Course Contents
[b]Face of the city - the tectonics of the façade[/b]
The façade is more than just a shell. It is a threshold, a membrane and a sign – a mediating structure between inside and outside, between individual use and the collective city. In its materiality, proportion and structure, the façade inscribes itself into the urban space, shapes streets and squares, sets standards and influences the atmospheric perception of public space.
As a street façade, it becomes the visible face of the building, the bearer of architectural and social attitudes, while at the same time modulating intimacy and openness, retreat and participation. Rhythm, tectonics and depth determine its legibility in urban space; it negotiates both the city as a whole and the special nature of the spaces behind it. The façade thus stands at the interface between order and individuality, permanence and change, construction and expression.
Based on an analytical examination of exemplary urban façades, their structure, proportional systems, structural logic and constructive joints are examined – from the urban context to the material and constructive details. These analyses form the basis for the development of a unique façade.
Lightweight, non-load-bearing façades, solid, load-bearing structures or hybrid systems made from sustainable materials are all possible options. The decisive factor is not the typology, but the coherence between the idea, material, construction and urban impact. The task calls for the façade to be understood as a cultural artefact: as a built attitude towards the city, as a spatially condensed expression of structure, scale and material – and as a place where architecture becomes public.
Further Information
Kickoff: April 15th, 2026, 10 a.m.
L3|01 R370
https://www.ebk.architektur.tu-darmstadt.de
Additional Information
https://www.ebk.architektur.tu-darmstadt.de
Online Offerings
Moodle
- Lecturer: Clemens Hoyer
- Lecturer: Ulrich Müller
- Lecturer: Maximilian Nohe
- Lecturer: Felix Waechter