描述
From the editorial DETAIL 10.2023
What’s behind the cover?
A lot has always been demanded of facades: they give buildings a face, are climate envelopes and bear meaning. Furthermore, they have always been “places of public self-reflection in architecture,” as the art historian Wolfgang Kemp puts it. This sounds like navel-gazing by a profession, but it is unavoidable – especially when it comes to the renovation of existing buildings, where traditional building materials are placed in a new context and traditional building forms have to meet new requirements.
The examples in this detailed issue show what fruitful results this can lead to. We document the historic renovation of two high-rise bank buildings in Bilbao and Düsseldorf, whose façade appearance and shell were restored in detail despite the buildings’ change in function. When a slaughterhouse in Ostrava, Czech Republic, is converted into an art gallery, the impressions of old windows are superimposed on gigantic new facade openings. The coach house in Basel, which was converted into a residential building, is a reflection on windows as an extension of space and on the sculptural potential of architecture.
All of these buildings hold surprises that only become apparent at second glance. Therefore, we not only describe the design concept and design genesis, but also show the construction of these old-new building facades.
