UNIVERSIDAD SIMÓN BOLÍVAR English for Architecture and Urban Planning II – ID2-125 January – March 2013 Teacher: Marianela Najul. Oriana Alvarez y Keitly Colmenares

wall, structural element used to divide or enclose, and, in building construction, to form the periphery of a room or a building. In traditional masonry construction, walls supported the weight of floors and roofs, but modern steel and reinforced concrete frames, as well as heavy timber and other skeletal structures, require exterior walls only for shelter and sometimes dispense with them on the ground floor to permit easy access.

Definition Definition Wall in Architecture Wall in Architecture Characteristics Characteristics Types Types Examples Examples

“Wall" is derived from Latin “Vallum”, which was a type of fortification wall. Since they are no longer relevant for defense, such cities have grown beyond their walls. A wall is a vertical structure that defines and sometimes protects an area.

SIGNIFICANT ARCHITECTURAL ROLE Structure plays a significant architectural role and the structural elements of a building (the walls, the frame, the foundation) are the parts that hold it together, as opposed to elements that enclose or decorate it. STRUCTURE ENRICHES ARCHITECTURE There are a surprisingly large number of modes by which structure enriches architecture the most important being to assist the realization of the design concept ONE OF THE FIRST ARCHITECTURE’S ELEMENTS In the other hand, the emergence of architecture is associated with the idea of shelter, which predominates in primitive societies. In this way, maybe, the wall is one of the first elements of architecture from ancient times to the protection of man.

Form is usually prismatic horizontal and vertical. Built with different materials. Texture depending on the material used. Walls, in all likelihood, will also be carefully integrated with building function.

Load-bearing wall Non-bearing wall

Load-bearing wall It is thickened in proportion to the forces it has to resist its own load, the load of floors, roofs, persons and the lateral forces of arches, vaults, wind.

Its thickness can often be reduced at the top, because loads accumulate towards the base Doors and windows weaken the resistance of the wall and divert the forces about them to the parts on either side, which must be thickened in proportion to the width of the opening. Load-bearing wall

Non-bearing wall It appears only where loads are carried by other members, as in heavy timberand other skeletal structures. Since the wall rests or hangs upon members of the frame, it becomes a curtain screen; and admits treatment in any durable, weather-resisting material. Traditional materials are often used, but light walls of glass, plastic, metal alloys, wood products, etc., can be equally efficient.

GILARDI HOUSE GERMAN PAVILION

GILARDI HOUSE,1976 Luis Barragán. The tour of the spaces is guided by the size of the areas and the modulation of light, so the walls are a very important element used as expressive elements walls by means of the texture, color and light’s effects.

This set of plans and perpendicular displacement taking place in the building not only define spaces, but also create flows and infinite paths that make the work more interesting. GERMAN PAVILION,1929 Mies Van Der Rohe. In the basement you can find a composition of eight columns that form a network which fulfill a structural function and freeing to the walls of this function leaving the walls as organizing elements of space.

. Once the floor structure is in place the walls are erected directly on top. Walls act as a loading bearing support for the roof and provide space for openings such as doors and windows, and they enclose the house and seal it from weather.