Monthly Archives: October 2011

stradlater’s roommate

The idea for this new song was triggered by my recent experience signing up with Facebook. Once signed up, I was informed by my younger brother that having only 9 or 10 friends is pretty pathetic. I would periodically check out my Facebook homepage and see that Dan and Eric were now friends, or that Kris and Miki were now friends, which only heightened my sense of insecurity (these thoughts were transcribed into the song’s lyrics in a more-or-less literal way). For the record, Stradlater’s roommate is Holden Caulfield. Lyrics, production notes, and a YouTube video are here.

Also for the record, the video was shot with my low-resolution Flip camcorder and my iMac built-in iSight camera recording simultaneously; the iSight clip is then superimposed onto the desaturated (B&W) Flip clip in Final Cut Express. Various iMac images, some taken by me and others taken from a Google image search, are also interwoven into the video, with the iSight clip always superimposed. Several images taken from the web, appropriately distorted via PhotoShop to match the perspectival conditions they appear in, can be seen every now and then superimposed onto the moving images — the original 45 of Eleanor Rigby rests on the shelf between my speakers; and a copy of Alice in Wonderland or Catcher in the Rye sits on my desk.

Stradlater’s roommate © 2011 Jonathan Ochshorn (remixed Sept. 2, 2019)

VERSE 1:
looking for a friend is tough
do you know of any
nine or ten is not enough
when others have so many
dan and eric are now friends
so are kris and miki
i can’t tell what this portends
maybe i’m too picky

CHORUS 1:
never thought i’d end up like eleanor rigby
wondering what went wrong
waiting at the window screen for someone to pick me
singing where do i belong

VERSE 2:
like alice in the rabbit-hole
in the deep well she falls
mr carroll couldn’t know
that what were wells are now walls
what size do you want to be
the caterpillar asked her
doesn’t matter much to me (she said)
but changing’s a disaster

CHORUS 2:
never thought i’d end up like poor little alice
looking for some fun
everyone she meets is crazy or dripping with malice
and there’s nothing to be done

BRIDGE
i’m not the kind to complain
i’ll take the good with the bad the sun with the rain
but will this rain never end
here it comes again

VERSE 3:
holden’s in a jam again
life sucks what a pity
school’s done so he takes the train
back to new york city
all the women he meets there
leave him sad and lonely
he tells himself he doesn’t care
cause everyone’s a phony

CHORUS 3:
never thought i’d end up like stradlater’s roommate
feeling so alone
finally gets the nerve to call up jane for a new date
but her mom picks up the phone

CHORUS 3 (repeated):
never thought i’d end up like stradlater’s roommate
feeling so alone
hanging it up after calling jane for a new date
when her mom picks up the phone

update on egress and mezzanine in Milstein Hall

Two issues have emerged with the construction of partitions in the crit space of Milstein Hall (Rem Koolhaas, OMA architects), under the concrete dome.

1. In a prior post, I mentioned that the interconnected spaces in Milstein Hall should probably not be permitted under the 2002 Building Code of NYS, since such an open geometry containing an unenclosed egress stair is legal only if no more than two stories are connected. Only if the “first-floor” lobby level is called a mezzanine — so that it becomes part of the lower-level space, reducing the number of stories from three (basement, first, and second) to two (first and second only) — do these interconnected spaces appear to comply with the Code.

However, the definition of a mezzanine has two requirements: it must have no more than one third the area of the room or space it is in; and it must be actually “in” the room or space it is in (the lower level crit space under the dome). I discussed the ambiguity of the requirement for the mezzanine to be “in” the crit space, but also warned that the whole pretense would fall apart if the crit space was subdivided in the future, since in that case, the lobby might no longer qualify as a mezzanine and the openings connecting three stories would clearly not be legal.

Figure 1. New permanent partitions being installed in the crit space of Milstein Hall

Figure 1. New permanent partitions being installed in the crit space of Milstein Hall

Well, the future is now. Partitions are being finished within the lower-level crit space (see Figure 1) that subdivide the larger space into smaller rooms or spaces. As can be seen in Figure 2, the largest of these newly-subdivided spaces is approximately 2,600 square feet, while the lobby is approximately 1,000 square feet. Since the lobby has an area that is more than one third that of the space below, it no longer qualifies as a mezzanine.

