ARCHITECTURAL | Design & Site Planning | 14 Questions (MODERATE-CHALLENGING)

PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION SUPPLY & HARDWARE STORE

(14 Questions, Difficulty Level: MODERATE to CHALLENGING)

by Raison John J. Bassig

Hired by a well-renowned corporation, who owns a one and fifty-four hundredths-hectare (1.54-ha) property located along a newly-developed highway in a certain city in the Philippines, you are to design their new store that will supply hardware and building materials, except concrete products.

Access to the rectangular lot, with a depth of one hundred and forty meters (140m), is via two (2) parallel Road Rights-of-Way (RROWs): a twenty-six-meter (26-m) national highway at northeast; and, a twelve-meter (12-m) minor road at southwest. The city zoning ordinance requires an angular plane of

ARCHITECTURAL | Design & Site Planning | 20 Questions (MODERATE-CHALLENGING)

PROPOSED REVIEW CENTER & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING FACILITY

(20 Questions, Difficulty Level: MODERATE to CHALLENGING)

by Raison John J. Bassig

As an architect, you were commissioned to design a Review Center and Professional Development Training Facility on a two thousand and seventy-square meter (2,070-sqm) regular lot situated along a newly-developed thirty-two-meter (32-m)-wide Road Right-of-Way (RROW) in a certain municipality in the Philippines. The lot frontage is forty meters (40m) and faces west, while the entire site and RROW, slopes down at seven percent (7%) towards north.

Per the municipality's Zoning Ordinance (ZO), the project is located on a block, zoned as

ARCHITECTURAL | Specialty | 1 Question (EASY)

ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING (Beam Angle)

(1 Question, Difficulty Level: EASY)
by Raison John J. Bassig

In the dining area with a 3.20-m ceiling height of the house you designed, you specified a circular hanging downlight centered above the space allocated for a dining table. According to the lamp manufacturer, its beam angle is 52°.

Your client then bought a round dining table, measuring 160cm-diameter x 62cm-high, and instructed you as her architect, that the direct lighting from the lamp should illuminate only up to the exact edge of the table. What will be the resulting mounting height of the hanging lighting fixture measured from the ceiling to accomplish your client's requirement?

(Image courtesy of Bumpermankh.com, modified)

ARCHITECTURAL | Planning | 10 Questions (MODERATE)

PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING

(10 Questions, Difficulty Level: MODERATE)

by Raison John J. Bassig

Q#1: Who is/are the architect/s and town planner/s of the Garden City of Welwyn?

The Welwyn City Master Plan.
(Image courtesy of The JR James Archive via flickr, modified)

ARCHITECTURAL | Design & Site Planning | 10 Questions (CHALLENGING)

TRICKY AND UNCOMMON DESIGN PROBLEMS

(10 Questions, Difficulty Level: CHALLENGING)

by Raison John J. Bassig

Q#1: You designed a supermarket having a total of five (5) aisles. The center aisle measures 3.20m in width, while the rest of the aisles measure 1.15m in width each. If you laid out a cross aisle where the said aisles will terminate, what is the smallest size of that cross aisle you can specify?

ARCHITECTURAL | Theory | 12 Questions (EASY-MODERATE)

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE

(12 Questions, Difficulty Level: EASY to MODERATE)

by Raison John J. Bassig

Q#1: The "Modulor" is an anthropometric scale of proportions devised by whom?

ARCHITECTURAL | Professional Practice | 14 Questions (MODERATE-CHALLENGING)

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

(14 Questions, Difficulty Level: MODERATE to CHALLENGING)

by Raison John J. Bassig

Q#1: Your professional fee as an architect for the Pre-Design Services you provided for your client was agreed to be in a Multiple of Direct Personnel Expenses method, which was pegged at a 2.50 multiplier. As per your agreement, your hourly rate is to be computed at P1,000 per 8-hour working day, your consultants at P750 per 8-hour working day, and your technical researchers at P492 per 8-hour working day.

After the completion of the services, you submitted a report indicating the duration of your work and your out-of-pocket expenses:

Architect (You) @ 15 working days
Your consultants @ 4-1/2 working days
Your technical researchers @ 213 hours

Printing Costs @ P812.50
Transportation Costs @ P2,500.00
Communication Costs @ P3,211.25

Based on standards for such method of compensation, how much should you bill your client?

ARCHITECTURAL | History | 17 Questions (EASY-MODERATE)

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

(17 Questions, Difficulty Level: EASY to MODERATE)

by Raison John J. Bassig

Q#1: Which among the following list of structures were designed by Louis Sullivan?

