Alex Karshis

While on a dog walk through one of the many parks, I came across this quiet pavilion. It was simple in form and in shape but had some unique details when I traveled up close to it. From the bolted steel connection to the long span stacked timber beams this quiet pavilion was such a nice surprise to walk […]

When I was in Austin I saw this amazing structure being built. It has the concept of being one off of the grid. So the middle section of the building is moved over to one side giving the overall appearance of the core of the building being shifted. This makes me question how are the loads being […]

I was visiting Buc’ees and they are expanding their gas pump area and what drew my attention was the new slim roofing. They cover the thin, elegant roofing with a thicker facade showing off the iconic Buc’ees form.  The steel beams looked to be about 2′ wide and 30′ long on top of 1′ wide […]

This was an interesting close-up detail of the steel rebar inside a concrete slab and how the concrete didn’t surround the entire steel bar. This was a captivating detail of the steel rebar surrounding a manhole and how the steel forms around it.  

While visiting Whole Foods there was a very creative way that they hide their columns in plain sight, they did this by surrounding the columns in products. By having a group of products surrounding the base of the column and while also having groups of products not surrounding the base of the column; this then successfully […]

Watching the whole process of this road from being torn up to now seeing the rebar being layered into a grid form has been really enjoyable to watch. Its an experience to see what we learn from class and seeing it be used in practice. 

This is the scaffolding that is in front of the new apartment “Aspire” apartment complex, I thought it was interesting to see how thin and how many parts there are to the scaffolding. For something to be able to take the load down 20 stories and stay the same thinness is really impressive. 

When passing a construction site its hard not to just stop and stare. This was a housing unit that was being built off of College Main. Seeing everything that makes up this unit, it’s a lot of wood construction which makes me wonder how this will fair while being exposed. How can this building be open without harsh […]

Visiting the local hospital in Bryan, I came across this very interesting awning. The overall design has a ton of structure to hold the canvas up, this gave me a good advantage to see how all the loads are traced to the ground. It was really interesting to see how many arches are needed for the canvas […]

This construction of a sidewalk easily had the most beautiful details. I was stunned to see just how much steel goes into a sidewalk and how much wooden framing there is. I really enjoyed seeing all the different levels of construction, this site is on my way to university and work. So every day I get […]

To see this being built from the ground up, it’s interesting that they dug 15′ into the ground for this structure. We also learned how the concrete needs time to cure so that’s why there is virtual bracing to support the next level. I’m not sure how tall this parking house is going to be, but I’m guessing […]

There are many different highway structure systems and they are becoming more and more complex. This highway bridge design caught my eye because it was a post and beam. Such a simple structural system and it got me questioning why they chose it.

This is a detailed structural model showing how the fixed glazing window works. What I found interesting about this was the amount of room for the glass to move around, they have like an according to style buffing zone. This was also cool to see a section cut of it through the glass, I have always wondered […]

This is a newly constructed art center and what caught my eye about this place was the entrance. How did they come up with this simple and elegant way of holding the roof up? 

I visit the Rec quite often, it always a surprised me with the large spans and about of structure that was exposed. This gave me the ability to go around and explore the Rec to see many different structure systems from big to small. 

This trash can has a unique design and I thought it was interesting how the loads would trace to the ground. 

Look how this Pole took the force and the top connection broke, this creates a whole new form from the existing straight Pole. I know there is an interesting story behind this. 

It was interesting to look at a Warehouse Structure and see what system they used. It was clear to see that this warehouse used a truss system for the main reason of cost, this is the cheapest system for the span.