4 ms·
I'm not an architectural expert, not even an interested amateur really. But it strikes me that there's some tension between the beauty of the exterior and the u
by bradleyjg 10y ago
I'm not an architectural expert, not even an interested amateur really. But it strikes me that there's some tension between the beauty of the exterior and the usability of the interior.
Take giant glass boxes, I know some people think they are wonderful, I think they are quite ugly. But an office where one entire wall is a window and light can flood in is a much more pleasant working environment than an office in a beautiful neo-gothic masterpiece with tiny windows.
- carsongross 10y agoGlass walls are rarely that enjoyable, even on the inside. You need to set the glass back from direct sun to get indirect light or you end up with a solar oven, and a huge amount of air conditioning to deal with it. They do photograph well and win you architectural awards, however.
- nl 10y agoThere are solutions to this, though. Shading glass surfaces and double glazing work well.
- adrianratnapala 10y agoWouldn't double-glazing just make the greenhouse problem worse?
- robin_reala 10y agoNot necessarily - you can get low emissivity windows: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_emissivity#Low-emissivity_windows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_emissivity#Low-emissivity_...
- hx87 10y agoIt wouldn't, since each layer of glazing reduces the amount of solar energy that arrives inside the window, and energy loss from buildings is an overwhelmingly convective and conductive phenomenon.