Tag: architecture

Firewalls

THE RULES ON FIREWALL OPENINGS (AND THE VALID AND SUBSISTING LAWS THAT MUST BE KEPT IN MIND).

1) It is illegal to have operable windows and an air-conditioner on a firewall as these are both fire spread hazards.

2) As written on the 2004 IRR of RA9514 (Fire Code of the Philippines/ FCP), only fire-rated glass blocks are permitted on firewalls.

3) Firewalls represent the maximum allowable use of a property along its property line. Any extension or protrusion beyond the property line is a willful violation of property rights e.g. trespassing, illegal use of the air rights of an adjoining property, etc.

4) PD1096, the 1977 National Building Code of the Philippines (NBCP) allows the introduction of light and ventilation wells (or courts) alongside firewalls provided the operable windows are 2.0 meters (m) away from the firewall.

5) Fixed or operable windows in such a well (court) that are less than 2 m away from the firewall MUST NOT be permitted by the Local Building Officials (LBO) as these shall violate privacy laws, specifically Article 670 of RA386, the 1949 Civil Code of the Philippines (CCP).

As for the Local Building Official, if the LBO or any staff of the LGU Office of the Building Official (OBO) permits (or continues to allow) illegal openings on firewalls, these LGU officials (deputized by the DPWH Secretary to implement and enforce the NBCP) may be criminally and administratively charged for the violations of the laws mentioned above and also under RA3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the Office of the Ombudsman (so that they could be suspended or removed from office). Thanks.

Repost from the Architeure Advocacy Forum’s Facebook Page.

Architecture

Architecture
Written by Roger Scruton

Architecture, the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. The practice of architecture is employed to fulfill both practical and expressive requirements, and thus it serves both utilitarian and aesthetic ends. Although these two ends may be distinguished, they cannot be separated, and the relative weight given to each can vary widely. Because every society—whether highly developed or less so, settled or nomadic—has a spatial relationship to the natural world and to other societies, the structures they produce reveal much about their environment (including climate and weather), history, ceremonies, and artistic sensibility, as well as many aspects of daily life.

The characteristics that distinguish a work of architecture from other man-made structures are (1) the suitability of the work to use by human beings in general and the adaptability of it to particular human activities, (2) the stability and permanence of the work’s construction, and (3) the communication of experience and ideas through its form. All these conditions must be met in architecture. The second is a constant, while the first and third vary in relative importance according to the social function of buildings. If the function is chiefly utilitarian, as in a factory, communication is of less importance. If the function is chiefly expressive, as in a monumental tomb, utility is a minor concern. In some buildings, such as churches and city halls, utility and communication may be of equal importance.

The present article treats primarily the forms, elements, methods, and theory of architecture. For the history of architecture in antiquity, see the sections on ancient Greece and Rome in Western architecture; as well as Anatolian art and architecture; Arabian art and architecture; Egyptian art and architecture; Iranian art and architecture; Mesopotamian art and architecture; and Syro-Palestinian art and architecture. For later historical and regional treatments of architecture, see African architecture; Chinese architecture; Japanese architecture; Korean architecture; Oceanic art and architecture; Western architecture; Central Asian arts; Islamic arts; South Asian arts; and Southeast Asian arts. For a discussion of the place of architecture and architectural theory in the realm of the arts, see aesthetics. For related forms of artistic expression, see city; interior design; and urban planning.

Read more here.