I just read an article in the May 2018 ASHRAE JOURNAL about Discover Elementary School in Arlington, Va. designed by VMDO Architects; it is currently the largest zero energy elementary school built in the US. It’s interesting to compare its size, cost, and “sustainable” qualities with Cornell’s LEED gold-certified Milstein Hall, the architecture building designed by OMA and Rem Koolhaas. Both are two-story academic buildings.

So, in a nutshell, Milstein Hall is half the size, twice the cost,* and barely meets minimum ASHRAE energy standards,** while the Arlington school actually returns energy to the grid.

Aerial views of the Discovery Elementary School in Arlington, VA (top) and Milstein Hall at Cornell University (bottom)

*To be clear, the Arlington school is half the cost and twice the size; in other words, its cost per square foot is approximately 25% that of Milstein Hall.

**Cornell’s stated goal (see my video) since 2008 is for new buildings “to use 30% less energy than current energy standards and strive towards 50% less energy.” Milstein Hall’s energy model projects a whopping 2% energy reduction compared to this minimum standard.

Milstein Hall, the architecture facility at Cornell designed by OMA and Rem Koolhaas, has a “growing” handrail problem: the vines intended to cover the exterior egress stairway have penetrated the metal grid on which they’re supported, and have rendered the handrail noncompliant.

Vines intended to cover the exterior egress stair for Milstein Hall have penetrated inside the structure and rendered the handrail noncompliant (photo by J. Ochshorn, May 28, 2018)

Handrails must be continuous; the NYS Building Code has this advice: “Handrail gripping surfaces shall be continuous, without interruption by newel posts or other obstructions.”

Follow up: see Aug. 19, 2019 blog post.

I took a look at several documents that were emailed to me, at my request, on March 21, 2018: the “Building Envelope and Structural Conditions Assessment” for Sibley Hall at Cornell University (prepared by Ryan-Biggs Associates in May 2009) as well as four pages of structural plans and details for the third-floor renovation of E. Sibley Hall (prepared by Robert Silman Associates in March 2015). It seems to me that the structural analysis and mitigation measures proposed for the E. Sibley roof do not reflect the actual behavior of the roof members and do not explain observed displacements, misalignments, and rotations of columns, attic joists, girders, and roof rafters. I am not a structural engineer, but I think that the discrepancies between the Assessment report and structural analysis, on the one hand, and the observed conditions in E. SIbley Hall, on the other hand, warrant further investigation.

First, there is no mention anywhere, in any of the documents, of second-floor and especially third-floor column misalignment, attic joist displacement and rotation, and girder bowing in E. SIbley Hall. Either the engineers simply missed these important structural conditions in their site investigations, or the misalignments, displacements, rotations, and so on occurred after their reports and drawings were prepared — for example, they might have occurred as a result of construction during the third-floor E. Sibley renovation itself. It is also possible that these conditions occurred, or were exacerbated, as a result of the 2009 excavation for Milstein Hall and the underpinning of E. Sibley foundations, or it is possible that they occurred as a result of some original skylight installation decades ago. It would be important to know whether these structural problems (not mentioned in any of the documents) existed before the E. Sibley renovation and the Milstein Hall excavation took place. I was a student here, spending my entire freshman year on the third floor of E. Sibley Hall in 1970–1971; I don’t recall any column misalignment at that time, but, of course, I may not have noticed. I also can’t find any early photos of the interior of E. Sibley Hall that might allow us to determine when this misalignment happened. The two photos showing the interior of E. Sibley Hall provided in the Assessment report are inconclusive, but perhaps the engineers took other photos (not in their Assessment report) that might show the condition of the columns in 2008.

Second, the Assessment report repeatedly emphasizes and notes an outward movement of the exterior masonry walls in E. Sibley Hall. Such an outward movement does not explain (and in fact appears to contradict) the observed inward movement of the interior wooden columns on the third floor of E. Sibley Hall where the skylight opening occurs. This alleged outward movement of the masonry walls is not visible by casual observation, and no evidence is produced to support the contention that the masonry walls have, in fact, displaced laterally. Nor is it clear, even if there has been some outward movement of the masonry walls, that this movement explains the distress in the roof structure.

