Tag: building-envelope | ArchDaily

Beyond Human: Architecture as a Participant in Living Systems

Moises Carrasco — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 04:00:00 +0000

The built environment has historically served humans as a mechanism of environmental control. Through our intellectual capacities and ability to organize, we have used buildings to actively influence and terraform the immediate context in which they are inserted, often treating geography, water, and ecosystems as resources to be extracted and managed. However, more and more, architecture is transitioning from exploiting physical and biological matter to actively collaborating with it. This shift demands that architects explore how buildings and their materials grow, transform, decay, and persist beyond human timelines. This thinking also serves as a starting point for the profession to reflect on how it influences the natural world, as well as the non-human species around it, creating networks and connections between humans, buildings, living organisms, and natural environments.

Dialogue with the Code: Calibrating Standards for Adaptive Reuse to Thrive

Jonathan Yeung — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 07:30:00 +0000

There is growing awareness around sustainability—and the environmental cost of prematurely demolishing safe, structurally sound buildings only to replace them with new construction. In the broader race to reduce carbon emissions, corporations and institutions are placing greater emphasis on ESG performance (environmental impact, social responsibility, and governance). Many now require carbon accounting, set "carbon-neutral" targets, or purchase carbon credits to offset footprints.

Material Intelligence: How Steel Resists Weather, Corrosion, and Time

Eduardo Souza — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 06:45:00 +0000

Produced on an industrial scale since the 19th century, steel has profoundly transformed the way we build. Iron, refined through controlled metallurgical processes, has given rise to a material capable of combining mechanical strength, relative lightness, and constructive precision, making possible some of the major achievements of modern engineering and architecture. From skyscrapers and bridges to facades, roofs, and industrialized systems, few materials have had such a significant impact on shaping the built environment.

How Passive Design Strategies Shape Thermal Performance

Kiana Buchberger — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 06:45:00 +0000

Can architecture shape comfort before mechanical systems enter the equation? As buildings account for nearly 40% of global energy consumption and people spend close to 90% of their time indoors, thermal performance has become one of architecture's most urgent concerns. Yet despite often being associated with insulation values, energy ratings, or mechanical systems, thermal performance begins with spatial decisions made long before technical equipment is introduced. Orientation, airflow, daylight, and the placement of openings all influence how a building absorbs, retains, and releases heat throughout the day.

What Cladding Systems Reveal About Local Production in Architecture

Eduardo Souza — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 01:30:00 +0000

Between the moment a material is specified in a project and the moment it is installed, there is an invisible layer that plays a decisive role in the final outcome: fabrication, logistics, and coordination. These factors shape timelines and costs, but more critically, determine whether the original design intent is preserved or diluted in execution. Cladding systems, especially those that function as visible and expressive components of the building envelope, make this gap particularly evident, as they are the most outward-facing layer of a project.

Ventilated Facades and Fire Performance: A Global Approach to the System

Rene Submissions — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 06:45:00 +0000

As the technical requirements of building envelopes have evolved, fire performance has become a key criterion in the design of ventilated facades. Given this situation, analyses no longer focus solely on the individual reaction of materials, but also on the joint response of the entire building envelope under possible scenarios of external fire propagation.

Ideology of Performance: Sustainability and the Limits of Efficiency

Olivia Poston — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 07:30:00 +0000

This article is part of our new Opinion section, a format for argument-driven essays on critical questions shaping our field.

How Terraco Enhances Thermal Efficiency and Facade Longevity in Prefabricated Buildings

Rene Submissions — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 06:45:00 +0000

The global offsite construction market—encompassing modular, precast concrete, and hybrid prefabricated systems—was valued at USD 172 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 225.7 billion by 2030 (CAGR 4.9–8%). In the UAE, government targets call for 25–30% offsite content in public projects by 2030; the UK currently leads globally, with 15–20% of housing using offsite solutions. Offsite manufacturing is increasingly promoted as the sustainable future of construction, with benefits including reduced waste, accelerated delivery, and improved quality control. Sustainability is not defined by how quickly a building is assembled. It is defined by how long it performs.

Negotiating Boundaries: Climate and the Building Envelope in Central American Architecture

Moises Carrasco — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 04:00:00 +0000

In temperate and cold climates, architecture typically begins with a defensive gesture. The building envelope is a sealed boundary designed to resist the exterior environment through insulation, vapor barriers, and mechanical control. In cold countries like Canada, where winter temperatures can plunge well below freezing, airtightness is not a luxury. In this context, buildings must resist the exterior environment entirely to maintain interior comfort. However, in Central America, a region spanning from Belize to Panama, architectural logic shifts from exclusion to negotiation. In this region, the envelope is not a wall of defense but a specialized filter.

