I am of the opinion that buildings are the spaces of extreme importance in human lives as these are responsible for providing us shelter throughout each day. When it comes to home, everybody wants their home to be perfect and free from flaws. There is a lot of technical planning involved in making a place worth living and Architects and Engineers are primarily responsible for these. Some of the technical things that need perfection are attempted to be described in easy words for you guys, right below;
 |
| Is your home sweet home? |
Building materials in accordance with climate:
Architecture does not mean using anything you feel like using in your home. Plenty of articles are available which highlight the importance of research in choosing materials for making a home and this varies according to each climate. For example, brick houses with thick walls are recommended in hot areas because of ability of brick walls to block heat. Limestone, likewise is known to be an expert in keeping insides of a place cool while sun burns outside. A perfect example; Mughal Architecture in Indian subcontinent.
Adequate Structural Strength:
No matter what building material you use, if it is not properly arranged to form the structure of your house, your house may collapse. For example, often roof in houses are made of concrete but concrete can lose its strength if not coupled with steel. In short the term RCC is used for a combination of steel and concrete. The amount of steel in a concrete load bearing structural part is extremely important to make sure that your home is safe.
Water Supply and Sewerage Network:
Water is a necessity and a house cannot be worth living if it does not supply enough water to your home. Thus a lot of thinking goes into giving water supply connections e.g. cold and hot water points in a kitchen according to daily usage. Similarly if any drain in your house gets blocked or if it leaks, you are going to curse each and everybody involved in designing of your house. Thus sewerage planning is essential too and that is carried out by Engineers of course.
 |
| Don’t let that water leak |
Proper Electrical Wiring:
Today in this era of smartphones or tablets, we need charging points everywhere in our houses and we can rip apart our walls if we find that charging points in our houses are not sufficient in number. These electrical wiring connections need to be adequately designed by Engineers/Architects keeping in mind the safety and strength of wires behind the walls. For instance, pure copper is known to be best for electrical wiring.
Aesthetics with Safety!
Many Architects fail because they think that “whatever looks good can be brought to reality”. Although I agree with the line but if an Architect does not do proper homework behind technical details of his/her idea, he will create chaos. For example, a glass railing looks beautiful but if fixed without proper supports can fall easily putting the lives of inhabitants in danger. Thus each and every idea of an Architect needs to be worked on by engineers to make sure it is functional and safe along with its beauty.
There are a lot of other technical details involved in making any building functional but these were some of the most important. I hope you found these informative and understandable. Feel free to share and write in comments if any questions or suggestions are to be raised!
Thanks!
Best Wishes
Maha