanical systems to compensate for the discarded natural techniques, resulting in sealed work environments mapped by the rampant growth of "sick building syndrome" nomenclature. This paper will offer a reconsideration of the otherwise overlooked building type-the postwar high-rise in a zeitgeist of passive and active environmental provisions. By exploring this typology, crafted within the greatest aspirations of its own era, the ideas of re-use and adaptation can be expanded beyond the limits of historic structures to include buildings that were once considered to be icons of technological advancement. Instead of demolishing, the notion of re-articulating the very essence of qualitative lifesupport is of an immediate and ever-present importance.

Digital Architecture and Construction, 2006

The architect is faced with a multifaceted design problem when designing the roof, particularly w... more The architect is faced with a multifaceted design problem when designing the roof, particularly where rain is concerned. The roof must be load bearing, supporting not only its own weight, but also that of any collecting water or snow. In an area with a severe rainy season such as Florida, this problem is magnified exponentially. This project addresses the nature of water as it interacts with a roof form by testing various roof designs and pitches, and helps educate the design students to the essential needs in the design of a roof system. Through the benefit of experience, an architect or educator can use intuition and experience to be able to point to a roof portion and say that water will collect here inappropriately. However, it is something completely different for the architect or student to be able to test their theory and see water actually collect on their architectural model and infiltrate their design through the use of computer animation. This paper outlines the experiment with rain simulation, presents the outcomes, and critiques the interdisciplinary relationship between disparate bodies of researchers and students involved.

Grasping the concept of critical observation is one of the greatest thresholds in the education o... more Grasping the concept of critical observation is one of the greatest thresholds in the education of an architect. Beginning design students often have difficulty honing their abilities to accurately perceive the world around them, resulting in design work that is misplaced or ...

Digital Architecture and Construction, Sep 6, 2006

This abstract and the resulting paper explore the ideas of narrative and context as generative to... more This abstract and the resulting paper explore the ideas of narrative and context as generative tools in the digital design process. This is the initial premise of an interdisciplinary graduate seminar taught at the University of Florida between the Schools of Architecture, Fine Arts, and Computer Science and Engineering. The resulting design narratives will be discussed and evaluated. The different types of narrative-conceptual, plot based, etc.-will be examined and new types of interactivity will be proposed and tested.