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The Committee on Design (COD) was founded to promote design excellence among members of the AIA, the broader design community, and the public at large, both nationally and internationally.

2024 COD Conferences

Arkansas

April 3-7 | 21c Hotel | Bentonville and Eureka Springs - Registration is sold out.

Brazil

Thu, Oct 17 - Sat, Oct 26, 2024
Sao Paulo > Brasilia > Rio de Janerio.  Registration will open in late April.

2024 Sponsorships

Download the prospectus for Arkansas and Brazil opportunities.


2023 COD Conferences

Last year, COD held two domestic design conferences investigating The Authenticity of Place.  The first conference was held in New Orleans, LA.  View the short video of the venue tours and download the conference program book. The second conference was held in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, September 21-24, 2023. Download the Minneapolis guidebook and view the conference video

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From Putty to Silicone - How Caulk Changed Architecture

  • 1.  From Putty to Silicone - How Caulk Changed Architecture

    Posted 05-11-2016 12:08 PM
     
    The invention of the arch, the use of steel, reinforced concrete, glass, and the elevator are well understood as innovations that changed architecture in often dramatic ways.
     
    Only few people, though, would count caulk among the disruptive inventions and game changers in architecture. But that may be an oversight. For understanding what really enables the type of  urban architecture we take for granted today, the role of joint fillers (commonly known as caulk) can't be underestimated. In fact, the story of caulk isn't interesting for the nerdy details of such mundane materials as caulk themselves but for the implications they have on style, architecture and even structural design.  Here is the story:
     
    The view of the 9/11 site in lower Manhattan in 2006 seen through a
    full glass wall (Photo: K. Philipsen)

    In the small bit of literature there is about caulk it is usually noted that joint fillers have been around forever, for example, as mud and pitch. Examples of early uses includelog cabins where the logs weren't carefully hewn for good fit and using mud between rocks. Mud between layers of stone or early bricks were also common. One could even go as far as to call the mortar used in masonry a joint filler,and that wouldn't be entirely wrong. So what is so special about modern caulk?

    Of those historic precedents the only... for full article click the link below:

    Community Architect: From Putty to Silicone - How Caulk Changed Architecture

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    Community Architect: From Putty to Silicone - How Caulk Changed Architecture
     
    View this on Archplanbaltimore >
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    Nikolaus Philipsen FAIA
    Archplan Inc. Philipsen Architects
    Baltimore MD
    ------------------------------
    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 2.  RE: From Putty to Silicone - How Caulk Changed Architecture

    Posted 05-12-2016 07:42 PM
    Sure seems like these 65 story high rises all over SF are put together with mostly glue (call it caulk if you want)…what happens in 45 years..just saying…Alan Rudy AIA(big fan of mechanical fasteners)


    2024 HRC Taliesin West