Third, there is no analysis in the Assessment report or in Silman’s structural drawings of the actual structural behavior of the wooden roof elements in E. SIbley Hall, behavior that is alleged to have caused this outward “thrust” on the exterior masonry walls. In fact, the behavior of this structure is rather complex, since it contains several internal “hinges,” especially at the intersection of the lower and upper sloping members that create the Mansard form. Such hinge conditions could explain why there may well have been both an outward and an inward thrust on the exterior walls (outward) and the interior columns (inward) respectively — especially when attic joists under the skylights were removed. Silman’s structural drawings do not even represent the lower part of the Mansard structure in their “Existing Attic Framing Configuration” section (Figure 1). There is no way to fully understand the structural behavior of E. Sibley’s roof framing without including these Mansard elements in the sections and in the analysis.

Figure 1. Existing attic framing section from Silman structural drawings, Drawing No. S-110.

Fourth, this mischaracterization of the behavior of the roof apparently led to the conclusion that the two interior lines of girders above the wooden columns on the third floor of E. Sibley Hall should be connected with cables or rods (in tension) to protect against the alleged outward thrust of the roof elements. These tension cables are clearly useless (they are slack) and, in fact, will do nothing to protect against a mode of failure in which the girders above the two lines of inner columns, already leaning towards each other, move further inward under the roof loads (see Figure 4). Silman’s “Design Intent Narrative” is based entirely on the premise of adding tension rods between the third-floor girders to “resolve horizontal spreading force.” There is no mention of the observed fact that, rather than “spreading,” the third-floor columns, along with the girders they support, are actually leaning inward.

Fifth, there appears to be a much smaller misalignment of several second-floor columns in E. Sibley Hall, but in the opposite direction of the third floor columns. In other words, some of the second-floor columns appear to be leaning outward, while the third-floor columns appear to be leaning inward. This could be the result of some outward spreading of the exterior masonry walls. However, such spreading, to the extent that it has occurred, seems to be relatively insignificant in terms of explaining the behavior of the wooden roof structure. There is no obvious evidence of outward movement of the exterior walls from inside E. Sibley Hall. On the third floor, the top edge of the masonry wall appears perfectly straight, whereas the girders over the interior column lines are remarkably out of alignment (see Figure 2 and Figure 3).

Figure 2. These images show the misalignment of third-floor columns (left) and the bowing of the steel girders that they support (right). Photos by J. Ochshorn, April 2018.

Sixth, these column/girder misalignments appear to happen only where the skylights in E. Sibley Hall occur, presumably because either attic joists were removed, or because the structure was not adequately braced during the renovation of the third floor when the older skylight frame was removed. In other words, my assumption is that these former structural elements (i.e., either the attic joists or skylight mullions in the plane of the roof) allowed the inward-acting tendencies (thrusts) of the north and south mansard sections to counteract each other in compression and thereby provide more than 100 years of equilibrium.

Seventh, Silman’s section notes that the “existing rafters [are] pulling from ridge board.” This observation actually contradicts the premise of their structural design — that the roof structure is thrusting outwards. If that premise were true, one would expect that the rafters would be in compression, pushing against the ridge board, rather than in tension, pulling away from the ridge board. This separation of the rafters from the ridge board is better explained by a rotation of the rafter-attic joist-knee wall (considered as a rigid free-body) over the girder on which it is “balanced” — facilitated by its unstable connection (hinge) to the lower inclined Mansard element. This explanation is much more plausible than the “spreading” explanation, since it is consistent with the observed rotation of these wooden roof elements and with the inward displacement of the supporting girder. I measured the distance from the bottom of the attic joists to the finished floor and found that the attic joists were indeed significantly lower where they connect with the inclined Mansard elements, but only at the locations where the columns were most displaced. As would be expected, these locations of maximum column displacement and maximum attic joist rotation occur toward the middle of the north-south bracing walls, as shown schematically in Figure 3: Attic joist “A” (at the bracing wall or frame) is horizontal, with no apparent rotation, whereas attic joist “B” shows significant rotation, with its northern end 1.5 inches lower than its southern end. This rotation, made possible by the “hinged” connection to the inclined Mansard supports, is easier to visualize by examining the section in Figure 4.

