I should mention that I've used pneumatics and hydraulics interchangeably here!

Ooops.

Hydraulic elevators (biggest hydraulic component architects use that I can think of) require almost as much maintenance as the traction counterparts. There is an issue with hydraulics where a "catastrophic failure" (sudden loss of pressure) can lead to disastrous results (this has been fixed in elevators). Fix for that adds to the overall cost. Hydraulics also use more power than equivalent electrical systems. You also need to think of environmental considerations: hydraulic oil leak will be very hazardous to ground water wells. Consider using vegetable-based oils (an option in some elevator manufacturers).

There are a number of architectural components that use electrical motors, for a good reason: shutters, grilles, gates, ADA doors etc... Motors are specified for their expected life performance (ie number of operational cycles). You can get a pretty high cycle rating if you are willing to pay for it. Manufacturer's warranty will guarantee a long performing product, to a degree...

Using car electronics is a bad example, as auto-maintenance industry is almost as big as manufacturing industry itself. There is a reasonable expectancy from licensed auto-shops to see all kinds of profitable malfunctions :)

Hope that helps

As far as pneumatics are concerned, I have no idea for a practical application in architecture (except as delivery system). Perhaps you'll be the one to change that :)

Pneumatic tube delivery systems are still used in hospitals (for quick blood, stool, sample delivery) where the item can't be e-mailed. I've even worked on a pneumatic system in a new casino where the bankers didn't trust the electronic system for landing impulse loans to desperate gamblers. Meh.

Well I just did some research and New Zealand's 'greenest' building (supposedly low-energy to zero-energy), the Meridian, uses hydraulic louvers and blinds to electronically control ambient lighting.

That's kind of cool.

tom kundig's got some pretty sweet pneumatic stuff going on (he calls them gizmos)

specifically, i'm thinking of the skylight that is operated by the sprinkler system

there was also a hotel in eastern europe that had a system that reacted to sunlight, there is a blog that's really interesting.

Unicorn: Nice find on the Meridian Building! Great to see a power company lead by example. Double skin facade is really well done IMHO, although I'm not sure what benefit hydraulic operated louvers present. My guess would be noise. The point of that design is that louvers and sunshades are centrally controlled as the local weather dictates. This means at random point of the day, things will start moving around. Quieter it does it, the better.

The website can be found here.

I wonder how receptive an average office drone will be to such a system. In every office I worked, there's been at least one person that found the current temperature to be too warm and another who found it to be too cold. I wonder how long it will be until they turn against the "robot" window...

holz.box: Tom Kundig's workshop is crazy! I can't even phantom how they can afford to spend so much time playing around and inventing gadgets even Edison would be proud to steal!

err fathom not phantom

steel,

my understanding is they've got a sh*t hot consultant who knows his mechanics.

as for affording to spend time tinkering... usually one of two options:
a. trust fund
b. 10+ million dollar homes



here is that hotel in budapest w/ the sweet facade

I've heard the same on the gizmos-- kind of a let down--

anyways

I've seen some cool stuff w/ PTFE pillow design (roofs) and pneumatics--inflating/deflating to displace an inner, patterned liner which controls solar

..or is that teflon--I'm thinking ETFE I guess

re: holz, media facade in Budampest. Way to leave it to the post-communists to turn green facade architecture into something disturbingly intimidating (when shown in time-lapse). It looked like the building was judging its surroundings with a note of disapproval. Speaking of notes, the brown note in the soundtrack was a nice touch (hint: the entire score).

btw, is the sh*t hot consultant you? Or someone you know? Same city you and them (I will not name the city)...

Anyways, I'll driving up to Seattle this weekend and was wondering if you knew of any Liquid-Powered festivals going on (gotta stay on-topic with this tread here). By that I mean beer festivals....

achensch: Did you mean ETFE? Both E's stand for ethylene, because the guy who named it was eating bananas at the time*.

*Banana skins produce ethylene apparently...

you beat me to the correction.

seriously though, don't leave bananas next to certain types of fruit and flowers. They will make them age much, much faster. Like my wife and I!

it's not me, unfortunately. but i emailed you the company.


you just missed the seattle beer fest...

bottleworks blog
brouwers events
beer events

i was flipping through a copy of detail's Glass Construction Manual - one of the proejcts showcased there, the RWE Tower in Essen, appears to employ these large pneumatic supports that raise and lower massive sections of the podium level wall to allow egress.

there's one image of it in the book along with some section diagrams - I'd scan it for you if I was less lazy!

My favorite buildings have far fewer moving parts. Maybe that’s why I like them.

sort of related (but the movable facade uses air not liquid...) the Media-TIC by Cloud 9, is discussed in this recent ICON article.

the buildings has two facades that inflate or deflate according to the strength of the sun

iheartbooks.

That's the fantasy here that you get with a centralized pneumatic/hydraulic system.

There's really only "one moving part" which is the engine (whether it be electric, petrol or gas powered-- even sometimes nuclear powered!). The rest of the movement is caused by pressure.

Also, the strength that comes with either system allows you to have significant amounts of power coming from only a small tube.


@steel, If it is my understanding... the significant gain you'd get from using hydraulics is that breaking is implied in its function.

If you were to use another means of movement in say louvers, those louvers have to held up either through friction, counterweights, some variety of auxiliary system or a sort of gearbox.

When something is move hydraulically and the valve is turned off, the parts are essentially frozen unless there's a leak. So, you don't necessarily have to fight gravity.

@Unicorn, that's a valid point. Haven't though of that. It's the easiest way to control mechanical operation of an awning window. Brilliant!

Components of a hydraulic system will still have to fight gravity (thus the equal breakage rate as an equivalent electric system), but in certain cases (awning windows, skylights, airplane hangar doors) hydraulics is the way to go.

I'm glad we solved this tread :)