Figure 2. Comparison of lobby area and that of the room or space below

Figure 2. Comparison of lobby area and that of the room or space below

In other words, the lobby must be considered as a separate story, and the openings in what are now three interconnected stories become noncompliant, if they weren’t already.

2. The second issue has to do with required egress from spaces with more than 50 occupants. In a prior post I described the unacceptable location of exits in the crit space, since they are too close to each other to qualify as separate exits under the Code. Now that partitions are being constructed to subdivide the crit space, the same problem occurs in the smaller rooms being created.

Figure 3. Noncompliant exits in small crit space under the dome

Figure 3. Noncompliant exits in small crit space under the dome

The Code requires that any room with more than 50 occupants have two separate exits, and that these exits be a distance apart no smaller than one third the diagonal length of the room. To determine the number of occupants, one identifies the type of use, in this case an “assembly” occupancy with chairs that are not fixed. For such a use, the Code assigns 7 square feet per occupant. The area of the subdivided room in question, shown with a yellow tone in Figure 3, can be calculated as follows:

27 x 20 = 540 square feet
0.5 x 20 x 4 = 40 square feet
10 x 15 = 150 square feet
0.5 x 10 x 15 = 75 square feet

The total room area = 540 + 40 + 150 + 75 = 805 square feet.

Assuming 7 sq.ft. per occupant, the room must be designed for 805 / 7 = 115 occupants.

Even if the room had tables and chairs, like a classroom with 15 sq.ft. per occupant, it would still need to be be designed for 805 / 15 = 54 occupants.

Using either of these assumptions, two exits are required. The partitions only provide one exit. And this single exit is not wide enough to qualify as two exits based on its length compared to the diagonal length of the room.

The fact that these permanent partitions are movable shouldn’t change any of the conclusions drawn here. They are able to be configured in ways that are sometimes compliant and sometimes noncompliant, but they must be judged based on all possible geometries, especially those that put people and property in danger.

implausible egress interpretation

[Updated below] Aside from limiting the fuel within a given fire area through various compartmentation strategies, a fundamental component of all fire safety requirements is to provide protected paths of escape (egress) for building occupants in the event of a fire incident. The number and characteristics of these so-called means of egress depends on several variables, including the type of occupancy and the number of occupants. The large critique (crit) space under the dome of Milstein Hall (Rem Koolhaas, OMA architects) does not seem to meet these egress requirements.

The number of occupants in the crit space should be taken as the larger of (a) the actual number of anticipated occupants or (b) a number found by dividing the floor area of the space by the tabular floor area per occupant found in Table 1003.2.2.2 of the 2002 Building Code of NYS (Maximum floor area allowances per occupant). Following are the tabular values for assembly spaces — and the crit space certainly seems to count as an A-3 assembly space:

• Chairs only, but not fixed = 7 square feet per occupant
• Standing space = 5 square feet per occupant
• Unconcentrated, i.e., tables and chairs = 15 square feet per occupant

The most generous interpretation for the occupant use of this space would be “chairs, not fixed” with an allowance per occupant of 7 square feet. This corresponds to the reality of such critique assembly spaces, which can be crowded with students and faculty reviewers. Assuming an approximate floor area of 3,600 sq. ft. (the actual area may well be closer to 4,000 sq.ft.), the number of occupants in this space is 3600 / 7 = 514.

For any Group A or B space with 51 or more occupants, at least 2 exits from the space are required. Per Table 1005.2.1, three exits are required for 501-1000 occupants. Therefore, at least two, and possibly three, exits are needed from the crit space. It’s hard to imagine having more than 500 occupants in that space, as there are not that many architecture students in the entire program, but even with less than 500 occupants the requirement for two exits appears, at first glance, not to be met.

According to Section 1004.2.2.1 of the Code, and assuming that only two exits are needed, these two exits must be “placed a distance apart equal to not less than one half [or one third for this sprinklered space, per exception] of the length of the maximum overall diagonal dimension of the building or area to be served.”