Figure 3. This is an annotated, revised, and schematic version of Silman’s “Attic Floor Existing Framing” plan, showing not only how columns and girders are displaced between the north-south bracing walls, but how the attic joist-rafter elements, considered as rigid free-bodies, have rotated and displaced laterally. Locations of maximum column displacement and maximum attic joist rotation occur toward the middle of the north-south bracing walls: Attic joist “A” (at the bracing wall or frame) is horizontal, with no apparent rotation, whereas attic joist “B” shows significant rotation, with its northern end 1.5 inches lower than its southern end. This rotation, made possible by the “hinged” connection to the inclined Mansard supports, is easier to visualize by examining the section in Figure 4. (Annotations and revisions by J. Ochshorn, April 2018)

Eighth, the inward bowing of the steel girders over the misaligned columns on the third floor of E. SIbley (Figures 2 and 3) indicates that these girders — designed to transfer the gravity loads of the roof structure to the columns — are now also acting as parabolic tension chains, resisting the further inward movement of the columns and attic joists (Figure 3). Clearly, these girders were not intended to act in this manner, and there has been no mention, in either the Assessment report or in Silman’s structural drawings, of this potentially dangerous condition. If these girders fail in tension as a result of the inward-acting lateral forces being applied to them by the rafters and attic joists of the roof structure, it is possible that a total failure of the roof structure could follow. Figure 4 shows the observed and alleged movement of columns and walls in E. Sibley Hall. This movement is consistent with a structural model of the Mansard’s wooden elements that is explicitly unstable (i.e., creating what is called a “mechanism”) because it includes an internal hinge at the top of the inclined Mansard supporting wall, making the structure underconstrained internally. It is possible that the third-floor steel girders, having been transformed into parabolic tension chains, are the only things preventing a structural collapse.

Ninth, if the tension rods were ever tightened to reduce their sag, this would have made the condition even worse.

Figure 4. This is an annotated, revised, and schematic version of the section through E. Sibley Hall provided in the Assessment Report prepared by Ryan-Biggs Associates in May 2009. The black lines show an idealized condition, with no displacement of columns, walls, or girders; the red lines and tones show the current condition (not to scale), with a small outward displacement of the exterior masonry wall (mentioned in the Assessment report, but not visible to the unaided eye), a large inward displacement of the interior wooden columns and their steel girders, and a substantial rotation and displacement of the wooden attic joists and rafters that are supported by the displaced columns/girders on one side, and by the inclined Mansard structure on the other side; and the blue dotted lines show a possible failure mechanism. The roof structure appears to be unstable in its current configuration. (Annotations and revisions by J. Ochshorn, April 2018)

I want to make it clear that I am not suggesting that the E. Sibley Hall roof structure either is, or is not, in danger of collapse. I am not competent to make such a determination. My concern is that neither the Assessment report nor the Silman structural analysis (1) acknowledges the complex nature of this potentially unstable roof structure, (2) notes the actual displaced, misaligned, and rotated condition of the third-floor structural columns, girders, attic joists, and rafters, (3) discusses the structural geometries and forces that would explain these observed conditions, and (4) proposes a remediation strategy that follows logically from an adequate structural analysis.

I strongly believe that Cornell should immediately engage the services of a consulting engineer — preferably an office that was not involved in producing the Assessment report or the structural drawings for the E. Sibley renovation — in order to assess the conditions in E. Sibley Hall and to make recommendations for remediation.