1 - Holy Trinity Cathedral (Chicago, Illinois)
2 - Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building (Chicago, Illinois)
3 - Wainwright Building (St. Louis, Missouri)
4 - Prudential (Guaranty) Building (Buffalo, New York)
5 - Flatiron Building (Manhattan, New York)

ARCHITECTURAL | Design & Site Planning | 8 Questions (MODERATE)

A 2-STOREY STRUCTURE SITUATED ON AN R-1 THROUGH LOT

(8 Questions, Difficulty Level: MODERATE)

by Raison John J. Bassig

Given the illustrated 2-storey structure situated on an R-1 through lot.

Lot Size: 10m wide x 21m deep
Main RROW Width: 20m
Secondary RROW Width: 12m
Sidewalk Elevation Mark: EL = 0.00m
G/F Line Elevation Mark: EL + 850mm
2/F Line Elevation Mark: EL + 5000mm
Top of Roof Beam Elevation Mark: EL + 8620mm
Roof Apex Elevation Mark: EL + 10530mm
Line of Eaves: 310mm below Top of Roof Beam

ARCHITECTURAL | Design & Site Planning | 8 Questions (MODERATE-CHALLENGING)

A 15-STOREY MINIMALIST OFFICE BUILDING W/ ROOF DECK

(8 Questions, Difficulty Level: MODERATE to CHALLENGING)

by Raison John J. Bassig

PROJECT BRIEF:
A potential client has acquired a 54m x 86m corner lot, on even ground, in a zone classified as C-3. The shorter side faces a 10m-wide RROW, while the longer side faces an 8m-wide RROW. You were then officially hired to be the architect of this client to design his Proposed 15-Storey Office Building w/ Roof Deck.

His only three (3) requirements are:

1. The floor-to-floor heights should all be at 3.30 meters;
2. The parapet wall at the roof deck should be 1.30 meters high; and
3. The building envelope should be minimalist, purely of curtain glass wall, straight from the ground up, with no projections or incremental setbacks whatsoever.

ARCHITECTURAL | Planning | 12 Questions (EASY-MODERATE)

PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING

(12 Questions, Difficulty Level: EASY to MODERATE)

by Raison John J. Bassig

Q#1: Who is the proponent of the "Broadacre City" concept, which proposed that every family should live in one acre of land, in a city complete with all necessary amenities?

(Image Courtesy of Kjell Olsen via Flickr)

a. Richard Neutra
b. Frank Lloyd Wright
c. Don Soria y Mata
d. Le Corbusier

ARCHITECTURAL | Theory | 14 Questions (MODERATE)

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE

(14 Questions, Difficulty Level: MODERATE)

by Raison John J. Bassig

Q#1: A property of perception in which there is a tendency to group elements which are close together, to the exclusion of those which are further away.
a. Proximity
b. Juxtaposition
c. Gestalt Psychology
d. Proxemics

ARCHITECTURAL | History | 18 Questions (EASY)

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

(18 Questions, Difficulty Level: EASY)

by Raison John J. Bassig

Q#1: How many Ionic columns does the facade of the Parthenon have?
a. 8
b. 6
c. 12
d. None

ARCHITECTURAL | Professional Practice | 12 Questions (EASY)

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

(12 Questions, Difficulty Level: EASY)

by Raison John J. Bassig

Q#1: Under the Civil Code of the Philippines, the architect who drew up the plans and specifications for a building is liable for damages if the building collapsed due to defects in the plans or specifications or defects in the ground. How long, from the completion of the building, is this liability period?
a. 20 years
b. 10 years
c. 15 years
d. None, architects do not have liabilities when the building collapses due to defects in the ground.

ARCHITECTURAL | Specialty | 1 Question (EASY-MODERATE)

TROPICAL ARCHITECTURE (Solar Zenith Angle)

(1 Question - Difficulty Level: EASY to MODERATE)
by Raison John J. Bassig

In the kitchen window (which is directly oriented towards the afternoon sun) of a house you are designing, you specified that a sloped "media agua" must be affixed at a point 0.32m above the window header.  This "media agua", 75cm in length, was then installed at a 56° angle from the window opening.  If the window opening is 850mm in height and the window sill is measured 1.25m above the floor, what would be the Solar Zenith Angle, SA, as the sun sets, just before direct sunlight hits the kitchen window?

ARCHITECTURAL | Design & Site Planning | 14 Questions (EASY-MODERATE)

A BUILDING WITH VARIOUS GENERAL RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS

14 Questions - Difficulty Level: EASY to MODERATE)
by Raison John J. Bassig

PROJECT BRIEF:
You were commissioned by a client, who owns a 1.26-Ha. property located along a national highway in San Fernando, Pampanga, to design a building that will house various general retail establishments in the community. His lot is regularly-shaped with a 96.00-m frontage facing south along the highway, a 27.50-m RROW. All other lots adjacent to his property is still undeveloped. The whole vicinity, including his entire lot, has a constant downward slope of 5.00% from east to west.