"In Contemporary Curtain Wall Architecture, building-technology historian and architect Scott Murray traces the evolution of the curtain wall, from early skeleton-frame structures of the past to today's complex and technologically advanced configurations. Presenting twenty-four detailed case studies of exemplary structures completed in the last decade, he reveals the curtain wall as one of the most enduring and malleable concepts of contemporary architecture, capable of adapting intelligently to site constraints, utilizing resources efficiently, and offering unprecedented opportunities for innovations in digital design and fabrication, material detailing, and aesthetic expression." --Book Jacket.
20 exemplary facades by Cesar Pelli & Associates are presented in this book, arranged by material - glass, metal, stone. The conception and development of each individual facade solution is unfolded and construction details comprehensively documented in numerous drawings.
Exploring the design of innovative building enclosure systems (or skins) in contemporary architecture and their precedents in earlier twentieth century modern architecture, this book examines the tectonics, the history and the influence of translucency as a defining characteristic in architecture. Highly illustrated throughout with drawings and full colour photographs, the book shows that translucency has been and continues to be a fertile ground for architectural experimentation. Each chapter presents a comparative analysis of two primary buildings: a recent project, paired with a historical precedent, highlighting how architects in different eras have realized the distinctive effects of translucency. The included buildings span a variety of program types, ranging from a single-family residence, to a factory, to a synagogue. Whether it is Pierre Chareau’s glass-lens curtain wall at the Maison de Verre, Frank Lloyd Wright’s wall of stacked glass tubes at the Johnson Wax Research Tower, or Peter Zumthor’s use of acid-etched glass in a double-skin envelope at the Kunsthaus Bregenz, the included projects each offer an exemplary case study of innovations in materiality and fabrication techniques. Today, among many contemporary architects, there is an engagement with new technologies, new material assemblies, and new priorities such as sustainability and energy-efficiency. A resurgent interest in translucency as a defining quality in buildings has been an important part of this recent dialogue and this book makes essential reading for any architect looking to incorporate aspects of translucency into their buildings.
The worldwide use of building envelopes in steel and glass is one of the characteristic features of modern architecture. Many of these pre- and post-war buildings are now suffering severe defects in the building fabric, which necessitate measures to preserve the buildings. In this endeavor, aspects of architectural design, building physics, and the preservation of historic buildings play a key role. Using a selection of 20 iconic buildings in Europe and the USA, the book documents the current technological status of the three most common strategies used today: restoration, rehabilitation, and replacement. The buildings include Fallingwater House by Frank Lloyd Wright, Farnsworth House by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Fagus Factory and Bauhaus Building by Walter Gropius.
Integral Facade Construction focuses on the future development of the curtain wall. While the requirements on facades have slowly increased over the last decades, the curtain wall has evolved from craftsmanship oriented constructions to highly developed facade systems. But its constructional principle is still the same. Simplified, it can be described as a two-dimensional stick system with infill. With the latest requirements of almost energy neutral buildings, faster building processes and increasing technicalisation of the building envelope this constructional principle is reaching its limits. The curtain wall system has reached a state of maturity; and it needs a new approach to guaranty that this successful product will meet the challenges of the future.
Integrate the best building envelope construction methods, materials science, and structural principles in your work using this book as a resource to help you... With more than seventy significant case studies located in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia from prehistory to the present, this book illuminates the theory and techniques of assembling exteriors. Six chapters organized by wall types, from hand-set monolithic walls to digitally fabricated curtain walls, each have a material focus section to help you understand their intrinsic properties so that you can decide which will best keep the weather out of your building. Examples from the ancient world, including the Pyramids and the Great Wall, through a range of renowned modern architects, such as Studio Gang, Sauerbruch Hutton, Herzog and deMeuron, and Rafael Moneo, illustrate how significant works in the history of architecture explored innovative use of materials – stone, brick, concrete, glass, and aluminium. Along the way, principles of construction from masonry and basic framing through ever more sophisticated envelope systems address classic problems presented by gravity, wind, rain, and sun with studies of lateral forces, building movements and materials that bridge the gaps in between them.
By presenting the basics of building science along with a prescribed set of details, Designing the Exterior Wall helps you understand why buildings fail and how they can be made more durable through design. Author Linda Brock connects the science and aesthetics of building envelopes through the examination of a variety of construction and cladding types. She features details from real world projects in a variety of climates, successful and unsuccessful case studies, and checklists you can use on your own projects. Helps you reduce your liability by showing why building envelopes fail and how they can be designed to endure. Moves from theory to actual construction by including hundreds of building envelope details from a broad array of projects and climates. Integrates numerous contemporary case studies, including Frank Gehry's Experiential Music Center in Seattle (thin skins), Renzo Piano's Rue de Meaux housing in Paris (terra cotta cladding), and Mario Botta's San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (prefabricated brick panels). Designing the Exterior Wall is a must-have book, whether you're an architect or a student. Order your copy today.
Modern Management Methods asks how the value of a building is produced through instruments of expertise, management ideologies, and historical narratives. It uses the imaging techniques of conservation and the documentary detritus of heritage preservation to show how scientific methods attempt to produce stable notions of history and value.
How climate influenced the design strategies of modernist architects Modern Architecture and Climate explores how leading architects of the twentieth century incorporated climate-mediating strategies into their designs, and shows how regional approaches to climate adaptability were essential to the development of modern architecture. Focusing on the period surrounding World War II—before fossil-fuel powered air-conditioning became widely available—Daniel Barber brings to light a vibrant and dynamic architectural discussion involving design, materials, and shading systems as means of interior climate control. He looks at projects by well-known architects such as Richard Neutra, Le Corbusier, Lúcio Costa, Mies van der Rohe, and Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, and the work of climate-focused architects such as MMM Roberto, Olgyay and Olgyay, and Cliff May. Drawing on the editorial projects of James Marston Fitch, Elizabeth Gordon, and others, he demonstrates how images and diagrams produced by architects helped conceptualize climate knowledge, alongside the work of meteorologists, physicists, engineers, and social scientists. Barber describes how this novel type of environmental media catalyzed new ways of thinking about climate and architectural design. Extensively illustrated with archival material, Modern Architecture and Climate provides global perspectives on modern architecture and its evolving relationship with a changing climate, showcasing designs from Latin America, Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and Africa. This timely and important book reconciles the cultural dynamism of architecture with the material realities of ever-increasing carbon emissions from the mechanical cooling systems of buildings and offers a historical foundation for today’s zero-carbon design.