Tropical Hotels in Costa Rica: Six Projects to Explore Climate-Sensitive Architecture in Central America

Moises Carrasco — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

In the coastal and jungle regions of Costa Rica, high humidity and intense solar radiation dictate an architectural strategy centered on permeability rather than enclosure. Unlike the airtight envelopes required in cold climates to retain heat, Costa Rican architecture uses the building envelope as a climatic filter to maximize air exchange. The primary mechanism for managing these thermal gradients seems to be the oversized roof overhang. By extending the roof plane significantly beyond the floor plate, architects create a permanent buffer of deep shade that reduces solar gain and lowers the ambient temperature before air enters the structure. This strategy, combined with permeable or non-existent walls, allows for constant airflow. This is a critical technical requirement for humidity control and the prevention of material degradation through mold and rot.

Designing with What Exists: Rieder’s HQ Expansion Turns Residual Materials into Facade Design

Kiana Buchberger — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 02:30:00 +0000

What if industrial leftovers weren't waste, but the start of architectural design? At Rieder's headquarters in Maishofen, Austria, over 1,300 cubic meters of timber, 180 ceiling elements, and hundreds of upcycled glassfiber-reinforced concrete fragments come together in a building shaped as much by reuse as by planning. The new production hall, designed by Kessler² Architecture, treats material leftovers as a design resource. Developed as part of a long-term investment in sustainable manufacturing, the timber-concrete hybrid building introduces a facade technique that inverts conventional architectural workflows: instead of designing first and producing components afterward, the building envelope is generated from the material remnants already available on site establishing a new language for industrial architecture.

Layers of Meaning: Exploring the Depth of Architectural Envelopes

José Tomás Franco and Eduardo Souza — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Architecture has always played a key role in providing shelter and protection for human beings. In prehistoric times, we sought refuge in caves, taking advantage of rock structures for protection against the natural elements and predators. Over time, shelters began to be made from materials found in nature, such as branches, leaves, and animal skins, evolving into more permanent and complex homes, with walls made of stone, bricks or wood, roofs to protect against rain and sun, and doors to control access. As we developed more advanced building skills, we used materials such as wood, stone, and clay and architecture evolved significantly, with the construction of temples, palaces, and fortifications that provided not only shelter but also symbolized power, status, and cultural identity. Even so, our buildings can continue to be seen as shells that protect us from the outside world.

How Breathable Should Facades Be? Exploring Permeability and Impermeability in Building Envelopes

Maria-Cristina Florian — Wed, 28 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The main role of architecture is to create structures that protect us from the environment and create spaces that are safe and comfortable for all types of needs and activities. By providing shelter, architecture also shapes the way people interact with their surroundings. Building technologies of the past rarely managed, however, to create a complete separation between us and the outside world.

What is Over-Providing? A Strategy for Resilient Architecture

Jonathan Yeung — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Over-providing traditionally implies offering more than is necessary, often carrying a negative connotation due to the potential for excess and waste. However, could there be scenarios within the built environment where over-providing proves advantageous? The question critically examines how overprovisioning might enhance a building's flexibility and adaptability to diverse and evolving conditions.

Exploring the Interconnectedness of Human and Environmental Health: In Conversation with Dr. Arta Yazdanseta

Nour Fakharany — Sat, 22 Jun 2024 07:30:00 +0000

In the evolving landscape of architecture and urban design, bioclimatic and biogenic envelopes present a compelling vision for future cities. Dr. Arta Yazdanseta, a Doctor of Design focused on energy and environments, dives into the intersection of design, building performance, and plant biophysical ecology. With a focus on bioclimatic and biogenic envelopes, Dr. Yazdanseta examines how these typologies can enhance socio-natural systems by leveraging their self-organizing potential. Dr. Yazdanseta’s academic journey includes earning a Doctor of Design and a Master of Design in Energy and Environments from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Playing with Transparency: 4 Projects Challenging Traditional Window-Making in Architecture

Carla Bonilla Huaroc — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Formally, transparency usually takes the shape of a window, a door, a curtain wall, or a skylight. These are commonly created through rectangular punched openings or in the form of glass curtain wall systems or translucent screens. The following projects play with traditional notions of transparency and window-making in playful and unconventional ways. They create visually striking facades and dynamic relationships between their exterior and interior. They filter light and frame views through their glazing and opening articulation to craft memorable architectural experiences.

Lessons From the Porch: Building Community at the Domestic Threshold

Carla Bonilla Huaroc — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 07:30:00 +0000

Positioned between the streetscape of a neighborhood and the privacy of the interior of a house lies the porch. Taking on the role of an entrance, a window to ponder out of, a gathering spot, and a stage, the porch has come to represent community and identity for many neighborhoods in the United States. Made of various stylistic elements of different sizes and shapes, these tie together neighborhoods by creating an interstitial space between the home and the street, weaving together the family life inside the house and the public life outside it, and creating a space between the private and public for both serendipitous encounters and for pausing. The porch has often been displayed in film and literature as the stage of profound and life-changing conversations, representing a comfortable threshold between the domestic and public realm in which to linger.

Beyond Transparency: 5 Buildings Highlighting Glass Brick Facades

Clara Ott — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 08:30:00 +0000

Glass brick facades have emerged as a captivating architectural trend, blending the enduring elegance of glass with the robust strength of bricks. Glass bricks can as well be more thermally resistant than conventional glazing.