Inside the Box
The trend towards modular and unitized facades continues to grow in popularity due largely in part to the efficiencies gained in terms of cost and ti…
43 results
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ACT Facade
Due to material and technological advancement during the last century, transparency has become a prominent trend in contemporary architecture. Howeve…
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The Facade and Energy Codes
Ever-increasing performance requirements in the latest version of the energy codes are compelling project teams to consider the thermal performance o…
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The Carbon Footprint of Aluminum Fenestration
The historical focus on reducing the carbon footprint of a building has recently shifted to include more emphasis on embodied carbon, the carbon emit…
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Spandrel Glass Design
Currently, most spandrel glass in commercial curtain walls comprises insulating glass fabricated using an interior heat strengthened glass lite that …
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Contextualizing Glass and Carbon Impacts
Climate change goals will require significant improvements in the way buildings are constructed and operated. Building reuse can combat climate chang…
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Glass Spandrels and Shadow Boxes
Glass spandrels are a common design strategy utilized to opacify floor levels in building facades. These opaque glass assemblies are integrated into …
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Structural Silicone Glazing
The recent 50 year anniversary of the first use of silicone sealant in a 4-sided structural silicone glazing application marks a sustainable and prov…
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Case Study: Kao Ho Hospital Development, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
U-shaped annealed profiled glass, or U channel glass is used in both the interior and exterior glass façade for decades, as it has long and durable s…
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Terracotta 1912 to 2018
Center Three is a 100-year-old, one million square-foot building in Long Island City, New York that was constructed over the course of one year. It w…
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Teaching Facades
As facades become more sophisticated and complex, more detail-intensive and performance-critical, it's vital that architecture students develop a dee…
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Elliptical Ways
Construction projects almost invariably encounter a critical stage at the moment of handover between the designing and the executing party. At this p…
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Seismic Movements
A common building upgrade to add value to existing commercial real estate is the renewal of the entrance lobby. The lobby facade is replaced to give …
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Hybrid Timber
This case study provides an overview of building hybrid curtain wall system and future opportunities for the use of timber. It will also review the b…
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Thinking About Facades
There have been three decades of liberating developments in the application of descriptive geometry and freeform design methods, as well as the abili…
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Renewing Two Saarinen Icons
Kresge Auditorium and the MIT Chapel, designed by Eero Saarinen and built in 1955, are both world renowned works of architecture and powerful symbols…
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Shadow Box Design
Shadow boxes are commonly used in curtain wall construction, but can be problematic if not designed and detailed correctly and appropriately for the …
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Performance Criteria for Museum Enclosure Design
This paper develops a framework of considerations for the development of project specific performance criteria for the design of art museums and art-…
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Verifying Thermal Performance
Architects specify curtain wall thermal performance criteria and usually identify simple modeling software, like THERM, to perform thermal analysis t…
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Vintage Vinyl
Mid-century through 1980’s buildings with lock-strip or “zipper-gasket” glazing systems are an ever present part of the urban landscape in many citie…