Scholarly record

THE TYPOLOGY OF FACADES MADE OF PRECAST CONCRETE ELEMENTS ON THE BASIS OF THE APPLIED RHYTHM TYPE

P. Mika

Abstract

The nature of the technology in which the basic executive component is the precasted element, may suggest that the majority of façades made of prefabricated concrete elements will feature rhythmic, repetitive compositions, and regular divisions. The oldest known examples of architecture reveal the pursuit for order. Even those architectural objects, which for obvious reasons, try to imitate nature, contain elements of regular arrangement. This is noticeable especially in cult buildings or ones with a representative character, also acting as a sign or a dominant in the surrounding. The main purpose of the research was to present the universal capabilities of precast concrete façade solutions in shaping the aesthetic expression of buildings. Rhythm is a common feature of all architectural styles. Irrespective of the material used, the type of construction, function or scale of the building, rhythm is the basis of the composition. In contemporary architecture it appears as a mean of ordering the space that surrounds the human. The research was conducted on completed residential and public buildings. Photographs of the main elevations were base for performing simplified façade drawings. They were used to develop schemes of specific types of rhythms. The carried out classification of the types of rhythms used in contemporary facades made of concrete components, allowed to identify ten specific types, resulting, among others, from the way the surface of the façade is formed, the orientation of the grid lines and the application and arrangement of the motifs. As facades presented in the article exemplify, the regular rhythm in architecture does not necessarily have to be the result of applied construction technology. Summarizing, the rhythm, that is the basic and most often used element of the composition, has been in an architecture since the beginning of its existence. Long before anyone started to define the idea of the prefabrication. The statement, that unattractive buildings with monotonous facades, with repetitive, uniform motifs are the result of applied technology turns out to be untrue. The examples described in the text prove that a properly composed, rhythmic facade can be interesting, intriguing, even varied, much more qualitatively superior and cost-effective than façades made using traditional methods.

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