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jlxarchitect
Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 75
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 Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 1:59 pm Post subject: why american likes to crete a basement? |
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Comparing American, european to Chinese architecture, I found the american architects like to create a basement even the code allows more stories above the ground. This is very interesting. We allknow a basement will need adidtional HVAC, Plumbing, foundation work and it cost more than putting one story above the Ground. Some architects even like to put the swimming pool in the basement and the whold building is just 2 story high.
Anyone can hlep me to clarify this? |
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Architorture
millennium club
Joined: 31 Jul 2004
Posts: 1376
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| Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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there is obviously tons of writings in psychology and philosophy about the significance of the basement as analogy of our minds and stuff...
these ideas have permiated writing, film, music ect ect... but i'm not so certain they are necessarily expressed that much in architecture...
you kind of make it out as if the inclusion of a basement has no advantage to it... many basements become storage space or mechanical zones in a building... something that at least at the commercial scale becomes important b/c even though its expensive to construct it would be more expensive in the long run to have entire floors above ground [high rent space] devoted entirely to mechanical...
that at least is something of a commercial structure explanation...
now if you want to get into residential scale construction... not all regions in the united states have a tradition of building basements... i think the basement being below the house is something that developed mostly in regions of the US that experienced seasonal change... having a crawl space in the northeast wouldn't be very practical since during cold winters various utilities would be compromised they would not be protected within the thermal envelope of the building... where as in the southwest there are plenty of homes without a basement... then the middle of the country [at least historically] often times had an entirely seperate basement...
the basement in residential scale also allows you to build a house within a certain set of codes involving 'occupyable floors' and once you get inspected the homeowner can go ahead and finish the basement and attic and use those spaces for living...so it works well for building space cheaply to be used later...
the residential scale also uses the basement as a mechanical zone, it often becomes the home of the furnace, the water heater, the washer and dryer, ect ect... all the stuff that makes noise and heat that people don't want in their living space...
i would say there is far more practical advantages to the basement than disadvantages in many situations...
as for the swimming pool thing... i don't know what typology you are talking about, but i haven't seen a whole lot of swimming pools in buildings outside of motels or hotels... and in that situation it makes sense to put a pool at whatever level has no levels below it...so it would have to be the ground floor or the basement... b/c putting a pool up onto a floor above the ground includes alot more engineering and risk than having it on the ground floor or basement |
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jlxarchitect
Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 75
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| Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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Architorture: Thanks. Your explanation is well spoken. I am in chicago. I think what you said for the cenral area is properly the truth.
"the basement in residential scale also allows you to build a house within a certain set of codes involving 'occupyable floors' and once you get inspected the homeowner can go ahead and finish the basement and attic and use those spaces for living...so it works well for building space cheaply to be used later... " |
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SDR
millennium club
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1689
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:16 pm Post subject: basement |
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I was raised in a 1920s two-story frame residence in the Northeast US. The house had a basement and an attic. In the basement was a gas-fired furnace (and the remains of a coal bin); the attic was uninsulated. In hot weather the basement was cool; in cold weather the basement was warm. The attic was just the opposite. When the underground-building movement appeared, I was able to understand the advantages right away.
SDR |
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