Modern Masks

Emerging technologies are making facades speak for the agility and dynamic attributes that define millennial buildings

- Shristi Nangalia

A well-designed, well-built and well-equipped facade is not only a thing of beauty but also a factor that regulates the overall energy efficiency, durability and performance of a building. A facade should create a soft balance between the interior and exterior environment, while expressing the value and standard of the entity it sheathes.

Prem Chandavarkar, managing partner, CnT Architects, believes that facades are the first level of understanding the architecture of any building. “The plan reveals itself over time but the perception of the structure, as a whole, comes from the facade. Eventually, it becomes an important factor in the mnemonic identity of that building.”

At CnT Architects, designers keep the following questions in mind while planning a facade – does the facade reflect the identity of the architecture and its usage? Does it conform to the logic of the plan and structure? Does it respond to human scale such that it feels comfortable and inviting, rather than intimidating or discordant? Is the scale of the facade appropriate to the surrounding context? And being a tropical country, can rain water flow down the facade without streaking, leaking or weathering the unit drastically? Chandavarkar adds, “Maintaining, refinishing and retrofitting of facade systems must also be a part of the design process, rather than an afterthought.”