It keeps raining fiber-reinforced concrete at Vienna's latest educational facility: A large concrete facade panel weighing 80 kilograms (176 pounds) came crashing down from the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed Library and Learning Center at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, reports Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
According to the source, this has not been the first incident of failing cladding elements at the award-winning building, which opened only a little over a year ago: In July of 2014, another concrete panel measuring 1.2 by 2.5 meters had fallen off the structure. The fault of the first case was blamed on "assembly error" by the contractor and eventually repaired. An independent consultant will now investigate the second event and publish the result by Thursday.
Luckily nobody was injured in both incidents, however the school has now cordoned off the area around the building and allows students to enter only through the side entrance of the Library Cafe.
26 Comments
What do you want for $667 million?
Lesson #1 at the Library and Learning Center: duck!
wear a hard-hat whilst doing your homework.
I really wanted to see what this fallen panel looked like, so I did some googling and found this helpful gentleman:
Die schwere Platte hat sich vom Bibliotheksgebäude gelöst.
God, German is the most beautiful language. I love it.
Thanks for posting that, Donna.
What's German for "career-ending lawsuit," I wonder?
gelöst, yes very gelöst.
An independent consultant will now investigate the second event and publish the result by Thursday.
did that result get published?
Based on the gentlemen 's statement above I can with reason confirm it was the concrete ' piece's fault................very bad translation (intentional) the heavy plate has itself from library building loosened......let's make that English - the heavy plate has loosened itself from the library building........i can easily prove according to this gentlemen and Google translate that the heavy plate in question removed themselves at their own volition because that is what the German language is clearly indicating,and German is precise. .....999
i think i've been practicing long enough to be nervous about these sorts of things. for example: in atlanta a few years ago, a 2 year old parking garage had a entire bay (30x30) collapse all 5 stories straight down. thankfully, no one was hurt, considering it happened in the middle of the day. the ultimate culprit? not faulty design or engineering: two workmen, setting bolts at one of the pre-cast beams, apparently ended up 2 short towards the end of the day. trying to finish out, they scrounged around the site, found two more that 'fit' (but which were nowhere near strong enough) and installed them instead. all the testing, engineering, site inspections, etc. - none of that countered 2 workers who didn't know what they didn't know.
and, please, before we go down the path of 'well, someone should have inspected every bolt' - seriously? are you getting paid to inspect every bolt in your offices?
can't say that's a similar problem here, but it sure wouldn't surprise me...
ARCHITECT MEETS NEWTON! " THE APPLE DOESN'T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE."
I had thought this might be a problem like Boston's big dig panels 10 years ago, which was faulted to incompetence by all parties involved (no architects btw...) The basic idea of using epoxy to glue anchor bolts to the structure was flawed, despite the epoxy suppliers assurance it would work. Not sure how no one saw that coming. Especially since it had already happened before.
As it turned out, the suspended concrete panels in question were useless, and all were later removed. The epoxy supplier was fined $1000 for involuntary manslaughter and ordered to update product literature to state that epoxy isn't suitable for long-term tensile loads.
The moral for designers is don't depend on product suppliers to know if a design works. Use common sense.
Midlander I agree but most architects don't get paid enough to properly review the vendors work and therefore just sign off.......now Zaha 's firm, I bet they get paid enough to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen.
Architects don't review shop drawings for structural integrity, just for aesthetic compliance with the design. It's not their domain - especially on large commercial projects - that belongs to the enginerrs.
Economics are a key factor. How much more expensive would it have been to mechanically secure the panels? This is reminiscent of the plywood skyscraper and cheaping out on wind tunnel testing.
As mid said, common sense ...
Miles read - "The fault of the first case was blamed on "assembly error" by the contractor and eventually repaired", now further inspection and report pending...
Where does it say "structural integrity"? Did you already assume that it was engineering and not the design and detailing of the panel? What if it was the "aesthetic" design that pushed the engineer into a corner and the vendor to hope it would work?
I guess you just look at pictures all day and hope someone thinks about how it's built?
That was a general statement regarding the division of liability professionally. Not that it makes any difference, because everyone is liable for everything, especially in a wrongful death. Assuming of course that no sane architect would embark on such a project without an engineer to cover their ass.
In the end the problem is the same: economics. Too expensive to build properly, or to hire an engineer, or to use qualified labor and materials ... just max profit at every level. Now the legal system is rigged too. As O.J. proved, the only color that really matters is green. Thus a $1,000 fine for manslaughter - where is Hammurabi when we need him?
It's the attack of the MBAs. Take the money and run, go on, take the money and run ...
aks big ass concrete panel what big ass concrete panel wants to be, and if big ass concrete panel says 'i want to be stuck upside down to a hat channel,' well, maybe you need to ask a different big ass concrete panel.....
^ Apparently the big-ass concrete panel wants to be down there on the ground.
As mid said, common sense ...
Is load bearing really such an antiquated concept?
i bet it looked better in the parametric model than it does broken on the ground
is there a parameter for that?
As I noted in my translation the panel couldn't bear the load and quit. It loosened itself.
Zahahaha!
Nice adaptation of Kahn, there, curtkram. Well done!
this kind of thing only happens to people who try too hard to be star-architects.
oh look, a concrete panel fell off a fcuking ugly box where there was no attempt to try at all.
never mind. maybe shit just happens in this business and its not automatically the architect's fault after all.
Not so interesting as news, but you know...whatever....
It's the architect's fault in that it's the his responsibility to understand every aspect of construction and building performance.
One of the most critical parts of architecture (and construction) education is building failure. This is typically acquired over the course of a career but should be basic training in school. Understanding why things fail shows how not to design.
There are plenty of situations where the architect is not technically at fault but doesn't the architect have a greater responsibility - to see that a sound, well constructed building is completed? Or are building now disposable, just like everything else?
^ a person of conscience would have been haunted by the possibility of a panel falling on someone below. Its not rocket science. Concrete panels hanging 40' above ground would be recognized as a possible danger by the average 5th grader in the early schematic stages. It would not have been rocket sciene to create a safety backup in case of failure (like those cable buckles on rollercoasters that act as back up if hydrolics lap bars fail.)
I don't remember being offered construction forensics in school,would of been a great course. Thank you academia
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