Façade Development

For my library, I wanted to create a large space with a lot of natural light. Originally I planned to line the perimeter of the glass with bookshelves but I realized the sunlight directly on the books can harm them. Instead of a transparent glass facade where the books are, the glass can be translucent. The translucent glass will let in light but not direct light that can harm the books. Translucent glass will also create a silhouette of people and the bookshelves down to the street below.

I also had to look into the actually structure of my library because there has to be more to it than just a glass box. Two-way flat plate system or waffle slab construction was what I was thinking of. I also started to think about how my glass curtain wall would be supported. Because I want consistency along the facade and minimal space between the glass panels; I decided to look into point supported glass curtain wall systems. The spider fittings that hold the glass can be connected to steel trusses, columns and beams, or connected by tension cables.

Below are some renderings of the blank canvas of a facade I am working with on the Brooklyn site. There are also some examples of other buildings façade and structure I intrigued to design and exterior stair cases.

The shorter glass box is where the curtain wall would be translucent glass. The taller glass box above the main entrance can be regular transparent glass to contrast the other glass.

This could possibly be a view from the Brooklyn Bridge looking down at Old Fulton Street or just a higher elevation looking southwest at the library. Under the cantilevering triangle is the second entrance and there is the rooftop courtyard and roof garden.

For the translucent glass panels, I was thinking if there should be a pattern or texture instead of a plain color. I came across marble composite translucent glass panels and I think they’re really rice. It can bring back a historical aspect into by building abstractly. 

The High Museum of Art  was designed by Richard Meier and built in 1983 followed by a 3 building addition by and Renzo Piano in 2002. According to the museums website It is the leading art museum in the southeastern United States. It is also on the list for the top 22 museums in America.

I really like the exterior of the buildings the white panels are proportionate to the glass panels and there are so many different levels of elevations. I think the buildings dynamic and has a nice rhythm.

While researching tension cables for point supported glass panels, I found pictures of the UCONN Stamford Branch Campus. The interior is exactly what I was trying to imagine for my library. I really like the white, glass and stainless steel land how they are just simple and clean. I want to follow a simple pallet of white and grey.