The Hallidie Building at 130 Sutter Street in San Francisco was one of the earliest structures to feature a glass curtain wall. Designed by architect Willis Polk and built in 1918, today it houses the American Institute of Architects (San Francisco chapter), the U.S. Green Building Council (Northern California Chapter), and the Center for Architecture + Design.
In class we learned about the profession of Curtain Wall Consulting, a growing specialized field that may be suited for those who enjoy and excel at the technical, mathematical and scientific aspects of design.
A curtain wall comprises the building’s exterior skin or envelope, but is not a load-bearing structure. It must be designed to hold itself up, and may serve a range of functions from giving the building an aesthetic visual impact to regulating sunlight, temperature, and moisture.
Curtain wall consultants are more likely to work on several different projects at the same time, instead of focusing on one structure at a time. Their technical expertise may gain respect, as has been the case for David Green, who jump-started his career with a determination to get hired by his Columbia University professor Robert Heintges. Heintges and his firm are renowned for expertise as “building envelope and curtain wall consultants.” (www.heintges.com). They have designed numerous landmark buildings, including the Newseum (museum about news) in Washington, DC.
David Green now works for Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, a nationwide engineering firm that combines the work of engineers, architects and scientists “to solve structural, architectural and materials problems in all types of new and existing structures.” (www.wje.com)
Some of David Green’s projects we discussed in class included the Millennium Tower in San Francisco, a building everyone seemed to agree was beautiful.
We also looked at One Ala Moana, a condominium and shopping complex in Honolulu. Personally, I find this building’s appearance to be quite as beautiful as the Millennium Tower. I like its simplicity, symmetry, and blueness.
However, several people in class frowned upon this design, saying they didn’t like it because it reminded them of the 1970’s. But what’s wrong with the 1970’s, anyway? Well, here is an example of a building actually designed in the 1970’s called the Igloo Hotel.
The Igloo Hotel exists somewhere between Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska. According to R.J.Evans, who posted a photo essay about this never-completed architectural oddity, “the 1970s is “generally regarded as the decade that style forgot.” In other words, he attributes the bizarre and slightly creepy attributes of this structure to the decade in which its design was conceived. http://www.kuriositas.com/2013/01/alaskas-abandoned-igloo-city-hotel.html.
Yet, surely we can find something in 1970’s style to celebrate!
Architecture 100 