Solar Time Vs Man made Time

On a very recent trip to Italy, I happen to see this excellent pair of clocks on a church, one was a solar clock, the other a mechanical clock.

If you look carefully, you can see that the solar clock shows 12 pm, yet the mechanical clock shows 11 am, yet both are right. Let me explain, the solar clock is as the sun depicts, it can not be changed, well not on this stone solar clock, yet the mechanical clock can be altered, as we enter daylight saving.

I like this a lot, it show how time works and how man has altered time to suite his needs, it opens up a lot for both shadow work, surveying and a simple yet fundamental view of our Solar system, the tilt of the earth to the sun, and its effect on weather.

Such a simple photo yet so full of information.

I will use this next year as I teach first year students in both simple surveying and detailing.

A Digital Sundial thats not Digital

This is a seriously interesting development, in the design of a sundial, the stick has a load of holes through it, each hole is a specific angle, that will produce a small spot at only one specific time, the combination of a lot, and I mean a lot of holes will produce a shadow like a normal sun dial, but with what looks like a digital readout, but its just a small sun spot,

Can you imagine the design of all these little holes,,,,,,,

But the video below is a great viewing and shows how and a little of the software required, is it CPD, well I think so, its design, knowledge of Lat and Long, time and Serious CAD and 3D printing, and Architecture, can you imagine a larger version that casts onto a large square,,,, cool.


More from the web site, http://www.mojoptix.com/

A site view not to miss, watch and learn

This week, I shall take some of my students to the top of a carpark roof to view a construction site below, its the ideal way to watch a site in daily operation, see the way the site is laid out and where and why construction is started.

We take with us the gantt chart and look for items that should be completed and whats just started.
I wanted to add a time lapse video, but it just got messy, so the photo is all I can do, except it will be the same photo spot and on each Friday, so given enough photos I can make a nice time lape video.

There is so much to be learned by just sitting and watching, shadow, rain its worth the time to observe, and see how it interacts with your details.
I like to touch and feel, old details, even on the surface there is still things to learn, drip details, overhangs, change of material, and in an old city ike Birmingham, there are detail example that have been working well for over 100 years.

So often details are the result of committees, groups of well meaning people who look after buildings and add things without realising the effects, adding pipes, drainage, ramps, thinking the builder will sort it out, so often not,,,,,,,

Related articles

• Sequence of Operations
• Architectural Technologist - Gantt Charts
• Great Western Arcade Glazing
• A Walk Through the back Streets of Birmingham
• Architectural Technologist - Model making
• My Students use of a Library