Figure 1. Schematic plans showing how two noncompliant exits can be made compliant

Figure 1. Schematic plans showing how two noncompliant exits can be made compliant

As can be seen in Figure 1a, two exits from a room with more than 50 occupants cannot be placed next to each other, since the distance, d, must be at least one third the length of the diagonal distance, D. But what if we pretend that the room actually extends into the corridor, as shown by the shaded yellow area in Figure 1b? In that case, the two exits are now still not compliant, since even though one of them, E1, has been “moved” far enough away such that the distance, d, is now greater than one third of the distance, D. Nothing has changed to make the room safer, but and the exits are now still not compliant.

Of course, one needs One would need to stretch beyond plausibility the definition of a corridor to make this work. A corridor is a type of exit access, which the Code defines as follows: “That portion of a means of egress system that leads from any occupied point in a building or structure to an exit.” It seems clear that the corridor shown in Figure 1 really is acting as a corridor, and not as a part of the room. But the main point is this: even if the corridor is envisioned as “part” of the room, the egress situation remains noncompliant, because the occupants of the space still need to pass through what amounts to a single exit, rather than having two exits available. [see update 3 below] But how does this apply to the crit space in Milstein Hall?

Figure 2. Milstein Hall plans showing how two noncompliant exits can be made compliant

Figure 2. Milstein Hall plans showing how two noncompliant exits can be made compliant

If the second exit from the crit space is assumed to consist of the unenclosed stair leading to the bridge above the crit room space, this second exit (marked E2 in Figure 2) does not appear to conform to the requirement that it be a minimum distance from the first exit (marked E1) — this distance determined by dividing the maximum diagonal length of the room by three.

To solve this problem, the architects for Milstein Hall have attempted to use used the trick outlined above: as explained to me by Cornell’s Project Director for Milstein Hall, the crit space actually extends into what appears to be the corridor leading to the exit (see Figure 2b with the extent of the crit space shown in blue). In fact, there are even felt pin-up walls in this “corridor” to lend credence to this interpretation. Even so, the safety of the crit space appears to have been compromised by this imaginative Code interpretation.

[Update: Oct. 13, 2011] As I describe in a later post, the smaller crit spaces formed by new partitions also have egress problems.

[Update 2: Oct. 13, 2011] One might have more sympathy for the architects’ contention that the crit space actually extends into the corridor if they had indicated this intention on their plans. In fact, they label the corridor separately from the crit space (calling it a “gallery/ hall”) as can be seen in this annotated screen shot taken from Cornell’s Milstein Hall website:

room-labels

[Update 3: March 1, 2012] The deleted text and bold-face additions above are intended to clarify the point that I was trying to make: that the crit space under the dome in Milstein Hall (or any similarly configured space with more than 49 occupants) is noncompliant with egress regulations in building codes. This judgment was recently supported by a Code expert from the International Code Commission (which publishes the International Building Code upon which the New York State Building Code is based); I will publish his written opinion as soon as I receive it [the Code opinion can be found here].

milstein hall and its interconnected spaces

Milstein Hall at Cornell (Rem Koolhaas, OMA architects) contains what appears to be three floors, all interconnected with an opening through which passes an unenclosed egress stair. Such a condition, unless it is designed as an atrium with special smoke control measures, would not be permitted under the New York State Building Code — see my discussion of holes in floors.

Milstein Hall's interconnected spaces -- crit space below, lobby/bridge in the middle, and studios above -- can be seen in this image

Milstein Hall's interconnected spaces -- crit space below, lobby/bridge in the middle, and studios above -- can be seen in this image

I asked the Project Director for Milstein Hall how such an interconnected opening was possible, since the interconnected spaces were clearly not designed as an atrium. He explained that, contrary to appearances, the building only has two stories with no basement: what appears as the basement is actually the first floor; what appears as the first floor is actually a mezzanine; and only the second floor is really what it appears to be — the second floor. Mezzanines need to be no more than one-third the floor area of the room or space they are in, and the first-floor lobby of Milstein did appear to be no bigger than one-third the floor area of the crit space under the dome to which it is connected.