As I mentioned in an update to my previous blog post, the Rand Hall Fine Arts Library project at Cornell is still under plan review and a building permit has not yet been issued. [Updated Feb. 7, 2018. But you would never know that a building permit has not been issued from this headline in the online AAP News from Jan. 25, 2018: “Construction Begins on Mui Ho Fine Arts Library.” In fact, only demolition and site preparation permits have been issued; the application for an actual building permit is still under plan review by the City of Ithaca Building Division.] One of the points of contention is the status of the unenclosed exit access stairway (Stair “B”) in the atrium that I discussed in detail in that same previous blog post. I have just learned that a third Code section is being considered in relation to Stair “B,” the idea being that an unenclosed exit access stair terminating above the level of exit discharge can actually be designated as an enclosed “interior exit stair”—even though it is not actually enclosed. This latest argument is based on Section 1023.2 (Exception #2) in the 2015 Building Code of NYS, which states that the requirement that “Enclosures for interior exit access stairways and ramps shall be constructed as fire barriers… or horizontal assemblies…, or both…” (with fire-resistive ratings of 1 or 2 hours) need not be applied within atriums.

There are at two reasons that this latest attempt to salvage an unsafe and noncompliant design should be rejected.
 
First, the definition of “interior exit stairway” in Chapter 2 of the 2015 Building Code of NYS states that such a stair “provides for a protected path of egress travel.” This means it must be enclosed. That it must be enclosed is reiterated in Section 1023.1 which states unambiguously that an “Interior exit stairways shall be enclosed and lead directly to the exterior of the building or shall be extended to the exterior of the building with an exit passageway.” Neither of these two Code passages are affected by Exception 2 in Section 1023.2. That exception only affects the required level of protection, and does not state that such stairs can be unenclosed. In other words, an enclosure for an interior exit stair in an atrium need not be constructed as a fire barrier with a 1- or 2-hour fire-resistance rating, but, per Section 1023.1 (which isn’t affected by this exception), it still needs to be enclosed. This enclosure is particularly important for smoke control in the atrium space, even without a fire-resistance rating.
 
Second, even if the first argument is not accepted, calling this exit access stairway an interior exit stairway is still problematic. The reason is that, per Section 1023.1, stair “B” does not lead “directly to the exterior of the building [nor has it been] extended to the exterior of the building with an exit passageway conforming to the requirements of Section 1024, except as permitted in Section 1028.1.” A proposed designation of Stair “B” as an interior exit stair would not meet the criteria in Section 1028.1 of discharging through areas on the level of exit discharge, since it terminates on the second floor. Thus, an exit passageway connecting the base of this proposed (unenclosed) interior exit stair to the enclosed interior exit stair on the second floor must be provided, and that exit passageway must be enclosed. According to its Chapter 2 definition, such an exit passageway must be “separated from other interior spaces of a building or structure by fire-resistance-rated construction and opening protectives, and [it must provide] for a protected path of egress travel in a horizontal direction to an exit or to the exit discharge.” The Code does not permit an interior exit stair to discharge on a second floor (rather it must terminate on the level of exit discharge), a prohibition that is reiterated in Atrium Section 404.10, which only permits “50 percent of interior exit stairways … to egress through an atrium on the level of exit discharge in accordance with Section 1028.”
 
So, we’re left with Sections 1006.3 and 1019.3 (see previous blog post), and I’ve already commented on the likely outcome based on the consideration of those two remaining code sections.

See this web page for links to, and summaries of, all my writings on the Fine Arts Library proposal.

