The Symbolic Value of Buildings A visit to venerable European cities Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome imbues the traveler with a sense of history difficult to obtain in urban youngsters like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. City Planning Here in Chicago we have only experienced our city’s destruction once – in the great fire. This destruction enabled city planners to re-draw the map into…
The Symbolic Value of Buildings
Choosing a Window Consultant or Exterior Building Consultant
Mark Meshulam is an expert witness and consultant for building exteriors.These days you can pretty much find a consultant for anything. Without trying very hard, you can find:So it stands to reason that you can find a consultant to assist you with your windows or the exterior of your building. As it happens, there are quite a few of us providing construction consultation services to…
Bill Baker of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP: Tall Buildings and the Burj Khalifa
Mark Meshulam is an expert witness and consultant for architectural windows, glass, and building facade. Bill Baker is the partner in charge of Structural and Civil Engineering for the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. One of his most recent accomplishments, completion of the world’s tallest building, the 160 story, 2,717 feet, Burj Khalifa (formerly the Burj Dubai) in Dubai, has literally shaken…
Wind Loads and Windows for the Very Windy City
Mark Meshulam is an expert witness and consultant for wind damage to buildings. NEW: Download Chicago Window Expert’s Wind Pressure Chart and Calculator Here in the windy city, the pressure of the wind plays a big role in the specification and design of buildings, and especially the part of the envelope we like to lick: the windows and glass. When designing and testing windows, curtainwalls,…
Chicago Energy Conservation Code for Dummies
Mark Meshulam is an expert witness and consultant for windows, glazing and building exteriors. Reading code books is arguably one of the more arduous and boring parts of the construction process. One reason is that the building codes are legal documents, and so they carry a certain ponderous barrier of legalese which can repel the uninitiated. Another reason is that they are documents of governments,…
Drowning Worms? An Olympic Eulogy
Mark Meshulam is an expert witness and consultant for windows, glass and building exteriors. Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout; But there is no joy in Mudville – mighty Casey has struck out. Excerpt from Casey at the Bat by Ernest…
Legal Claims and Disputes in Construction
Mark Meshulam is an expert witness and consultant for windows, glass and building exteriors. Chicago Window Expert has actively participated in the construction landscape in Chicago since 1978. This lengthy – and still continuing – career has been filled with a vast array of projects, and a lot of constructive, rewarding work has been performed. There is a part of the business we construction professionals…