advanced building skins 2012

Editorial

advanced building skins – Building Envelope Design and Technology

Building skins have rarely been as fascinating and challenging as they are today. They are the most interesting field in contemporary architecture. Facades and building envelopes are determining the visual identity, character and expression of architecture.

They are shaping the urban environment.

The facade of a building is the interface between inside and outside, between public and private realms. The skin affects both appearance and performance in such a way that these diverse constitutive features promote new design concepts and spur technical developments for the architecture of the future.

There are multiple demands on facade constructions and they are increasing continuously. First and foremost, performance criteria are driven by the need to reduce carbon emissions. Furthermore, technical requirements are aimed at all areas relevant to human comfort within the built environment, such as aspects relating to visuals, acoustics and safety.

Modern building envelope designs range from simple and flat ones to those containing extraordinary folds and curves. They rise up in a play on light, colours, surfaces and haptics. In conjunction with a huge number of traditional and exciting new materials and the availability of new production processes the design base for extraordinary building envelopes are broadening enormously.

Architects, structural and mechanical engineers, facade engineers, specialists in building physics and energy design, material developers, researchers and manufacturers: only full cooperation and interaction between all these professionals can provide successful and holistic concepts in the development, design and construction of advanced building skins.

With this international conference we will bring them together: creative and innovative professionals and researchers at the forefront of skin design. We will discuss tasks and issues in research, design and manufacturing of high-performance facades and building envelopes.

I would like to thank all the authors who have enriched this publication with their revealing and extraordinary contributions. Special thanks go to the staff of the Institute of Building Construction and all the sponsoring partners. Without their support this conference and this publication would not have been possible.

Oliver Englhardt