Free plan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In architecture, a free plan refers to the spatial flexibility made possible by structural systems in which interior walls are not required to be load-bearing. Because interior partitions have no structural purpose, they can be placed where ever they are needed to define individual spaces or rooms. The weight of the building is typically supported by a grid of columns.
The free plan was important for modern architecture with noted modernist architect Le Corbusier first proposing it in his 1914 Dom-Ino House prototype. He would later include it as the third of his "Five Points of a New Architecture". Free plans may be open plan.
Free plan, in the architecture world, refers to the ability to have a floor plan with non-load bearing walls and floors by creating a structural system that holds the weight of the building by ways of an interior skeleton of load bearing columns. The building system carries only its columns, or skeleton, and each corresponding ceiling. Free plan allows for the ability to create buildings without being limited by the placement of walls for structural support, and enables an architect to have the freedom to design the outside and inside façade without compromise.[1]
Influences
Le Corbusier became the pioneer of free plan during the 1914 through 1930s with his "Five Points of New Architecture"[2] and his adoption of the Dom-ino System.[3] This heavily influenced the importance of free plan and its role in the "modern era" of architecture.
Dom-ino Structural System
The Dom-ino system refers to the structural system that allows a free floor and wall plan, due to the load bearing columns within the skeleton of the structure. Originally conceived as a two story building, six vertical columns held the two concrete, steel reinforced floors in space. This allowed for exterior walls that accommodate to the aesthetic and compositional features of the building. This also created a free floor plan, moving from the previous ideology of load bearing walls. This new technology allowed for long strips of windows that could wrap corners and stretch greater lengths, something that was never seen before in architecture. This building system became a staple for high production buildings because of its cheap and fast production rate. Ways could be fashioned in any way, restrained only by technological advancements of the time.[3]
