Cultural Themes: The Curtain Wall House

The Curtain House exhibits its lack of exterior structure by use of a curtain as a blockade to the outside. (photo: Shigeru Ban Architects)

Through advances in technology, our connection to the outside world is more exposed, and we are no longer completely shielded from what is happening around us. After the information technology bubble occurred in the mid 1990s, the communication and transfer of information has become a constant authority in everyone’s life. 

"This has shifted our lives into a state of constant interaction with the outside world, where we must choose if we are to interact with or ignore the messages given to us," said Architecture and Society student Elliott Carson.

Because of the constant white noise of technological interconnections, we must choose rather or not we are to interact with it. Since technology provides an endless mass of communication about our society, we are constantly aware of its presence even if we do not know the meaning behind its messages. It is up to us to either ignore these messages or to make assumptions regarding their relation with the domain outside of our private realms. 

The interior of the Curtain Wall House lacks walls besides the closed curtain surrounding the structure.  (photo: Shigeru Ban Architects)

In the Curtain Wall House, Shigeru Ban emphasizes technology’s advancing role in society and its effect on our everyday lives by use of a curtain as an outer shield to the city environment rather than a solid material. The curtain material may exclude the visual aspects of the city, but it leaves the home open to the chatter of the surrounding environment. 

This chatter resembles the inherent viral chatter allotted in technology’s span of information; it is never ceasing, and one must choose rather or not they are to interact with it. The inhabitants of the home are left to either ignore the audial cues from the outdoors or to make assumptions as to their meaning and relevance. 

"The architectural design and use of materials respond to the constant mass communication trend of technology", said Elliott Carson. 

The Farnsworth Home

The structure of the Farnsworth Home highlights the simplicity of its construction. (photo: Jon Miller)

Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth Home serves as a cultural reflection of the post World War II era’s modern industrial tides and of the abstract expressionism movement cultivated by artists during this period. Not only did the architect take a fresh outlook on the home's minimal structure and its materials, but he also took into account the concept of free-flowing spaces and the endless limitations of an open plan.

The many peculiarities of the house were built to provide a notion of how one should live and feel in the space. By constructing floor-to-ceiling windows as the barrier to the outside world and by lifting the structure onto stilts, one gets a horizontally elongated view of the surrounding nature at tree-level height. This was intended to give a sense of vulnerability and curiosity of what lies beyond the confines of the home. 

The interior of the Farnsworth House provides an escape to the surrounding landscape. (photo: Jon Miller)

Instead of having a view of the tree trunks, the architect built the house on stilts to capture the fullness of the trees in order to provide a sense of protection for the inhabitant. From every angle inside the home, the landscape is brought into the interior to the capture the essence of living amidst the natural world. 

The central wall provides the only division of space within the structure. (photo: Jon Miller)

The vast window space and the vacuity of the solid, white ceiling draw the eye outward to the landscape rather than to the interior of the home. The lack of a formal exterior wall promotes the atmosphere of the home as free and without boundary to the world around it. 

Lastly, this structure lacks a central room like most homes. Instead of being enclosed, the rooms are suggested by a central wall and extend towards the landscape.

Unified Structure: The Inca Empire

Inca architectural patterns are demonstrated at the sanctuary of Machu Picchu, Peru. (photo: Jeff Bridges)

Throughout the Inca Empire, standardized patterns of building helped to define a unified architectural style that was carried out in the structures.  Inca architectural forms draw from a basic design with changes proportions and spatial arrangement for the different functions of the empire.

Most buildings are constructed in masonry style with a rectangular shape and a thatched roof, though temples feature rounded walls.  The style and quality of masonry determines the status of the buildings; whereas a house features rubble masonry, a religious or state building features well-fitted blocks. Though the high masonry is precisely fit, the shapes of the blocks are irregular polygonal shapes rather than standard squares. 

Irregular blocks are fitted together to form a continuous surface in the high masonry technique of Inca architectural construction. (photo: Hakan Svensson)

The Inca settlement commonly exhibits agricultural terraces, sophisticated irrigation systems and uniform housing compounds called canchas. Canchas are typically composed of an identical structure, and the quality of masonry determines the status of the inhabitants. 

Canchas exhibit standardized construction in the housing settlements of the Inca Empire. (photo: Mark Bergin)

Trapezoidal forms are a constant reference in Inca architecture, rather it be in the lintel of a doorway or in a niche. Most Inca buildings provide niches within the interior walls in a symmetrical and proportional arrangement. 

Niches are a characteristic feature of Inca Architecture as they are exhibited here at Ollantaytambo, Peru. (photo: Jason Langley)

To build the niches, workers first formed a level wall up to the base of the nice and created niche frames by stacking stones to form their shape. The gaps between the niches were filled with large and small blocks, but attention to a proper fit was not crucial. Niche frames allowed for proper sizing and placement within in the disarray of stones surrounding them.  

As for the walls of the buildings, the corners were formed first and the walls were built from the outside inward towards the center. This allowed for laborers to work on both ends of the wall at the same time and created less room for mistakes in jointing the two walls together.