Tsuyoshi Seike

Dismantlement of Buildings and Recycling of Construction Waste

When a building is constructed, repaired or dismantled, building materials are consumed and waste is generated. The construction stage is divided into the manufacturing stage of the building materials at each factory and the composition stage of the building materials at the construction site. The manufacturing stage has achieved some success in reducing and recycling waste through the efforts of individual factories. On the other hand, during the composition stage, the packaging and broken pieces of building materials have usually been abandoned. Recently, major construction companies and house builders have begun to work on reducing and recycling this waste.

Analysis of Façade Engineering in Japan

Japan is currently leading the world in many aspects of facade design and cladding technology development. Many buildings feature the latest technological and environmentally friendly concepts that provide Japanese architects with new possibilities to create impressive and innovative schemes. However, despite such advances and designs, facade engineering in Japan is still problematic. The reasons generally stem from the fact that this field is still evolving, and the function of the facade changes from project to project. In addition, the exact role of the engineer in facade design has yet to be clearly established. In this paper, three models will be presented and discussed: 1) facade engineering managed by general contractors; 2) facade engineering supported by specialized subcontractors; 3) facade engineering through collaboration between architects and engineers. We put Japanese facade engineering into better perspective by analyzing the status of the current field of facade engineering. As this is a developing field, new models must be established. Until that is accomplished, Japanese design and engineering of facades will remain divided and inconsistent. This paper highlights the causes of the problems and hopes of proposing a possible alternative for the future.

Construction Systems for Extensions and Renovations in a Resettlement Site in the Philippines

In Manila, the Philippines, resettlement projects have been implemented to relocate informal settler families from slums and disaster-prone metro areas. At resettlement sites, housing units are often provided to beneficiaries, who then extend and renovate them. Such extensions and renovations of housing, and the processes involved, are considered to have a significant impact on living environments and local communities; however, these impacts are not yet fully understood. Thus, this paper investigates the following elements at St. Martha Estate, one of the resettlement sites: A) the condition of housing that has undergone extension and renovation, B) the construction systems used for these extensions and renovations, and C) the attributes of the residents. Subsequently, correlations among A, B, and C were analyzed to gain knowledge that can improve the living environment. First, we examined A by conducting a photographic survey of the houses′ exteriors and interiors. Then, B and C were examined through interviews with the residents. Through analysis of correlations between A, B, and C, it was found that the characteristics of the builders of the extensions and renovations were related to the construction skill and the economic conditions of the residents, which in turn affected the condition of the extensions.

SUMMARY OF YASUDA-HALL AND ITS’ RECORDS OF REPAIR AND RENOVATION: Study on records of Yasuda-hall’s repair and renovation part 1@@@安田講堂の改修履歴に関する研究 その１

Prolongment of buildings’ life is important because many buildings are getting old, and most of them are hard to rebuild. It is also important to preserve buildings which tell us many historical things. Yasuda-hall, at University of Tokyo, built in 1925 and went through WW2, campus disturbances, East Japan Disasters, and so on. In this study, we unveil records of Yasuda-hall’s repair and renovation. In this paper, we show the history of Yasuda-hall and the summary of Yasuda-hall’s records of repair and renovation.

STRUCTURAL DAMAGE ON SCHOOL GYMNASIUMS DUE TO THE 2011 TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE

In order to clarify structural damage on school gymnasiums due to the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, total 1611 of school gymnasiums in Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture, and Tochigi Prefecture were investigated. More than 70% of investigated school gymnasium were slightly damaged or not damaged. On the other hand, about 6% of school gymnasium built in or after 1982 were seriously damaged. Moreover, in this paper, structural elements damaged seriously in the school gymnasiums built in 1982 or afterwards were examined.

Damage to Non-structural Elements

In this chapter, the damages of non-structural elements are reported as follows: roofing tile and exterior walls installed by wet joint in wooden houses, damage of ceilings (especially ceilings of large space like a hall, ceiling of general building and ceiling of low-rise commercial building) and damage of exterior outer walls, claddings and openings (especially (1) damage on the exterior tiles of RC buildings, (2) damage on the lath sheet of steel buildings, (3) damage on the ALC panels of steel buildings, (4) damage on the glass screens, (5) damages on window glasses and (6) damages on other outer wall parts). The investigation area is as follows: Fukushima and Miyagi in Tohoku region, Kanagawa, Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki and Tokyo in Kanto region and Shizuoka in Chubu region.