Cornell’s Fine Arts Library in Rand Hall, currently under construction, is unsafe and seriously noncompliant. Rather than address fire safety concerns and design a safe library, Cornell has repeatedly gone to the New York State Board of Review to request waivers of building code requirements. Yet in spite of being granted code variances on these several occasions, Cornell’s final proposal—designed by Wolfgang Tschapeller in collaboration with Architect STV—is still deficient with respect to fire safety provisions that were not addressed in these prior variance requests. I had a chance to quickly look through the working drawings for the library that were made available in the Dean’s Office on January 19, 2018  (“Conformed set” dated 12/15/17), and I have outlined several serious fire safety violations below. Of course, it’s possible that I missed some exculpatory material, but I thought it would be important to bring these issues to the attention of Cornell and the Ithaca Building Department in order to determine if any remedial action needs to take place. Given the seriousness of these potential violations, it is my view that all construction work on the project should stop immediately until the plans are reconciled with fire safety provisions in the building code. [Updated Jan, 31, 2018: I’ve just learned that only interior demolition and site preparation have been approved by the City of Ithaca; the project itself is still under plan review and a building permit has not yet been issued.]
 
1. Noncompliant exit access stairway
The open exit access stairway serving the various library stack levels and roof pavilion (Stair “B” per add-alt. #6, as shown schematically in Figure 1) violates Section 1006.3 of the 2015 New York State Building Code. This code section, which appears for the first time in the 2015 IBC, requires that the “path of egress travel to an exit shall not pass through more than one adjacent story.” Since exit access stairway “B” passes through more than one story before finding an enclosed exit on the second floor, it is in violation of this section. The 2015 IBC “Commentary” confirms this interpretation.

Fig. 1. An early architect’s rendering of proposed exit access stairway “B” in Rand Hall showing that an occupant on the 5th floor (roof pavilion) must pass through two adjacent stories (i.e., the 4th and 3rd floors) in order to find an enclosed exit on the 2nd floor (image crudely edited to replace the extension of this exit access stairway to the “lantern” level, which no longer exists, with a schematic representation of the open bulkhead leading to the roof pavilion at the 5th floor).

Cornell’s code consultant, in Exhibit A of Cornell’s 2016 Variance request, stated incorrectly that such an open exit access stair is allowed by Sections 1019.3, exception 5, and 404.9.3 in the 2015 NYS Building Code because “Chapter 4 continues to contain provisions which supersedes [sic] other provisions in the Code.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The first section that he cites (1019.3, exception 5) requires that exit access stairways be enclosed if they are not in an atrium. It does not say that exit access stairways in atriums can pass through an unlimited number of stories. The second section that he cites (404.9.3) limits exit access travel distance in an atrium to 200 feet, and is not relevant to the question at hand. On the other hand, Section 1006.3, which Cornell’s Code consultant doesn’t mention in his analysis and which he seems to be unaware of, prohibits such stairs when they “pass through more than one adjacent story.” These code requirements are documented in Figure 2. According to my conversation with Technical Code Experts at the International Code Council (the organization that creates the International Building Code from which New York State Codes derive), this latter Section 1006.3 is specific, clear, and unambiguous, and places limits on the application of Section 1019.3.
 
Section 1019.3 (which says that exit access stairs must be enclosed if they don’t meet various conditions enumerated in that section) is not in conflict with Section 1006.3 (which says that exit access stairs cannot pass through more than one story before finding an exit). The limit placed on the number of stories that an exit access stair can pass through in Section 1006.3 is perfectly consistent with the allowance for an unenclosed exit access stair in an atrium per Section 1019.3. In other words, Section 1006.3 does not prevent exit access stairways from being unenclosed in atriums, but simply places a limit on the number of adjacent stories that such a stairway can pass through.

Fig. 2. IBC Section 1019.3 (top) allows unenclosed exit access stairways in atriums; but IBC Section 1006.3 (bottom) limits the number of adjacent stories that such a stair can pass through.

