Façades determine the appearance of a building. Hence, they constitute a major element in architecture. At the same time, the building’s envelope has important functions to fulfil, such as lighting, weatherproofing, thermal insulation, load transfer and sound insulation. Over the past 15 years, façades have become increasingly complex ‘intelligent’ facades, for instance, adapt to changing climate and lighting conditions. Newly developed materials and technologies have broadened the scope of façade functions.
This book demonstrates the principles of façade construction. It systematically describes the most common types, such as post-and-beam façade, curtain wall, corridor façade or double façade, and provides guidelines for appropriate detailing. Numerous drawings made especially for the book explain the principles of different types of facades, which are then illustrated with built examples. For this second edition, all chapters were revised and all four examples in the case studies chapter were replaced by new material. The new chapter “Future Façades” offers insights into what’s next.
Façades determine the appearance of a building. Hence, they constitute a major element in architecture. At the same time, the building’s envelope has important functions to fulfil, such as lighting, weatherproofing, thermal insulation, load transfer and sound insulation. Over the past 15 years, façades have become increasingly complex ‘intelligent’ facades, for instance, adapt to changing climate and lighting conditions. Newly developed materials and technologies have broadened the scope of façade functions.
This book demonstrates the principles of façade construction. It systematically describes the most common types, such as post-and-beam façade, curtain wall, corridor façade or double façade, and provides guidelines for appropriate detailing. Numerous drawings made especially for the book explain the principles of different types of facades, which are then illustrated with built examples. For this second edition, all chapters were revised and all four examples in the case studies chapter were replaced by new material. The new chapter “Future Façades” offers insights into what’s next.
Dr. Ulrich Knaack was formerly an architect in Düsseldorf and is now a professor of construction and design at the Technische Universiteit Delft (Delft University of Technology) and the Fachhochschule Detmold (University of Applied Sciences, Detmold). He is the author of the well-known textbooks Konstruktiver Glasbau (Glass Construction) and editor of the Birkhäuser series „Principles of Construction“. Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Auer is a partner at Transsolar Energietechnik in Stuttgart. He is a specialist in integrated building technology, and since 2001 he has been teaching at Yale University in the field of the Environmental Design of Buildings. Dipl.-Ing. Tillmann Klein is an architect and heads the Facade Research Group at the Chair of Professor Knaack, Delft University of Technology. Marcel Bilow is a research associate with Prof. Knaack’s chair at the Fachhochschule Lippe & Höxter (Lippe & Höxter University of Applied Sciences) in Detmold, where he directs the field Forschung und Entwicklung (Research and Development).
