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X-100 (house)
The X-100 is an experimental steel house designed by A. Quincy Jones with his partner Frederick Emmons for Eichler Homes and built in 1956 at the San Mateo Highlands development in California. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. Background and construction Eichler Homes was founded as a developer of tracts of single-family houses in the Bay Area suburbs during the California building boom that followed World War II. Joseph Eichler, the founder, insisted on modernist style and used only designs by architects, initially Anshen and Allen and later also Jones and Emmons. The company specialized in constructing these houses cheaply enough to be an affordable alternative to more conventional tract houses. The vast majority were of timber, using post and beam construction. Eichler had however commissioned a steel-frame house from Raphael Soriano in 1955; this was built in Palo Alto to demonstrate the practicality and cost-worthiness of building tract hous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Mateo, California
San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster City to the east and Belmont to the south. The population was 105,661 at the 2020 census. San Mateo has a Mediterranean climate and is known for its rich history at the center of the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of the biggest economic drivers for the city include technology, health care and education. History The Ramaytush people lived in the land, prior to its becoming the city of San Mateo. In 1789, the Spanish missionaries had named a Native American village along Laurel Creek as ''Los Laureles'' or the Laurels (Mission Dolores, 1789). At the time of Mexican Independence, 30 native Californians were at San Mateo, most likely from the Salson tribelet. Naming of the city Captain Frederick William Beechey in 1827 traveling with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North American X-15
The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. It was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the 1960s, reaching the edge of outer space and returning with valuable data used in aircraft and spacecraft design. The X-15's highest speed, , was achieved on 3October 1967, when William J. Knight flew at Mach6.7 at an altitude of , or 19.34miles. This set the official world record for the highest speed ever recorded by a crewed, powered aircraft, which remains unbroken. During the X-15 program, 12pilots flew a combined 199flights. Of these, 8pilots flew a combined 13flights which met the Air Force spaceflight criterion by exceeding the altitude of , thus qualifying these pilots as being astronauts; of those 13flights, two (flown by the same civilian pilot) met the FAI definition () of outer space. The 5Air Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formica (plastic)
Formica Laminate is a laminated composite material invented at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in the United States in 1912. Originally used to replace mica in electrical applications, it has since been manufactured for multiple applications. It has been produced by Formica Group manufacturing sites across the globe since. Formica Group are best known for the company's classic product: a heat-resistant, wipe-clean laminate of paper or textile with melamine resin. Formica Group, a division of the Dutch company Broadview Holdings, consists of Formica Canada, Inc., Formica Corporation, Formica de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Formica IKI Oy, Formica Limited, Formica S.A., Formica S.A.S., Formica Taiwan Corporation, Formica (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Formica (Asia) Ltd., and others. Etymology The mineral mica was commonly used at that time for electrical insulation. Because the new product acted as a substitute "for mica", Faber used the name ''Formica'' as a trademark. The word alread ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Track Lighting
Track lighting is a method of lighting where light fixtures are attached anywhere on a continuous track device which contains electrical conductors.https://books.google.com/books?id=bAEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA75&dq=%22track+lighting%22&hl=en&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22track%20lighting%22&f=false Richard Stepler "Track Lighting puts light where you want it", ''Popular Science'', January 1975 Page 75 This is in contrast to directly routing electrical wiring to individual light positions. Tracks can either be mounted to ceilings or walls, lengthwise down beams, or crosswise across rafters or joists. They can also be hung with rods from especially high places like vaulted ceilings. Track lighting was invented by Anthony Donato of Lightolier. Donato received the first patent related to track lighting in 1961. Tracks There are three standard types of tracks used worldwide. They are often termed "H", "J", and "L" track, after the names of the manufacturers that established the standards, Halo, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formwork
Formwork is Molding (process), molds into which concrete or similar materials are either precast concrete, precast or cast-in-place concrete, cast-in-place. In the context of concrete construction, the falsework supports the shuttering molds. In specialty applications formwork may be permanently incorporated into the final structure, adding insulation or helping reinforce the finished structure. Types Formwork may be made of wood, metal, plastic, or composite materials: #''Traditional timber formwork''. The formwork is built on site out of timber and plywood or moisture-resistant particleboard. It is easy to produce but time-consuming for larger structures, and the plywood facing has a relatively short lifespan. It is still used extensively where the labour costs are lower than the costs for procuring reusable formwork. It is also the most flexible type of formwork, so even where other systems are in use, complicated sections may use it. #''Engineered Formwork System''. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plywood
Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards which include medium-density fibreboard (MDF), oriented strand board (OSB) and particle board (chipboard). All plywoods bind resin and wood fibre sheets (cellulose cells are long, strong and thin) to form a composite material. This alternation of the grain is called ''cross-graining'' and has several important benefits: it reduces the tendency of wood to split when nailed at the edges; it reduces expansion and shrinkage, providing improved dimensional stability; and it makes the strength of the panel consistent across all directions. There is usually an odd number of plies, so that the sheet is balanced—this reduces warping. Because plywood is bonded with grains running against one another and with an odd number of composite part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Underfloor Heating
Underfloor heating and cooling is a form of central heating and cooling that achieves indoor climate control for thermal comfort using hydronic or electrical heating elements embedded in a floor. Heating is achieved by conduction, radiation and convection. Use of underfloor heating dates back to the Neoglacial and Neolithic periods. History Underfloor heating has a long history back into the Neoglacial and Neolithic periods. Archeological digs in Asia and the Aleutian islands of Alaska reveal how the inhabitants drafted smoke from fires through stone covered trenches which were excavated in the floors of their subterranean dwellings. The hot smoke heated the floor stones and the heat then radiated into the living spaces. These early forms have evolved into modern systems using fluid filled pipes or electrical cables and mats. Below is a chronological overview of under floor heating from around the world. Description Modern underfloor heating systems use either electrical r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyurethane Foam
Polyurethane products have many uses. Over three quarters of the global consumption of polyurethane products is in the form of foams, with flexible and rigid types being roughly equal in market size. In both cases, the foam is usually behind other materials: flexible foams are behind upholstery fabrics in commercial and domestic furniture; rigid foams are between metal, or plastic walls/sheets of most refrigerators and freezers, or other surface materials in the case of thermal insulation panels in the construction sector. Its use in garments is growing: for example, in lining the cups of brassieres. Polyurethane is also used for moldings which include door frames, columns, balusters, window headers, pediments, medallions and rosettes. Polyurethane formulations cover an extremely wide range of stiffness, hardness, and densities. These materials include: * Low-density flexible foam used in upholstery, bedding, automotive and truck seating, and novel inorganic plant substrates fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I-beam
An I-beam, also known as H-beam (for universal column, UC), w-beam (for "wide flange"), universal beam (UB), rolled steel joist (RSJ), or double-T (especially in Polish language, Polish, Bulgarian language, Bulgarian, Spanish language, Spanish, Italian language, Italian and German language, German), is a beam (structure), beam with an or -shaped cross section (geometry), cross-section. The horizontal elements of the are flanges, and the vertical element is the "web". I-beams are usually made of structural steel and are used in construction and civil engineering. The web resists shear forces, while the flanges resist most of the bending moment experienced by the beam. The Euler–Bernoulli beam equation shows that the I-shaped section is a very efficient form for carrying both bending and shearing (physics), shear loads in the plane of the web. On the other hand, the cross-section has a reduced capacity in the transverse direction, and is also inefficient in carrying torsion ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
H Beam
An I-beam, also known as H-beam (for universal column, UC), w-beam (for "wide flange"), universal beam (UB), rolled steel joist (RSJ), or double-T (especially in Polish, Bulgarian, Spanish, Italian and German), is a beam with an or -shaped cross-section. The horizontal elements of the are flanges, and the vertical element is the "web". I-beams are usually made of structural steel and are used in construction and civil engineering. The web resists shear forces, while the flanges resist most of the bending moment experienced by the beam. The Euler–Bernoulli beam equation shows that the I-shaped section is a very efficient form for carrying both bending and shear loads in the plane of the web. On the other hand, the cross-section has a reduced capacity in the transverse direction, and is also inefficient in carrying torsion, for which hollow structural sections are often preferred. History The method of producing an I-beam, as rolled from a single piece of wrought i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bent (structural)
A bent in American English is a transverse rigid frame (or similar structures such as three-hinged arches). Historically, bents were a common way of making a timber frame; they are still often used for such, and are also seen in small steel-frame buildings, where the term portal frame is more commonly used. The term is also used for the cross-ways support structures in a trestle. In British English this assembly is called a "cross frame". The term ''bent'' is probably an archaic past tense of the verb ''to bind'', referring to the way the timbers of a bent are joined together. The Dutch word is ''bint'' (past participle ''gebint''), the West Frisian is , and the German is . Compare this with the term bend for a class of knots. Bents are the building blocks that define the overall shape and character of a structure. They do not have any sort of pre-defined configuration in the way that a Pratt truss does. Rather, bents are simply cross-sectional templates of structural members, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drainage Basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the '' drainage divide'', made up of a succession of elevated features, such as ridges and hills. A basin may consist of smaller basins that merge at river confluences, forming a hierarchical pattern. Other terms for a drainage basin are catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin, water basin, and impluvium. In North America, they are commonly called a watershed, though in other English-speaking places, "watershed" is used only in its original sense, that of a drainage divide. In a closed drainage basin, or endorheic basin, the water converges to a single point inside the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake, a dry lake, or a point where surface water is lost underground. Drainage basins are similar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