It is not unusual to find two sections in the building code where one section establishes limits not found in the other. For example, Section 506 (specifically Table 506.2) allows non-sprinklered (NS) Type IA, IB, IIA, and IIIA Group A-3 occupancies such as libraries to have floor areas in excess of 12,000 sq.ft. However, Section 903.2.1.3 requires all Group A-3 occupancies with fire areas exceeding 12,000 sq.ft. to have sprinklers. So, in this hypothetical example, if you wanted to place a non-sprinklered, Type IIA library in a building with a floor area of 15,000 sq.ft., and only looked at the allowable area factors in Table 506.2, you might (mistakenly) conclude that it was code-compliant because Table 506.2 says nothing about fire area limits. It is only by checking Section 903.2.1.3 that you would realize that this building floor, defined as a fire area, would either need to be sprinklered or subdivided into fire areas no greater than 12,000 sq.ft. This latter section is not in conflict with the former section, but merely places limits on its applicability. The Group A-3 library would need to comply with both sections, and designers (or code consultants) cannot simply ignore one of the sections because they would prefer not to acknowledge the limits it imposes.  Code requirements relevant to this hypothetical example are documented in Figure 3.

Figure 3. IBC Table 506.2 (top) limits the allowable area for non-sprinklered Type IIA libraries (Group A-3) to 15,500 sq.ft; but IBC Section 903.2.1.3 (bottom) limits Group A-3 fire areas to 12,000 sq.ft. Taken together, Section 903.2.1.3 places a limit on the application of Table 506.2, but does not contradict it.

The two code sections concerning exit access stairways work in exactly the same way as do the two code sections cited in the hypothetical example just given. In the current case, the first code section allows unenclosed exit access stairways in atriums, but says nothing about limitations that may be imposed because of the number of stories that the stairway passes through. Those limitations appear in the second section, 1006.3. Taken together, the two sections 1) allow unenclosed exit access stairways in atriums, and 2) limit the number of stories that such exit access stairways can pass through to a maximum of one adjacent story.
 
So there is no conflict. But even if a conflict is alleged between the two exit access sections cited above (i.e., 1006.3 and 1019.3), the building code has a remedy, and the outcome is still the same. Section 102.1 of the 2015 IBC states: “Where there is a conflict between a general requirement and a specific requirement, the specific requirement shall be applicable. Where, in any specific case, different sections of this code specify different materials, methods of construction or other requirements, the most restrictive shall govern.” Section 1019.3 does not specifically permit exit access stairways in atriums to pass through unlimited numbers of stories. It just says that if such a stair is not in an atrium (or any of the other seven conditions listed), then it must be enclosed in a shaft enclosure. It is mute on the question of whether exit access stairways in atriums can pass through more than one adjacent story; whereas Section 1006.3 specifically prohibits such a stair from passing through more than one adjacent story. The open stairs are therefore unambiguously noncompliant under the 2015 NY State Building Code because they pass through more than one adjacent story before finding an exit.

[Updated Jan. 23, 2018: I just had a follow-up phone conversation with James (Doug) Connell, P.E., Team Leader, A & E Services, International Code Council (ICC), Inc., Birmingham District Office. This office within the ICC provides expert analysis of the International Building Code to members of the ICC (I am a member). I had emailed him a schematic representation of the Fine Arts Library exit access stairway in Rand Hall showing an open stair from the 4th floor to the 2nd floor. He emphasized that even that exit access stair (i.e., without its proposed extension to the roof deck per Add-alt #6) was noncompliant with IBC Section 1006.3, since it “passes through” more than one adjacent story. In other words, an open exit access stair originating on the 4th floor must find an (enclosed) exit on the 3rd floor; otherwise, it is passing through more than one adjacent story and is therefore noncompliant. He made it clear that the stair’s  location in an atrium (per Section 1019.3) has no bearing on the limitations imposed by Section 1006.3.]

2. Add-alt #6 requires 1-hour horizontal separation from occupied roof
Under Add-Alternate #6, the atrium space needs to be separated from the occupied roof pavilion and occupied roof deck with 1-hour fire-resistance rated horizontal assemblies and fire barriers. In addition, all structural steel supporting the roof deck, including the deck itself, roof girders, and all steel columns supporting the girders, need to have a one-hour fire-resistive rating. I noticed that these structural elements in the atrium were specifically excluded from having any fire-resistance rating on working drawing number G-003, and I’m not sure if Add-Alt #6 included provision for this additional fire-proofing. It is required if the roof above the atrium is occupied, per IBC Sec. 404.6 and Sec. 711.2.3.
 