However, while the interconnected openings in Milstein Hall appear at first glance to meet the “letter” of the Building Code, they may well be noncompliant.
Figure 1
Comparing Case I and Case II in Figure 1, one can see that the entire rationale for allowing an unenclosed egress stair from the second floor to the mezzanine lobby depends on the relative area of the space defined by what I have schematically called wall “A.” If wall “A” is placed in such a way that the area of the space it forms is at least 3 times bigger than that of the lobby (Case I), then the lobby can be counted as a mezzanine, and the egress stair is then technically within an unenclosed opening connecting only two stories, thereby conforming with exception 8 or exception 9 in Section 1005.3.2 of the 2002 New York State Building Code.

However, if wall “A” is moved so that the area of the space it forms is less than 3 times the size of the lobby (case II), then the lobby cannot be called a mezzanine. It now becomes the first floor, and the same openings and egress stair become noncompliant.

This seems entirely irrational, since Case II, with less floor area to house combustible products and a smaller number of occupants than Case I, is nevertheless noncompliant, whereas Case I, with a larger area and therefore more occupants and potentially combustible products, would be deemed compliant.

It seems probable either that the writers of the Code never anticipated that their definition of mezzanine would be exploited in this way, or that other aspects of the mezzanine definition make this geometry noncompliant.

The definition of mezzanine, found in Section 502 of the 2002 Code, states that it must have “a floor area of not more than one-third of the area of the room or space in which the level or levels are located.” The key word here is “in.” The mezzanine must be “in” the room or space, not outside the room or space with an opening that connects them. Now, one might debate what exactly the meaning of the word “in” is (by analogy to Bill Clinton insisting that a proper interpretation of his prior testimony “depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is”). As can be seen in Figure 2, common sense would suggest that the lobby is not “in” the dome. Both the section (Figure 2a) and the composite photo (Figure 2b) show clearly that the concrete structure of the dome creates a distinct “room” or “space” and that the lobby (pictured through the hole in the dome visible at the left of Figure 2b) is completely outside that space.

Figure 2

It is possible (along the lines advocated by Clinton) to define “in” topologically rather than by recourse to “common sense”; in that case the lobby can indeed be tested as a mezzanine “within” the dome “crit space.” In other words, we could draw a continuous contour line through the opening connecting the two spaces and call the resultant figure a single space. But the Code is fairly careful about the prepositions it deploys. If the intent were to allow a mezzanine to have any interconnected relationship to a room or space, other words or phrases could have been chosen instead of “in” or “within.” The Code does not describe a mezzanine as being “next to” or “adjacent to” or “connected to” some other room or space: it specifically says that a mezzanine must be “within” a room.

Still, this is admittedly ambiguous. The commentary to the 2009 IBC doesn’t really help: “So as not to contribute significantly to a building’s inherent fire hazard, a mezzanine is restricted to a maximum of one-third of the area of the room with which it shares a common atmosphere.” Here, the phrase “common atmosphere” has two purposes: first, it signals that the mezzanine must be somehow contiguous with the space it is in; second, it excludes any “enclosed portion of a room” in computing “the floor area of the room in which the mezzanine is located.” Having a “common atmosphere” appears therefore to be a necessary, but not sufficient condition. The mezzanine must also be “in” the room or space, which again brings us back to the question of what “in” is.

But this much is true: if the lobby space cannot be called a mezzanine, then it counts as a story. In that case, the interconnected openings are noncompliant, as they meet none of the exceptions for shaft enclosures outlined in Section 707.2 of the 2002 Code. And even if the lobby is now granted the status of mezzanine, the crit space under the dome becomes locked into its current geometry forever: it can never be reconfigured, for example, into a series of smaller rooms, since the lobby would then exceed its maximum floor area qua mezzanine and would revert back to being a separate story. The opening connecting what would now be three interconnected stories would be noncompliant.

[Update: Oct. 13, 2011] As I describe in a later post, the crit space has now been subdivided into a series of smaller rooms, appearing to make both the lobby noncompliant as a mezzanine, and the interconnected stories with an unenclosed egress stair noncompliant according to the various allowable exceptions for shaft enclosures.