I’m fascinated by the idea of advancement. We achieve technological and other kinds of advancements because someone took a risk and tried something new. Often, that attempt fails. Our early space exploration efforts were notorious for the likelihood that the rocket would blow up. Even recently, the SpaceX program experienced a similar kind of failure when its rocket exploded prior to launch.
When we push beyond the edge of our comfort zone, we sometimes experience notable and significant failure. That happens when you take risks.
In the construction industry, we have a much more cautious approach to risk. Frank Lloyd Wright was famous for bending our ideas of design, and his hallmark project, Fallingwater, set new standards for residential design with its post-tensioned cantilevered concrete overhangs. Unfortunately, the performance side of Fallingwater has been less than successful, and its nickname among some is “Fallingdown,” as the cantilevered elements continued to deflect and put the whole structure in danger of collapse.
When you add in the risk of legal fallout from taking a risk that fails, there is little incentive to pushing the boundary of design and construction. Yet, still we do. We’re humans. A rocket blows up, we build another and try again.
I want to draw your attention to two examples of pushing the envelope. The MCN Building and Roofing Awards features a project from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) that the judges wanted to draw special attention to. The project
(page 28) features a metal building system from Butler Manufacturing, Kansas City, Mo., which the contractor, client and architect re-envisioned. They pushed the idea of a pre-engineered metal building into something new in terms of both structure and performance. The result is a jewel of a project that is worth our admiration. Pushing the envelope on accepted practices will benefit all of us in the metal building industry.
The second project was showcased at METALCON last month. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory laid down a challenge to the construction industry with the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy (AMIE) Demonstration Project. This project included a building constructed using the 3-D printing process and a two-way energy transfer system that allowed the structure to provide energy to an electric vehicle, and the vehicle to send energy to the structure, depending on where it is needed.
It’s a demonstration project so there is no expectation that the market will jump into gear creating these products. But, according to Dr. Roderick Jackson, the project lead for AMIE, the idea was to demonstrate the possibilities of rapid manufacturing, 3-D printing and electricity supply. While not marketable now, by those measures, AMIE is a success. These two projects are markers that innovators have laid down to show the industry a way to proceed forward. The SCI-Arc building has to perform to our usual standards, so as a marker it is much closer, not even on the horizon but within reach for all of us. The AMIE project, though, is just beyond the horizon. We can only see the tip of it, but it gives us a bearing point toward which to steer.
Without these risk takers-from both private industry and governmental effort-we would grow stagnant and founder. That’s not in our nature, especially in this country, and my hope is that the construction industry will continue to push and push and push to new advancements because I believe we’re on the cusp of significant change. I’m excited about the future.