3. Smoke control conflict (Add-alt #6)
Exit access stairway “B” is within the atrium and extends up to the bulkhead (pavilion) on the roof in Add-Alt #6. It does not seem consistent with atrium smoke control requirements. Not only is it at the highest point in the atrium, where hot smoke naturally migrates, but it also contains an exit door which, when opened along with the exit door from the pavilion area itself, would draw hot smoke from a fire through the exit door at roof level, precisely in the path of occupants attempting to exit through that stairway.
 
4. Headroom question on Stair A to occupied roof (Add-alt #6)
Section 8 on Drawing Number 109 (Add-alt #6) does not clearly show a roof over the interior exit stairway, and also shows what looks like a brick obstruction drawn halfway across the door leading to the 4th-floor walkway to the stacks. It is hard to see how there would be sufficient headroom in the portion of interior exit stairway “A” leading from the enclosed part at the 4th floor level to the exterior pit where Stair “A” continues up to the occupied roof. I can’t find any drawings which provide definitive details, but unless the roof over Stair “A” is raised considerably higher, there appears to be a major headroom problem.

See this web page for links to all my writings and blog posts on the Rand Hall library proposal.

On May 22, 2017, updating an earlier blog post (Egress, toilets, and carcinogens: Cornell’s transition plans during Fine Arts Library construction), I wrote that “transferring outside air from a corridor into the digital fabrication lab would not be compliant with the 2015 Mechanical Code. However, since the corridor seems to be now labeled as a room (‘collaborative area’), it’s probably legal, but barely. The opportunistic and ad hoc manner in which such design decisions are, and have been made, does not inspire confidence.” It is now apparent that the actual use of this new “room”/corridor has confirmed my fears: the ability of this “collaborative area” to function properly as part of an egress path has been seriously undermined by the types of activities assigned to the space.

Combustible trash interferes with egress on the 2nd floor of Sibley Hall (photo by J. Ochshorn, Dec. 3, 2017)

I’ve written about the impending bathroom crisis for the Department of Architecture at Cornell here and here, caused by the renovation of Rand Hall. When this renovation begins, there will only be a single men’s toilet available for the entire 32,000 square foot floor area comprising the second floor studio and office spaces in Milstein and E. Sibley Hall. As hordes of desperate students and faculty from the second floor trek up to the “private” third floor Frances Shloss studios, it is inevitable that faculty and students on the third floor will take retaliatory action. As they say, the writing is on the wall.

Third-floor students and faculty take action to prevent hordes of desperate second-floor men from overwhelming their own “facility” (photo and Photoshopped sign by Jonathan Ochshorn, October 2017)

I’m not an Instagram fan, so I end up posting my favorite images here. I took this one in Sibley Hall a few days ago. Sibley Hall is part of the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell. When neighboring Rand Hall is closed down for renovation in a few months, this single toilet will be the only viable option for men, not only those in offices and facilities on the second floor of Sibley Hall, but for students and faculty using the 25,000 square feet of studio space in adjacent Milstein Hall. When asked about this at a recent faculty meeting, the Dean of the College stated that the “solution” to this problem will most likely be a request for a Code variance.

This will be the only WC available to men on the second floor of Rand-Sibley-Milstein Hall once Rand Hall is closed for renovation (photo and Photoshop editing by Jonathan Ochshorn, 2017)

I was interrupted today by two workers who needed access to Milstein Hall in order to inspect roof leaks; the green roof itself has been in a state of partial demolition for the last two years, as I described in this blog post from May 2017. There are several areas where water is currently coming down, mainly in the stepped seating area and over the wooden floor area.

A large garbage pail is positioned under one of several roof leaks in Milstein Hall, designed by OMA (Rem Koolhaas); photo taken July 25, 2017 by Jonathan Ochshorn