12, 13 Apartmenthaus,
New York 2007,
12
Architecture has never just been about prag-
matism and function: identity and emotion
have always played a part. And the building
envelope is the most obvious part through
which to express this. The finish and impact
of this outer skin is certainly a prime concern,
but, as the work of many architects show, it
can transcend its role as mere cladding.
Many of the projects by Jacques Herzog
and Pierre de Meuron, for example, display
a joyous yet clear material aesthetic in their
cladding. A key aspect here is how they han-
dle the duplication of individual standardised
modules. This is true not only of the signal
box at Basel SBB station with its quirky
copper banding but also of the Californian
Dominus Winery with its stone-filled gabions,
and of the library of the Technical University
of Cottbus with its printed glass squares
(ill. 1–3). In the latter, the Swiss architects de-
signed an eight-storey building with a curved
ground plan which, not least because of its
irregular amoeba-like shape, symbolises an
open flow of knowledge in all directions, an
13
12
Architekten:
Herzog & de Meuron
14 –16 Entertainment Center,
Peking 2008,
Architekten:
Simone Giostra & Partners,
Lichtplanung: Arup
12, 13 Apartment building,
New York 2007,
Architects:
Herzog & de Meuron
14 –16 Entertainment Center,
Beijing 2008,
Architects:
Simone Giostra & Partners,
Lighting design: Arup
image subtly underpinned by suspending the
glass squares in front of the space-enclosing
insulating glass. In terms of construction, this
outer layer is in fact quite unspectacular, with
its point-fixed glass panes and open joints,
little different to conventional facades. Its
unique character comes from the giant print-
ed white letters. As a result the envelope is
not simply transparent, it is more like a cur-
tain, the letters filtering the view inside. In
contrast to the monolithic, hermetic outward
face of the library, the interior presents quite
different perspectives. For one, because
of the unexpected colours, and for another
because the individual levels with their shelv-
ing and reading areas are connected via
many open spaces to create a lively and
social whole. Inside, there is no hint of the
fortress-like impression one sometimes has
from the outside.
Sensory
In Bilbao, just a stone’s throw away from the
Guggenheim Museum, is the library of the
University of Duesto (ill. 4 – 6), designed by
Rafael Moneo. Realising right from the start
that there could be no competition with Frank
O. Gehry’s mighty titanium sculpture, the
Spanish architect strove to achieve a harmo-
nious continuity with the adjacent university
buildings. In scale the library is indeed a
major project: it is the largest library in the
Basque region, with around one million vol-
umes and 1,000 reading desks. As for its
outward appearance, however, the aim was
to create an image of sophisticated restraint.
From a distance the building looks like a mon-
ochrome neutral volume; by day it is hard to
discern anything about surfaces or materials
used. Only close up can we see the textures
and play of light in the specially developed
translucent glass blocks which cover almost
three-quarters of the facade.
Inspired by Doric columns, the 30-cm-square
glass blocks have vertical fluting on their
outer face – a motif that is repeated on the
side facing the interior, but on the inside
of the glass blocks, so the surface remains
smooth. Regardless of whether the users
inside pick up this subtle reference to Ancient
Greece, one thing is clear: the facetted glass
blocks certainly do achieve their intended
outward effect. Even by day the 20-mm-deep
fluting generates an intriguing play of light
reflections, but as night falls the library begins
to glow like a beacon of knowledge – at the
same time as the exciting spectacle of the
Guggenheim Museum is beginning to fade
into the night.
Visual
Significantly the word facade derives from the
Latin “facies” meaning “face”. This analogy
with human physiognomy and abundant
evidence from architectural history show the
high status architects have always afforded
to the task of designing the building skin –
above all, if we regard the face, as Cicero
did, as “the image of the soul”. On the other
hand, the building facade is always open to
criticism for superficiality. In this context glass
plays a central role, with window openings
representing, in a certain way, the eyes of
the building.