Real-Life Math
You're an architectural historian helping with the renovation of
a downtown building. You're being consulted to make sure the renovation will
fit in with the look of the existing building, and to make sure that it meets
all of the city's building codes and restrictions.
Depending on the
type of work an architectural historian is doing, the amount of math used
varies. "Math, engineering and physics are important if you're interested
in the structure of a building," says Jeffery Howe. He is a professor of architectural
history. "You don't want the building to fall down."
However, he says
that historians interested in design issues may use less math on the job.
"Specialists veering towards interior design use less math," he says. "But
you have to have good business sense."
To examine the heritage building
and to figure out how large you can make the renovation, you
must first figure out the size of the original building compared to the size
of the lot. This is called the floor space ratio (FSR) of a building. The
formula below is used to calculate FSR:
FSR = building square footage
/ lot square footage
The building you're working on is:
building
= 1,620 square feet
lot = 1,800 square feet
What is the FSR of
this building?
The city has passed new bylaws that allow you to add
space to the heritage building. You are allowed to increase the building's
FSR to 1.6. (Remember that you can add square footage by building additional
floors.) If you renovate to use up all the allowable FSR, how many square
feet can you add to the building?