Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/03/11

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Subject: [Leica] Boston 1980: help locate
From: firkin at ncable.net.au (Alastair Firkin)
Date: Fri Mar 11 18:25:49 2005
References: <000001c52698$ffb602d0$121afea9@Hausner> <p06200723be57f637cdf5@[10.0.1.2]>

thanks for all the help: I learn heaps here. I had forgotten that story 
along with most of the 1980 trip.

On 12/03/2005, at 12:45 PM, Richard S. Taylor wrote:

> Actually what they did was replace the panes that blew out with 
> unpainted plywood so the building looked for all the world like a 
> skinned tree for the first years of its life.  Actually, sucked out is 
> more correct.  They popped loose due to the vacuum that formed on one 
> side of the building in high winds.
>
> Part of the solution, as I recall, was to modify the damper at the top 
> of the building to reduce sway in high winds.  That plus changes to 
> the window frames did the job.
>
> This may be apocryphal, but after the fix people were still very wary 
> of working in the building in high winds until one of the lead 
> engineers got a running start and threw himself at one of the floor to 
> ceiling windows on a top floor.  The window didn't pop out and 
> everybody relaxed, at least a little bit.
>
> Glad I never had to demonstrate the veracity of one of my designs 
> quite so personally.
>
>
>
>> It is the "New" John Hancock building at Copley Place.  Designed by 
>> I.M.
>> Pei, construction was completed, I think, circa 1976.  They had 
>> enormous
>> problems with the glass skin; window panes kept popping out and 
>> crashing
>> to the street and the tower spent much of its first years swaddled in
>> scaffolding.  The window problem eventually was solved by replacing 
>> the
>> gaskets or some such engineering miracle.
>>
>>      Buzz Hausner
>
> (snip)
> -- 
> Regards,
>
> Dick
> Boston MA
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
Alastair


Replies: Reply from clive.moss at gmail.com (Clive Moss) ([Leica] Boston 1980: help locate)
In reply to: Message from buzz.hausner at verizon.net (Buzz Hausner) ([Leica] Boston 1980: help locate)
Message from r.s.taylor at comcast.net (Richard S. Taylor) ([Leica] Boston 1980: help locate)