SKINS FOR BUILDINGS. THE ARCHITECT'S MATERIALS SAMPLE BOOK

• Published in: The Architectural Review Vol. 218; no. 1303; p. 95
• Main Author: Vollaard, Piet
• Format: Magazine Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: London Emap Limited 01.09.2005
• Subjects: Architects; Architecture; Building materials; Nonfiction
• ISSN: 0003-861X

Responding to the growth of interest in materials as a prime site of invention in architecture, this book offers the most comprehensive introduction I have yet seen to the enormous range of natural and man-made materials now available for use as building skins. No such account could ever be exhaustive - the varieties of wood and its derivatives could fill a volume approaching this size - but the book's more than 500 pages are impressive in scope, approach and, thanks to commercial sponsorship, value. The materials are organised by type. These are introduced by a short text about their history, uses, environmental qualities, and so on, and then each example is allocated a doublepage spread, featuring a full-page close-up illustration on the right, and a discussion of the material and its applications on the left. A short table documents key properties - colour, glossiness, translucence, texture, hardness, temperature, odour and acoustic opacity - and the treatment is notable for addressing sensory as well as technical aspects. Each spread is illustrated with one to three built j examples of the material in use, and the majority of the chosen buildings are both conspicuously contemporary and, unlike most current trade brochures, of consistently high architectural quality.