STRUCTURAL GLASS FACADES - USC School of Architecture

The need is for education and resources. The FacadeDesigner methodology and program is
intended to provide the resources; the design tools, techniques and guidelines. Equally
important are the learning programs and tutorials to support FacadeDesigner.
One such program was developed as part of this thesis as presented in Chapter 8 -A
Learning Program. The program was developed as a live Powerpoint presentation and
tested in three presentations as documented in the Chapter. The presentation was
presented in conjunction with testing as documented in 9.1 Learning Program.
Summary Conclusions of Learning Program: Exposed Structural Systems and
Long Span Glass Facades
The program tries to communicate too much; it is too dense with detailed information. This is
appropriate for a reference type resource, such as a printed document or a webpage.
Architects, as much as any profession, have too much to know to carry all of the information
in their heads. Rather, they learn what information is relevant and how and where to access
it when needed. The opportunity is to demonstrate the dominate issues and point to where
the answers can be found; FacadeDesigner.com.
It is also important to recognize that there are two distinct but related objectives of value in
this communication; one is to excite and the other is to inform. Each component of the
learning system will embody these objectives differently. A technical bulletin in print form or
as a webpage may have the sole purpose of informing. The live presentation on the other
hand, is much more about exciting a potential user group.
The program was effective in both regards. Test scores did improve after the programming,
although retention of detailed information over time is questionable. The test scores
however, suggest that the most improved response resulted from the use of a printed
version of the presentation that was provided to one of the tested groups as a reference. All
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